Stefano Pioli

Stefano Pioli (born 20 October 1965) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender. Most recently he was the manager of Serie A club AC Milan.

He has managed several clubs in Serie A, including Bologna, Lazio, Inter Milan and Fiorentina. He most notably led AC Milan to the Serie A title in the 2021–22 season, the club's first scudetto in over a decade. He was later awarded the Panchina d'Oro for best coach of the season. The following season, in 2022–23, he returned Milan to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League before leaving the club at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Playing career
Pioli, a native of Parma, started his own playing career for his home city team, Parma. Successively, he was signed by Juventus, with whom he made his Serie A debut in 1984, winning the league title, the European Cup, the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup during his three seasons with the club. After being sold to Hellas Verona in 1987, Pioli moved to Fiorentina in 1989, where he spent six years of his career winning the Serie B in the 1993–94 season, before spending two seasons with Padova. After successive season-long spells in Serie C with Pistoiese and Fiorenzuola, he ended his career in 1999 with Colorno of Eccellenza Emilia-Romagna (the sixth-highest level of Italian football at that time; the top level of the Emilia-Romagna regional league system), playing alongside his brother Leonardo.

Style of play
An elegant, tenacious, physical, and mobile defender, Pioli was capable of playing anywhere along the back-line, although he performed best as a man-marking centre-back, or "stopper," in Italian. Considered to be a promising and consistent player in his youth, his career was affected by numerous serious injuries.

Early career
From 1999 to 2002 Pioli coached Bologna's youth team (winning a championship with Allievi Nazionali's team), and Chievo's in 2002–03. In 2003–04, he was appointed as head coach of Serie B club Salernitana. He moved to Modena, still of Serie B, in 2004.

In 2006, Pioli was named as Parma's head coach, therefore returning to his home city and marking his Serie A debut as a manager. However, he was sacked on 12 February 2007 after a 3–0 loss to Roma which brought Parma down to second-last place and replaced by Claudio Ranieri.

On 11 September 2007, Pioli was unveiled as new head coach of Serie B club Grosseto, replacing Giorgio Roselli, who was sacked after three consecutive defeats in the first three league matches, and managed to lead the Tuscan minnows to an impressive mid-table finish in their first season in the Serie B. He then served as head coach of Piacenza for their 2008–09 Serie B campaign. In July 2009, he left Piacenza to join Sassuolo as new head coach of the neroverdi.

Chievo
On 10 June 2010, Pioli was named head coach of Serie A club Chievo on a 12-month contract.

Palermo
On 2 June 2011, Pioli was named head coach of Serie A club Palermo, but he was relieved of his duties just 90 days later.

Bologna
On 4 October 2011, Pioli was named new head coach of Bologna in Serie A, replacing the sacked Pierpaolo Bisoli. After two troublesome seasons with Bologna, both ended with the team struggling in the bottom half of the Serie A table but always escaping relegation, he was removed from his managerial duties on 8 January 2014, with Davide Ballardini appointed as his replacement.

Lazio
On 12 June 2014, it was confirmed Pioli's appointment as new head coach of Lazio in place of Edoardo Reja. In his first season at the club, he led Lazio to a third-place Serie A finish. On 11 June 2015, he was offered a new 2-year contract with an additional year option.

On 3 April 2016, Pioli was sacked after a 4–1 home defeat to city rivals Roma.

Inter Milan
On 8 November 2016, Pioli was appointed as the new head coach of Inter Milan on an 18-month contract. On 20 November, Inter drew 2–2 against AC Milan in a Serie A Derby della Madonnina match, Pioli's first competitive match as head coach of the club. He was sacked on 9 May 2017. Inter had won 12 of the first 16 Serie A matches that Pioli was in charge of (draw with Milan, losses to Napoli, Juventus and Roma), but this was followed by two draws and five losses in their last seven Serie A matches prior to his sacking.

Fiorentina
On 6 June 2017, Pioli was named new head coach of Fiorentina. He signed for two years with another optional year. Pioli was in charge of the team when on 4 March 2018 central defender and captain Davide Astori died unexpectedly; to honour the memory of the player, Pioli got a commemorative tattoo. On 9 April 2019, Pioli resigned as manager.

2019–2021: Early seasons
The day after Marco Giampaolo's sacking, on 9 October 2019, Pioli was appointed as the new coach of AC Milan, on a deal to the end of the season. Pioli's Milan finished the season in sixth place in Serie A. The team scored 63 goals in the competition, their highest total since 2013. On 7 July 2020, Milan defeated Juventus 4–2. Milan scored four goals against Juventus in Serie A for the first time since March 1989, when the score was 4–0. It was Milan's first win against Juventus since 2016.

On 21 July, Pioli reached an agreement with Milan for a two-year deal extension of his contract as head coach to June 2022. On 17 October, Milan won 2–1 against Inter. It was Milan's first Serie A win against Inter since 2016. Milan also won their first four games in a Serie A season for the first time since 1995–96, when Fabio Capello was in charge. Milan scored in 24 consecutive Serie A games for the first time since 1973 (29). On 6 December Milan beat Sampdoria 2–1, setting a new club record for goals scored in successive Serie A matches (30).

Following a 2–2 draw with Genoa on 16 December, AC Milan were unbeaten in 24 league games: their longest run since 1993. On 23 December, Milan beat Lazio 3–2, becoming the second side in the history of Europe's top five leagues to have scored two or more goals in more than 15 successive games in a single calendar year (after Barcelona, 18 in 1948). On 9 May 2021, Milan managed to win 3–0 against Juventus, their first away win against them since 2011. Three days later, Pioli's side beat Torino 7–0 in an away game, winning by a seven-goal margin for the first time since June 1959 against Udinese (7–0).

A 2–0 away win against Atalanta on 23 May confirmed that Milan would finish second in the league table, securing a return to the Champions League for the first time in seven seasons. Milan also set a new all-time record for away wins in a Serie A season with 16; no side has ever done better in Europe’s top five leagues in a single campaign (Real Madrid in 2011–12 and Manchester City in 2017–18 also achieved 16 away wins). In the UEFA Europa League, Milan reached the round of 16, where they were eliminated by Manchester United.

2021–22 season: Scudetto victory
As of August 2021, Pioli held the second highest win percentage in Serie A among Milan coaches, behind only Lajos Czeizler. On 3 October, Milan defeated Atalanta at Gewiss Stadium 3–2, recording successive wins away at Atalanta in Serie A for the first time since 2013. On 31 October, with a 2–1 win against Roma, Milan became the fourth team in Serie A history to win 10 of their first 11 games of the season, after Roma, Juventus (twice) and Napoli (twice). The win also ended José Mourinho's run of 43 home games unbeaten in Serie A.

In November, Pioli reached an agreement with the club to extend his contract until June 2023. In December, his Milan side became the second team in Serie A history to win at least 17 away league games in a single calendar year (after Napoli, 18 in 2017). In the Champions League, the team was knocked out at the group stage, finishing bottom of Group B behind Liverpool, Atlético Madrid and Porto.

On 6 January 2022, Milan beat Roma 3–1, managing to win three consecutive league games against Roma for the first time since 1996. On 5 February, Milan came back to beat archrivals Inter 2–1 in the Derby della Madonnina after trailing by 0–1; it was the first comeback win for Milan in the derby since 2004. On 13 February after defeating Sampdoria, Milan had picked up 55 points in the league: in the three points-per-win era, only in 2003–04 had they earned as many points after 25 games (64).

On 6 March, Milan beat Napoli 1–0 at Stadio Diego Maradona, moving to the top of the league table and winning two consecutive away games against Napoli in Serie A for the first time since 1981. Milan had also picked up at least 60 points from the first 28 matchdays of a Serie A season for the first time since 2011–12. On 12 March, Milan defeated Empoli 1–0, reaching 63 points on the top of league table. Seven days later, Milan beat Cagliari 1–0; with that win, Milan had scored at least one goal in 15 consecutive away matches in a single top-flight season for only the second time in their history, also doing so in 1967–68 in Serie A. Pioli's side sealed the Scudetto on 22 May, the last day of the season, with a 3–0 win against Sassuolo. It was Milan's first league title since 2011, and Pioli's first ever trophy. The team amassed 86 points in total, their best tally since 2005–06.

Pioli's tenure at Milan has brought him the praise of several Italian football personalities and pundits, such as Alberto Zaccheroni, Fabio Capello, Claudio Ranieri, Arrigo Sacchi and Adriano Galliani.

2022–2024: Later seasons and departure


On 13 August 2022, Milan defeated Udinese 4–2, securing three consecutive wins at the start of the competition for three seasons in a row, the first time since 1996. On 31 October Milan announced that Pioli extended his contract until 30 June 2025. On 8 March 2023, Milan beat Tottenham 1–0 on aggregate, reaching Champions League quarter finals for the first time since the 2011–12 season.

On 2 April, Milan squashed Napoli 4–0 at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, inflicting the worst defeat for the latter team since 2007. With that win, Milan won three times successively in Naples for the first time since 1951. On 18 April, Milan beat Napoli 2–1 on aggregate following a 1–1 draw, reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since the 2006–07 season. Milan eventually lost to city rivals Inter 3–0 on aggregate in the semi-finals. On 28 May, he led Milan to qualify for the Champions League for a third successive season following a 1–0 win at Juventus.

Milan started Pioli's final season with an away win against Bologna in 21 August. On 7 October, after a difficult win against Genoa, Milan stood on the top of the league table. However, the team lost the lead in the league table after a 0–1 loss against Juventus on 22 October.

Milan was knocked out of the Champions League group stage on 13 December, finishing third in the group and qualifying to the UEFA Europa League instead. On 20 January 2024, after 3–2 win against Udinese, Pioli reached a milestone of 100 wins for Milan in the league, becoming the fifth manager to achieve the feat after Carlo Ancelotti, Fabio Capello, Nereo Rocco and Nils Liedholm.

On 24 May 2024, AC Milan announced that Pioli would depart after the end of the 2023–24 season.

Style of management
Pioli usually uses a 4–2–3–1 formation, or a 3–5–2 formation, with full-backs or wing-backs who actively take part in the team's attacking plays. During his time at Lazio, he often used a 4–3–3 formation. Due to his passion for basketball, he attempted to bring strategic elements of the sport into his own tactical approach as a football manager.

As a head coach of AC Milan, Pioli initially made use of an archaic WM formation, also known as 3–2–2–3. Although presented officially as a 4-3-3, the formation featured the left full-back, Théo Hernandez, in a more advanced position, whereas the right full-back, Davide Calabria’s, attacking presence was significantly limited. Another key feature of this formation was in the center, where two pairs of holding and attacking midfielders formed a square, supporting each other offensively and defensively.

However, with the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimović in January 2020, Pioli switched Milan's formation to his long favored 4–2–3–1, primarily in order to accommodate for the Swedish ageing yet prolific goalscorer, in which he would play up front without much of a defensive work other than pressing, alternating between the roles of a classical striker, a target forward, and a false 9. The switch of formation also allowed Hakan Çalhanoğlu, an attacking midfielder in a number 10 role, to return to his preferred position as a playmaker behind the main striker, out of which he had been playing for years in various other formations. Ante Rebić and Ismaël Bennacer, the two high-profile new arrivals struggling to fit into the previous coach's system, were given a few more opportunities to prove themselves; as a result, the former got to play in his favorite position as a left winger and quickly topped the club's seasonal goalscoring chart, while the latter formed an efficient double pivot with Franck Kessié, who also significantly improved the quality of his performances.

During the 2022–23 season at AC Milan, Pioli switched from 4–2–3–1 to 3–4–2–1 formation, forming a back-three of Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori, and Malick Thiaw, which helped the team play with a high defense line.

Ahead of the 2023–24 season, Pioli once again changed the formation, this time opting for a fluid 4–3–3. With the change of formation, he also brought in a number of tactical innovations, particularly the role of team captain Davide Calabria, who as a right full back began to move in front of the team's pair of center backs, alongside deep midfielder Rade Krunić on the left, thus making the team's shape look like 2–2–3–3 while in possession, with six primarily attacking players.

Through his management career, Pioli has built a reputation as a coach who works well with young players, is a good motivator and who displays tactical flexibility.

Personal life
On 14 November 2020, Pioli, alongside his assistant Giacomo Murelli, tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Italy. While in quarantine, Pioli continued to be in charge of the team via Zoom and with the help of another member of his coaching staff, Daniele Bonera. Despite these setbacks, Milan had a 3–1 away victory over Napoli in Serie A and a 1–1 away draw with Lille in Europa League.

Pioli has a son, Gianmarco, who is part of his coaching staff at Milan, working as a match analyst.

Player
Parma
 * Serie C1: 1983–84

Juventus
 * Serie A: 1985–86
 * European Super Cup: 1984
 * European Cup: 1984–85
 * Intercontinental Cup: 1985

Fiorentina
 * Serie B: 1993–94

Manager
AC Milan
 * Serie A: 2021–22

Individual
 * Serie A Coach of the Season: 2021–22
 * Serie A Coach of the Month: October 2021, March 2022, May 2022
 * Serie A Coach of the Year: 2022
 * Panchina d'Oro: 2021–22