The 1961–62 season gave way to Nereo Rocco as newly appointed manager [2] and Dino Sani's arrival[3] (replacing Jimmy Greaves in November) that provided President Andrea Rizzoli with the right amount of talent to aim for a championship win.

Young star Gianni Rivera initially struggled to gain playing time under new manager Nereo Rocco during the 1961–62 season, his second at the club, also being linked with loans to Vicenza and Juventus, but won his way back into the starting line-up and played a decisive role, scoring 10 goals in the league.

[4] The season started with success at home against Juventus (5-1), and then created an unstoppable winning streak for Milan, that would see them only lose once in twenty-one matches.

While Juventus was nowhere near the top contention that year, Inter, Fiorentina, and Bologna were the only true runner-ups for the scudetto race.

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