Nils Erik Liedholm (8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish football midfielder and coach. Il Barone (The Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers along with Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl at A.C. Milan and the Swedish national team, with which he achieved notable success throughout his career. Liedholm was an offensive playmaker who was renowned for his excellent passing and crossing ability throughout his career, as well as his vision, control, class, and his elegant style of play; he is regarded as one of Milan's and Sweden's greatest ever players, and considered as one of the best players of the post-war era. As a coach, he was in charge of several teams in Italy, managing for nearly four decades; he is regarded as one of the most successful managers in Italian football history. At the end of the 20th century Liedholm was voted the best Swedish player of the millennium by the readers of Sweden's largest newspaper, Aftonbladet.

Liedholm joined his first club, Valdemarsviks IF, in 1938. In 1942 he joined IK Sleipner and in 1946 moved to IFK Norrköping, a bigger Swedish club with whom he won two Swedish league titles. During his time with Norrköping, he also earned 18 caps for the Swedish national team, winning the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. This eventually gave him the chance to join Milan in 1949. He made his Serie A debut on 11 September 1949 in a 3–1 win against Sampdoria. In his first season with Milan, the midfielder played 37 games and scored 18 goals. In 1951, Liedholm won the first of his four scudetto titles. Another three titles followed in 1955, 1957 and 1959. A player with a club that was having the best spell of its life up to that point, Liedholm also won the Latin Cup in 1951 and 1956 and was captain of Milan in the 1958 European Cup Final against Real Madrid, losing 2–3 (after extra time). It is said that Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano who, felt despite victory knew it was a match Milan could have won. Asking Liedholm to exchange shirts, Liedholm said to him "Keep it. That won't matter. The only thing that will be remembered from this match down the years is that Real Madrid won".

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