1976–77 AC Milan season

During the 1976–1977 season Milan Associazione Calcio competed in Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.

Summary
The new AC Milan manager for the 1976–77 season was Giuseppe Marchioro while Gianni Rivera returned as team captain after the departure of Romeo Benetti, who moved to Juventus in exchange for Fabio Capello. Other significant changes in the transfer market were the sale of Luciano Chiarugi to Napoli and the signing of Giorgio Morini from Roma.

The season began with four group stage games in the first round of the Coppa Italia, where Milan got three wins (with Catania, Lazio and Novara) and a draw with Atalanta, ending the group in first place with seven points on an equal footing with the Bergamo players. The Rossoneri qualified to the second round, which would be played at the end of the season in June, thanks to the better goal difference (+6 against +5 of Atalanta).

In the league, Milan, after the win against Perugia on day one, collected nine draws, four defeats and only one victory, thus ending the first half of the season in 11th position with 13 points, three points above the relegation zone. The club sacked Marchioro and signed Nereo Rocco in his place. However, the substitution on the bench did not change the situation and the Rossoneri continued to struggle in the lower areas of the standings. On the penultimate day, Milan won the home game 3–2 against Catanzaro, also fighting against relegation, thus securing their stay in the first division, thanks also to the success in the next round against Cesena. In the end, Milan finished the championship in 10th place (paired with Genoa and Bologna), with 27 points from 17 draws, five wins and eight defeats, three points away from the relegation zone. The 17 draws in 30 games are a record that later would be beaten by Perugia in 1978–79 (19 draws), and by Udinese in 1982–83 with 20 draws, while the only five victories are still the lowest number of successes for Milan in a single championship since the Serie A was introduced in 1929–30.

In the UEFA Cup, Milan eliminated Romanian club Dinamo Bucharest (0–0 in the first leg in Bucharest and 2–1 in the return in Milan) in the round of 32 and Bulgarian club Akademik Sofia in the round of 32 (a 4–3 defeat in Sofia and a 2–0 home win). In the round of 16, Milan faced the Spanish side Athletic Bilbao (later finalist) who went through thanks to the 4–1 victory obtained in Bilbao and the 3–1 defeat suffered at the San Siro.

The season ended with the remaining matches in the Coppa Italia. Milan, in the group with Bologna, Napoli and SPAL, got five wins and a draw (in the second leg against Bologna) and qualified for the final on 3 July 1977, where they faced Inter. In the derby, the Rossoneri beat the Nerazzurri 2–0 with goals from Aldo Maldera and Giorgio Braglia in the second half and thus won their fourth Coppa Italia out of six finals played, also earning qualification for the 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup. AC Milan players Giorgio Braglia and Egidio Calloni were the top scorer of the event with six goals each. This was the last of Rocco's successes with the club, and at the end of the season he ended his career as manager.

Squad
(Captain)

(vice-captain)