Best AC Milan Goalkeepers of All Time

AC Milan, whose entire history has been in the top flight of Italian football Serie A since 1929-30, has a rich history with a wide range of honors and achievements. The 18 FIFA and UEFA trophies that AC Milan has earned have placed its name as the fourth highest out of any club, regarded as a joint honor with Boca Juniors.

By the trophies, it has become the most out of any other Italian club. Despite ranking as the highest level of popularity among Italian clubs, AC Milan is the eighth one behind seven giant teams, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich.

The club's local and prominent rivals, Inter Milan and Juventus, have earned respectively 18 and 19 league titles, which by achieving 18 ones Milan has placed its name behind them. AC Milan also has gaines Coppa Italia five times and the Supperrcoppa Italiana seven.

As one of the most affluent clubs in Italy and the football world, it has included various players over the years, by which it has achieved many honors. Owning stunning players and goalkeepers has earned the team many followers. Based on what the official Facebook profile of the Italian club recorded on February 2021, 25.13 million fans are following it. However, within only one month it decreased a lot. 

Amongst the wide range of hottest related topics to the team, we have focused on the best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time. Join us on this short trip in the history of this club to get to know these stars.

Greatest AC Milan Goalkeepers of All Time

As you read earlier, in today's article, we have prepared a list of the best AC Milan goalkeepers ever. 

Nelson de Jesus Dida

• Age: 47

• Height: 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)

• Club Career: Vitoria, Cruzeiro, Lugano, Cortinthians, AC Milan, Portuguesa, Gremio, Internacional

Often known as Dida, the former Brazilian goalkeeper is one of the legends whose name shines in the history of the Italian club, AC Milan. In the early 1990s, Dida started his career with Vitoria, and after joining Cruzeiro and Corinthians, he appeared as a penalty kick-saving professional on the pitch.

Though Dida had a successful career history with all clubs during his senior career, his performance with AC Milan is the most stunning one, which lasted for ten years from 2000 to 2010.

His excellent playing with the club earned him various awards and individual trophies and made him one of the world's best goalkeepers. Besides his reputation as a professional goalkeeper, he gained more through media attention when they played with their rival Internazionale and a lit flare hi him during the match. Having saved three penalties against their Serie A rival

, Dida achieved one Serie A title (Scudetto) and two UEFA Champions League as Milan's goalkeeper.

Afterward, Dida, who had made 300 appearances with AC Milan, had a 2-year absence and continued Dida's playing in Brazil with

, Gremio, and Internacional. So, there is no wonder who the talented and outstanding player's name is among the list of the 

best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time

. 

Sebastiano Rossi

• Age: 57

• Height: 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)

• Club Career: Cesena, Forli (loan), Empoli (loan), Rondinella (loan), Milan, Perugia

One of the other names on the list of the 

best AC Milan goalkeepers ever

 is Sebastiano Rossi. Currently a retired footballer, Sebastian made 346 appearances in Serie A competitions during his professional career, which lasted 21 years.

During the years, he represented six clubs, but the most notable stint was his playing era with

for 12 seasons. Meanwhile, Sebastian achieved 12 major titles, of which five were national championships, and one of them was the 1994 Champions League.

Rossi was the record holder as the longest streak without allowing a goal in Serie A's history. Between 12 December 1993 to 27 February 1994, Rossi could keep a clean sheet for 929 consecutive minutes. However, the U.S. Foggia's Igor Kolyvanov beat it through a long-range strike.

Sebastian, with 11, is still the record holder for the fewest number of goals a goalkeeper has conceded within a single 34-game Italian league season. Through appearing 330 times for AC Milan, Rossi has placed his name behind Christian Abbiati with 380 ones as the team's most-capped goalkeeper of all time.

Giovanni Galli

• Age: 63

• Height: 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)

• Club Career: Fiorentina, Milan, Napoli, Torino, Parma, Lucchese

Giovanni Galli, the Italian former professional goalkeeper, who is currently active as a politician, has allocated one part of the list of the best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time to himself. His professional career spanned about two decades, in which he spent nine seasons with Fiorentina and four ones with AC Milan, which playing in the latter earned him six main titles.

The starting point of Galli's career back to the era he played as a midfielder with his hometown's youth team. However,

was the club where he started his professional career and kept playing for nine Serie A seasons. The next team that he moved to was AC Milan, which due to his excellent performance, Galli was the first choice for three out of four years of his playing for the club.

It did not take more than one season, his first one with the side, which he could establish himself as one of the keepers in Italy and achieve the Serie A title and Supercoppa Italian. One of the other Galli's achievements with the club is gaining consecutive European Supercups in 1989 and 1990 and the Intercontinental Cups in 1989.

Lorenzo Buffon

• Age: 91

• Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)

• Club Career: Portogruaro, AC Milan, Genoa, Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Ivrea 

Place seven on the list of the 

best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time

 belongs to Lorenzo Buffon, the former Italian goalkeeper. During his career history, Buffon spent ten years with AC Milan and made 277 appearances from 1949 to 1959.

Buffon's Serie A debut with the club was on 15 January 1950, which throughout the match against Sampdoria, he kept a clean sheet. During these years with AC Milan, Buffon earned four Serie A titles and two Latin Cups. The international prominence led him to overcome the competitive relationship between him and his fellow keeper Narciso Soldan for getting a place in the starting line-up. 

Buffon's playing with AC Milan earned him the opportunity of appearing at the final of the 1957-58 European Cup and the semi-finals of the 1955-56 European Cup. However,

won the Italian club on both occasions.

The number of times he appeared for the club made Buffon one of four keepers who could reach the milestone during the club history and placed his name behind Christian Abbiati, Sebastiano Rossi, and Dida, respectively with 380, 330, and 302 appearances. 

Christian Abbiati

• Age: 44

• Height: 19.91 m

• Club Career: Monza, Borgosesia (loan), AC Milan, Juventus (loan), Torino (loan), Atletico Madrid (loan)

Born on 8 July 1977, Christian Abbiati is a former Italian professional goalkeeper whose performance with the Italian club has earned his name among the most memorable goalkeepers in AC Milan history. Having played for

, Abbiati left the club in 1998 and joined AC Milan.

Afterward, he made more than 300 official appearances for them. His Serie A's debut was in a match that he joined as a 92nd-minute substitute for Sebastiano Rossi. Though Abbiati was the third-choice goalkeeper, behind two others, Rossi and Jens Lehmann, he obtained a league title during his first season with AC Milan.

Borgosesia Calcio, Juventus, Torino, and

are the teams he played there on loan. As his career history shows, Abbiati earned many honors, including Serie A titles and Coppa Italia, which he achieved the former three times and the latter two.

Abbiati gained two Suppercoppa Italiana triumphs, one UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup. Abbiati is currently the record holder for most appearances he made as a keeper for AC Milan. During his playing era, Abbiati had allocated the title of the best goalkeeper in Italy to himself while Abbiati was in his prime. 

Fabio Cudicini

• Age: 85

• Height: 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)

• Club Career: Poziana, Udinese, A.S Roma, Brescia, AC Milan

When you look at the Italian club history to review the best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time, Fabio Cudicini's name is one of the stars, whose excellent performance brought his name to the list. The former Italian expert keeper was a tall player whose height, 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in), has placed him amongst the tallest goalkeepers of his playing time. 

Despite playing in five clubs during his senior career, Cudicini made no appearances at the international level. However, not playing for the Italy national team did not cause him not to become one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and also one of Italy's best-ever keepers. Although Cudicini had a brilliant performance in all the clubs played for them, most remember him due to his successful and dominant era with AC Milan.

Helping the clubs as a keeper to achieve the 1969 European Cup Final amongst other titles related to domestic, European, and international competitions led him to become one of the most celebrated players in his position (keeper) during the club's history. The spectacular goalkeeper had earned much reputation and success through his agility, reactions, and shot-stopping.

Enrico Albertosi

• Age: 81

• Height: 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)

• Club Career: Fiorentina, Cagliari, Milan, Elpidiense

Enrico Albertosi is one of the athletes whose excellent performance with Milan brought his name to the list of the 

greatest AC Milan goalkeepers of all time

. As one of the greatest ever goalkeepers in Italy, Albertosi left a successful club career and recorded various honors and titles with Fiorentina,

, and Milan. 

After making 185 and 177 appearances respectively for Fiorentina and Cagliari, Albertosi moved to Milan in 1974 and stayed there for the following six years. Two of the honors he achieved with the club were the Serie A championship medal, which he got during the 1978-79 season and the Coppa Italia in the 1976-77 season.

As his career statistics show, Albertosi made 233 appearances for the club, which due to it, he became the fifth Milan keeper with the most caps of all time. 233 times placed his name behind Christian Abbiati, Sebastiano Rossi, Dida, and Lorenzo Buffon.

Through involvement with the Italian "Totonero" betting scandal, the talented and outstanding player became suspended from participating in the competitions for two seasons. Later in 1982, following the Italian football federation decision, he got permission to play again. 

Gianluigi Donnarumma

• Age: 22

• Height: 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)

• Club Career: AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain

The following athlete, who has allocated place three among the 

most memorable goalkeepers in AC Milan history

, is the youngest one, which we have listed in today's article, Gianluigi Donnarumma. The professional Italian goalkeeper currently plays for Ligue 1 club

and appears at the international level with Italy national team.

After playing for Club Napoli from 2003 to 2013, he continued playing through the team's youth system with AC Milan in 2015 when he was only 16 years and 242 days. Playing at the age made him the second-youngest keeper ever participated in Serie A competitions.

Breaking into the starting line-up, Donnarumma reached high fame and led him to become the most promising young goalkeeper in the world at the time. Donnarumma made his 200th appearance for the Italian club in an away match against Sassuolo in Serie A, ending in a 2-1 victory.

During the game, he had worn the captain's armband for the first time during his career because Alessio Romagnoli's injury had subbed him off the match. Performing astonishing performance throughout March 2021,

got the 2020 Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year's title from AIC. 

Giorgio Ghezzi

• Age: Died (Aged 60)

• Height: 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)

• Club Career: Rimini, Modena, Internazionale, Genoa, Milan

The second place on the list of the best AC Milan goalkeepers "of all time" belongs to Giorgio Ghezzi, nicknamed "Kamikaze." He spent his professional life as a goalkeeper and a football manager.

Starting his profession in 1947, Ghezzi joined

, and after making 44 appearances within his playing period with them which lasted two years, he moved to

. His playing there did not last more than two years, and in 1951 he joined

, where he participated in a total of 191 competitions, including Serie A, European Cup, and Coppa Italia.

Playing seven years with Inter earned him two Serie A titles in 1953 and 1954. After his transfer to Milan in 1959, Ghezzi won other achievements, such as one Serie A title and the 1962-63 European Champions Cup consecutively in 1962 and 1963.

Following Milan's competition against Eusebio's Benfica at Wembley in the 1963 European Cup Final, which ended in a 2-1 victory, Ghezzi became the first Italian goalkeeper to achieve the European Cup. Finally, in 1965, after six years of playing for Milan and making 123 appearances for them, he announced his retirement.

Giovanni Rossetti

• Age: Died (Aged 68)

• Height: 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

• Club Career: Milan, Arsenaltaranto

After reading about nine players on the list of the 

best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time

, it is time to know who allocated the first place on the list. Born in Milan, Italy, on 29 May 1919, Giovanni Rossetti was a professional Italian goalkeeper whose outstanding and excellent playing made differences between him and other keepers.

During his senior career, which lasted 15 years from 1940 to 1955, Rossetti played for Milan and Arsenaltaranto. Meanwhile, he participated in 180 competitions for the Italian club, which it has given rank eight to him among the most capped goalkeeper of all time. 

Six out of seven players, whose names are ahead of Giovanni Rossetti, are among the presented list of the best AC Milan goalkeepers of all time. They are Christian Abbiati, Sebastiano Rossi, Dida, Lorenzo Buffon, Enrico Albertosi, Dario Copiani, and, Fabio Cudicini.

Through the list, we covered the names of the most memorable keepers in AC Milan history. If you are a big football fan, who has followed the Italian club competitions and players, you must have seen some familiar names within the article. Though we have tried to prepare a comprehensive text, there might be some facts that we have missed mentioning. So, if you have any points, we are looking forward to hearing them via the comment section.

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