10 years ago, AC Milan signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, rescuing the 29-year-old from a fraught, unhappy period at Barcelona and immediately cemented themselves as title contenders in a Serie A that had groaned under the weight of a suffocating dynasty enjoyed by cross-city rivals Inter.
Inter had recently replaced Jose Mourinho with Rafa Benitez, and the Nerazzurri were struggling to adapt to a new era defined by the declining prowess of some of the foundational pieces that had won the treble the season before and had until then, a historic vice grip on the peninsula's premier league.
The arrival of Zlatan, partnering him with a quiet, thoughtful and tactically astute coach in Massimiliano Allegri, a tight defence and workhorse midfield, coalesced around the skills of their transcendent Swede and brought Il Diavolo's first title in seven years. It was a watershed moment for Italian football, breaking up a half-decade of dominance and re-affirming that the Serie A power pendulum mirrors every swing of the mercurial forward's boot. Gazetta dello Sport wrote the next day, 'Serie A is a league in which 20 teams compete and in the end, Zlatan Ibrahimovic wins.'
That period was an entire decade ago and for Milan, it was three ownerships, eight coaches and countless crises ago. It has been a tumultuous period since those heady days that brought Ibrahimovic and a Scudetto to Rossoneri hands but unbelievably, against all notions of logic, all pre-conceived rules of time and any hitherto accepted truths about a player's declining athletic ability after a certain age, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back in a Milan shirt and has turned his team into unlikely Scudetto candidates again.
The parallels do not end with the 39-year-old's mere reappearance. This time, a decade on from ending the black-and-blue stranglehold on Serie A in the late-aughts, Italian football had surrendered to a seemingly omnipotent champion in Juventus; a Bianconceri side that had adopted the role of schoolyard bully for nine successive seasons, turning a previously competitive league into a 19-team battle for second place.
However, in similar fashion to the post-Jose Inter, Juventus are displaying chinks in previously impenetrable amour. Like Inter, Juve replaced an out-going figure of consistency and European success in Massimiliano Allegri (remember him?) with a much more inexperienced one in first Maurizio Sarri and now a completely inexperienced one in Andrea Pirlo (think Benitez/Leonardo at Inter).
Like Inter in 2010, Juventus's foundational pieces are not as strong as in previous seasons. As deep and well-funded the current squad is, the league champions over-reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo, inconsistent performances from star Paolo Dybala and striker Alvaro Morata, ageing/declining/injury prone defenders in Leo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini and the now five year absence of a dominant midfield presence means the usually sealed shut window on title contention is ever so slightly open, even if just a sliver.
Meanwhile, at Via Turati, Milan are playing with an abundance and confidence not seen since a raised eyebrow was the leading facial expression patrolling San Siro's touchline. Once again, a side has been built around the strengths of their imposing forward - surrounding Ibra with pacey and hard-working wingers such as Alexis Saelemakers, Rafael Leao, Sami Castillejo and new signings Jens Petter Hauge and the exciting Brahim Diaz offering offensive incision and regularly stretching opposition defences.
In Stefano Pioli's 4-2-3-1, the combination of Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessie is at the moment the best midfield partnership in Italy, the former's passing range complimenting the latter's bulldozing runs and physicality. Simon Kjaer and the revitalised Davide Calabria have helped steady a defence that has survived a shaky return to fitness from captain Alessio Romagnoli and even has an attacking capacity shown by hardworking engine Theo Hernandez.
Under Pioli, a coach who has seemingly found his calling at Milan, is a teacher and tactician getting defensive solidity and attacking fluidity from a side that for years had displayed very little of either prior to his arrival. Milan additionally seem to have depth of quality where previously there had been no quality at all, able to rotate Diogo Dalot, Sandro Tonali and Ante Rebic alongside the aforementioned quadrant of widemen.
At the centre of it all is Ibrahimovic, a man who has powered his former and current club to 24 consecutive matches in Serie A without loss and having contributed to 23 goals in that time (17 goals, 6 assists) at the age of 39, a frankly astonishing feat that further establishes Zlatan as one of the most unique and impactful forwards in European football history.
Still possessing the size and strength to hold off defenders and dominate aerially, able to maintain possession and spray the ball out to wide players and into tight corners and between defenders, Ibrahimovic is a footballing juxtaposition. A leader and reference point, and still an intoxicating cocktail of power, presence and audacious technique.
No more can this be encapsulated in his goal and assist vs Udinese - the first a lofted ball that the striker brought under control with an awe dropping ease, holding a defender off with one arm as casually as one might hold a door for an oncoming stranger, before sliding a pass into Franck Kessie's path.
The goal, #11 rising up and striking an absurdly nonchalant overhead kick among the chaos of the 18 yard box after a poor clearance, highlights not only the Swede's skill, but the brazen confidence the man still possess as he approaches an age where many men are considering a poorly placed piercing or neon coloured car to maintain their youth. Zlatan maintains his rather more organically.
At some point this season, the run Milan are on will presumably end and balance will be restored as Juventus stroll to a 10th league title, the De Ligt-Dybala-Ronaldo core too much to overcome for a side built around several men in their early 20's and a striker nearly two decades their senior. But right now, Milan look like Champions League qualification could be a minimum expectation for a team that has not found success like this in over a decade. In fact, if you squint a little, it looks a lot like 2010 right about now.
