AC Milan have officially gone another Serie A season without winning the Scudetto.

While there's no denying that the Rossoneri have made great strides in the 2020/21 season, coming up short to Inter Milan marks a decade without the legendary club conquering Italian football.

You have to cast your minds back to the 2010/11 campaign to see AC Milan leading the way on native soil but in actual fact, their ten-year drought at the San Siro was actually very avoidable.

2011/12 Serie A title race

Well, that's if you believe former AC Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino who believes that a crazy moment during the 2011/12 title race with Juventus changed the course of the club's history forever.

Speaking on The Italian Football Podcast, Nocerino referred to the infamous 'ghost goal' that would have put AC Milan 2-0 up during their critical clash with the Old Lady on home turf.

However, despite replays clearly showing that Sulley Muntari had bundled the ball past Gianluigi Buffon and into the net, the match-day officials didn't deem it as a goal and simply waved play on.

'Changed the history of Milan'

In the end, Juventus bagged a late equaliser through Alessandro Matri, ensuring that the clash of the giants ended 1-1 and Antonio Conte's men ultimately went onto snatch AC Milan's crown.

“It wasn't after the game everyone went mad, it was straight after the goal," Nocerino reflected. "It was incredible, it was a goal. Buffon moved behind his goal-line when he clawed the ball.

“This moment changed the future of Milan. With this goal, Milan would have won the Scudetto. The big players – Zlatan and Thiago Silva – wouldn't have left the club that summer.

"The club would have invested more money to win as well going forward. So this ghost goal changed the history of Milan.

“If Milan had won the Scudetto, Zlatan and Thiago would have stayed, Milan for sure would have won more Scudetti.”

AC Milan's 'ghost goal' vs Juventus

Certainly big claims from Nocerino, but it's not difficult to put two and two together in terms of that damning chain reaction for AC Milan, so be sure to check out the moment of madness down below:

What could have been?

In the end, Juventus won the 2011/12 title with an unbeaten record, which could easily never have happened if Muntari's goal had been allowed to stand and the Turin club trailed 2-0 early on.

However, there's no denying that the incorrect decision contributed to AC Milan losing their grip on Italy's throne and encouraged Silva and Ibrahimovic to seek pastures new in the summer of 2012.

So, who knows? Perhaps AC Milan were just a more accurate linesman and quieter transfer activity from Paris Saint-Germain away from denying Juventus' nine consecutive Serie A title triumphs.