Riccardo Montolivo

Atalanta

Montolivo is a graduate of the Atalanta youth academy. He made his debut for the club in a Serie B match against Piacenza, coming onto the pitch as an 81st-minute substitute for Michele Marcoliniego. His first starting match came in a 2–1 win against Hellas Verona. From that match onwards, he was frequently in the starting line-up, scoring his first goal against Bari in a 2–0 win. Atalanta finished the 2003–04 season in fifth position and were promoted to Serie A. Montolivo missed the first matches of his debut season in Serie A because he was out with an injury. He made his Serie A debut in a 2–2 draw against Lecce. He scored goals in consecutive matches against Cagliari and Parma. On 23 January 2005, he received the first red card of his career in a match against Lecce. Atalanta finished last in the 2004–05 Serie A and was relegated. Montolivo won 32 caps and scored three goals in his debut season in the Serie A.

Fiorentina

In the summer of 2005, Fiorentina signed Montolivo in a co-ownership deal for €3.5 million. He subsequently signed a five-year contract. He was given the jersey number 18. During the 2005–06 season, Montolivo's first-team chances were limited, partly due to the fact he was still an inexperienced player and partly because manager Cesare Prandelli had a relatively stable and reliable squad of players at his disposal. However, Montolivo's talent did not go unrecognised – he became a regular fixture in the Italy national under-21…

Youth teams

Montolivo represented Italy at under-16, under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels before receiving his first cap for the senior team in 2007. Montolivo scored the winning goal when Italy's under-21 team defeated Spain 2–1 and qualified for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship on 10 October 2006. One year and seven days later, he made his debut for the senior team in a 2–0 friendly win against South Africa. Despite being ineligible for the 2007–08 season of the under-21 team, Montolivo capped once for the de facto Olympic team against the Dutch Olympic team in February 2008, where he was eligible for Beijing as underage player. Montolivo was included in Italy's provisional squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 by head coach Roberto Donadoni. However, he was omitted from the final 23-man squad. The same summer, Pierluigi Casiraghi called-up Montolivo to participate in the Olympic Games in Beijing. He scored one goal in four appearances as Italy were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Belgium.

Senior team

In October 2007, Montolivo was called by Roberto Donadoni to face Georgia in Euro 2008 qualifiers. He did not play in that match but made his debut in a 2–1 win in a friendly against South Africa. In May 2008, Montolivo was included in Italy's preliminary squad for the Euro 2008 final stages, but he was omitted from the final 23-man squad. However, Donadoni said Montolivo would be a key part of Italy's midfield in the future. Montolivo's second…

Montolivo has been described as a versatile player capable of playing anywhere in the midfield, especially on center positions. Originally a sweeper, he was moved higher up the pitch in his early teenage years. His main and favoured role is in the centre as a deep-lying playmaker, which best utilises his technical ability, creativity, vision, and range of passing, although he is also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder, even though this is not his preferred position. He also possesses an accurate and powerful shot from outside the penalty area. With the Italy national team, under Cesare Prandelli, Montolivo also played in a new role as false attacking midfielder in a 4–3–1–2 formation, in particular at Euro 2012; he has also been fielded in the "mezzala" role. In recent years, he has also been praised for his work-rate, physical qualities and for his defensive attributes, including his ability to read the game, intercept loose balls, break down possession and subsequently start attacking plays, which led manager Siniša Mihajlović to deploy him in a holding role as a ball-winner. However, Montolivo has also drawn criticism at times for his lack of pace, and has been accused of being inconsistent, and of lacking leadership qualities, despite having served as Milan's captain. He has also struggled with injuries throughout his career.

Montolivo was born to a German mother and an Italian father in Milan, soon before his family moved to Caravaggio, where he spent most of his childhood. He has an older brother Luca who is a lawyer. Montolivo is an atheist. In addition to holding an Italian passport, Montolivo also holds a German passport – his mother, Antje, was born in Kiel and later moved to Ascheberg and his maternal grandparents are from Heidkate at the Kieler Förde on the Baltic Sea coast, where he spent all of his summers as a child. In addition to Italian, Montolivo also speaks fluent German. In his youth, he looked upon Francesco Totti, Zinedine Zidane and Frank Lampard as his idols. On 22 May 2014, Montolivo married the Florentine model and presenter Cristina De Pin, with whom he had been engaged since 2007. The couple has two children, Mariam, born on 12 May 2016, and Mathias, born 20 October 2018.