At first attempt, Alberto Zaccheroni led AC Milan to their 16th Scudetto in the 1998/1999 Italian Serie A season where they pipped Sven Goran Eriksson led SS Lazio to the title with just one point. He was appointed from Udinese Calcio where he brought in lethal striker Oliver Bierhoff and the defensive right winger Thomas Helveg to help win the title.
He introduced ACMilan to his unorthodox 3-4-3 formation, in which Bierhoff was a perfect center forward, scoring 20 goals in the league.
AC Milan had a marvelous second half of the season, in which it kept pace with Serie A championship leaders SS Lazio, then passing the Romans when they had a couple of slips. In the end, a win in the final day was more than enough to clinch AC Milan's first league title in three years.
Starting with the 1997–98 season, the UEFA Cup Final became a one-off match in a neutral stadium unlike the two legged affair of both finalists when it began in the 1971/1972 season and it was an all Italian affair between Inter Milan and SS Lazio played at Parc des Princes in Paris on May 6, 1998 with the Nerazzurri from Milan coming victorious with a 3-0 win.
