Early career Abate started playing football with
amateur club Rescaldina, before joining
AC Milan's
youth system in 1999. During the
2003–04 season, he made his professional debut, playing in a
Coppa Italia game against
Sampdoria on 3 December. He made his debut, in
European competitions, in a
Champions League group-stage game versus
Celta Vigo on 9 December. In that match, he set the record as the youngest Milan player to ever play in the
UEFA Champions League, at 17 years and 27 days.
Various loan spells (2004–2007) For the
2004–05 season, he was
loaned out to
Napoli in
Serie C1, where he made 29 appearances and scored 2 goals. his proposed loan to the
Blucerchiati was terminated by his parent club, who then loaned him to
Serie B side
Piacenza, where he made 13 appearances.
The following campaign was more successful for the young winger, who made 38 appearances during his loan spell at
Modena. That year, he also scored his first goal in Serie A, in a match against
Genoa, on 27 April 2008. Following Empoli's relegation, Milan fully purchased him for €2 million as well as
Luca Antonini for €2.75M (and sold
Nicola Pozzi and
Lino Marzoratti for €4.75M total fee) only to send him to
Torino in another co-ownership deal, for
€2 million. Despite an early
injury, he had a good
season, featuring in 25 games and scoring 1
goal. and this time he was included in the team squad for the upcoming
2009–10 season. After serving mainly as a reserve
midfielder in the first few games, he later started to be employed as the regular
right back by Milan head coach,
Leonardo. He made 36 appearances in his first season back at Milan. New coach
Allegri kept him in the same position for the
2010–11 season. His
dribbling skills and speed in the
right wing allowed him to outrun opponent
defenders, while his
crossing into the centre also resulted in goals regularly. His solid defensive play also lent a hand in winning Milan their 18th Scudetto and the
Supercoppa Italiana. He made 37 appearances in total in his second season back at Milan.
The following season, Abate was again the starting right back at Milan, making 40 appearances in all competitions. On 25 September 2013, Abate scored his first Milan goal after nearly a decade since his debut, a 92-minute equalizer in a 3–3 away draw against
Bologna. In the
2014–15 season, Abate
captained Milan for the first time in his career, the first time in a 2–0 loss to
Palermo on 2 November 2014. Abate made his 200th Milan appearance on 9 May 2015 in a 2–1 win over
Roma. On 11 June 2015, Milan announced Abate had signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2019. Abate played as a regularly starting right-back in the
2015–16 season. One notable moment for him occurred on 22 February 2016, when he made an excellent sliding tackle on
Lorenzo Insigne on the right wing, preventing him from scoring a second goal in a 1–1 away draw against Napoli. In late March 2017, after initially being sidelined for Milan's following fixtures against
Chievo,
Juventus, and
Genoa, Abate was ruled out for the remainder of the
2016–17 season, due to requiring surgery after suffering "blunt force trauma" to his left eye, after being hit by a ball in the face during a match against
Sassuolo on 26 February. In late 2018, Abate temporarily assumed the role of a centre-back in the wake of an unexpected severe injury crisis that struck the team's defence. In this role, he was praised for his performances by the club's coach,
Gennaro Gattuso, and various Italian media outlets alike. On 19 May 2019, Abate made his final home appearance for Milan in a 2–0 win over
Frosinone at the
San Siro stadium. During the match, the
Milan Ultras of the Curva Sud saluted him by holding up a banner with the message "10 years of commitment and humility. You've gained the respect of the Ultras. Thank you Ignazio." Abate cried after seeing the message. His final appearance for the club came a week later, in a 3–2 away win over
SPAL on 26 May. == International career ==