As their Serie A rivals attempt to turn back time, champions Milan are looking to the future.
Romelu Lukaku, Inter's 2020-21 Scudetto hero, and Paul Pogba, the winner of four straight championships at Juventus, have returned to their former clubs following ultimately unsuccessful Premier League stints.
Of course, this is a move that worked for Milan last season, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic had played for three different clubs in three different countries between featuring in the Rossoneri's two most recent title-winning campaigns.
Ibrahimovic, soon to turn 41, has signed up for another season, but there is a young, exciting core to the Milan team who secured that latest title and will now bid to defend it.
Young stars repay Pioli's faith
Milan had the fourth-youngest average age of their starters in Serie A last season (25y 337d), older only than Empoli (24y 325d), Spezia (24y 334d) and Torino (25y 189d).
And this average was dragged up significantly by Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud.
Among the 10 outfield players to start 20 or more league games for Milan in 2021-22, nine were below that average age at the end of the season, with Giroud (35y 233d) the exception.
Giroud scored 11 goals, including two the day the Rossoneri won the title at Sassuolo, but even he made only 22 starts as Stefano Pioli showed faith in his young charges.
Pierre Kalulu (21 starts) was 21 on the final day; Rafael Leao (31 starts), Sandro Tonali (31 starts), Brahim Diaz (25 starts) and Alexis Saelemaekers (22 starts) were all 22; Theo Hernandez (30 starts) and Fikayo Tomori (30 starts) were both 24; and the now departed Franck Kessie (25 starts) was 25, along with Davide Calabria (24 starts).
Of those, only Diaz was not in the XI at Sassuolo, with the 28-year-old Rade Krunic preferred.
That this young Milan side held their nerve on that day – needing to avoid defeat to ensure they could not be pipped at the post by Inter – justified Pioli's approach, and the club have seemingly sought to get even younger ahead of their title defence.
Milan boosted by Belgium pair
Realistically, given the financial power of other clubs across Europe, Milan have had little choice but to pay for potential rather than proven performers.
Yet their early moves in this close season sought to find a blend of the two, as Milan honed in on two stars of Lille's shock 2020-21 Ligue 1 title success.
Centre-back Sven Botman, only 22, was a favourite of Paolo Maldini, while Renato Sanches, 24, appeared a good fit for a midfield set to be robbed of Kessie following his move to Barcelona as a free agent.
Unfortunately, Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain – backed by Saudi Arabia's PIF and Qatar's QSI respectively – outmuscled Milan in both cases.
Instead, Kalulu could be set to start again alongside Tomori, and Tommaso Pobega, returning from a loan at Torino and now 23, is a likely replacement for Kessie.
Milan have preferred to focus their limited budget on the attack, successfully holding off rival interest to sign Charles De Ketelaere.
The Belgium international, who turned 21 in March, contributed 14 goals and nine assists in 39 First Division A matches for Club Brugge last term.
De Ketelaere was the second-youngest player in the Belgian top flight to tally at least five goals and five assists for the season – after Anderlecht's Bayern Munich loanee Joshua Zirkzee (16 goals, nine assists).
He will now link up with Leao (11 goals, eight assists), who was the second-youngest to achieve that feat in Serie A in 2021-22 – after Sassuolo's Giacomo Raspadori (10 goals, five assists).
Even De Ketelaere's Belgium team-mate Divock Origi – another new forward signing, set to become Milan's latest experienced option up front – is only 27.
Still young, now experienced
The signing of Origi, an elder statesman in the Milan dressing room, would actually have made Serie A rivals Juventus (27y 319d) and Inter (29y 73d) younger.
Indeed, Inter were the third-oldest team in Serie A last season – after Sampdoria (29y 212d) and Lazio (29y 217d) – with their squad already in need of regeneration a year after winning the Scudetto.
There is no danger of Milan being in the same position, with their young side getting younger and extending their window in which they can expect to contend for further titles.
The Rossoneri were comfortably the youngest champions across Europe's top five leagues last season, with Champions League victors Real Madrid (28y 95d) the oldest.
Milan's title winners will undoubtedly benefit from their 2021-22 experiences, too.
Leao (85), Tonali (60), Diaz (47), Saelemaekers (45), Tomori (34) and Kalulu (13) had each played comfortably fewer than 100 games in Europe's top five leagues heading into the previous campaign. Kalulu had tallied a mere 727 minutes prior to his breakout year.
In the Champions League, they were even greener. Besides Giroud, who had played 41 games and started 25, those nine other Serie A regulars had made just 11 combined appearances and five combined starts in Europe's elite club competition up to that point.
Milan's European campaign did not pan out as they would have hoped, losing their first three group stage matches and finishing bottom of the table in a punishing pool, but there was a dramatic away win at Atletico Madrid, and the Rossoneri twice took the game to eventual finalists Liverpool.
There may be departures along the way – and Milan will hope to receive a fee, unlike in Kessie's case – but this team should continue to grow together.
If Milan's players progress as they have done so far, there will be plenty more title challenges – and perhaps even a tilt at an eighth European crown soon enough.
Barcelona 4-2 Valencia: Lewandowski hat-trick leads Barca to 4-2 win over 10-man Valencia
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half hat-trick to help his side fight back to claim a hard-fought 4-2 win over Valencia, who were leading 2-1 when they were reduced to 10 men just before the break.
Fermin Lopez's header from a Raphinha cross put Barca in front after 22 minutes, but Valencia's Hugo Duro struck in the 27th and Pepelu scored from the spot after a foul by Ronald Araujo 11 minutes later to give the visitors the lead.
But after Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili saw red for a handball outside the box before the break, Xavi's side dominated and Lewandowski scored with two headers from corners in the 49th and 82nd minutes before getting his treble with a free-kick in added time.
The win postponed Real Madrid's almost inevitable LaLiga title celebrations for a couple of weeks as Carlo Ancelotti's side sit atop the standings on 84 points.
Barcelona moved back to second in LaLiga on Monday with 73 points as they leapfrogged surprise package Girona, who are third with 71. Those two teams will meet in a Catalonia derby on Saturday.
Data debrief
Barcelona conceded two goals in the first half of a home game for the second time this season, after also doing so against Girona in LaLiga in December 2023.
However, Lewandowski's goals have been invaluable to La Blaugrana this season as he's earned 17 points with his 16 goals in the league.
Kimmich ready to open Bayern Munich talks amid Barcelona speculation
Joshua Kimmich is ready to open talks with Bayern Munich over his future at the club amid speculation linking him with Barcelona.
The Germany international has spent nine years at the Allianz Arena, but he is due to become a free agent at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Barca have been repeatedly linked with Kimmich in recent transfer windows and are said to retain an interest ahead of next season.
Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, the midfielder talked up Barca - as well as fierce rivals Real Madrid - but fell short of saying he is open to a move.
"I want to talk to Bayern. When I do that, I won't go out and talk to the press about it," he said.
"I'm not thinking about this. I will speak to Bayern first. But of course, Barcelona and Real Madrid are amazing clubs with an amazing history."
Kimmich has played 37 times in all competitions this season for Bayern, whose last remaining hope of silverware is in the Champions League.
Bayern will face Real Madrid over two legs for a place in the final, with the first match in that double-header taking place in Bavaria on Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel will depart the dethroned Bundesliga champions at the end of the season, with Ralf Rangnick the favourite to succeed him.
The managerial uncertainty is not helping with regards to the Kimmich rumours, but he insists that will not be a deciding factor on his future.
"It's not the most important thing right now," he said. "I know that when you sign a contract you don't sign it with the coach.
"You sign it with the club. For me, the most important thing is the club, not just the coach.
"But it's also important to know what the coach thinks about you and the team. Other people in the club can worry about choosing the coach."
Desailly calls on LaLiga to do more to protect Vinicius Junior
Marcel Desailly has called on LaLiga to do more to protect Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior and other players who have been targeted by racist abuse.
Vinicius broke down at a press conference earlier this month as he opened up about the abuse he has received from the stands while representing Madrid.
The Brazil international is not alone in that regard, with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni another example, and World Cup winner Desailly wants more to be done.
"Vinicius has spoken out, but it's not about him - it's about LaLiga and the people who can take action," he told Stats Perform.
"We have the power to change things, but we are not doing enough. Samuel Eto'o had the same issue before.
"Vinicius is one of those who is suffering because the administrative people in charge are not willing to hit harder than they are."
Vinicius has been a key player for LaLiga champions-elect Madrid once again this season with 13 goals and five assists in 23 outings.
Desailly regards Vinicius, who scored the winning goal in the 2022 Champions League final, as one of the finest players of his generation.
"He's a very ambitious player," Desailly said. "I think he's improved a lot because he is now clinical in assisting and finishing.
"When you look at someone like Ousmane Dembele, his stats are not as good.
"Then you look at Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka, another who has improved - there is potential for each of those to get close to Vinicius."
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