AC Milan lost their final game of the USA pre-season tour as Barcelona scored the only goal thanks to Ansu Fati. With just under three weeks to go until the season opener, the Rossoneri have some work to do.
Stefano Pioli opted to field the expected starters for the upcoming season from the first minute, making just one change from the 2-2 draw against Juventus. Davide Calabria, who sustained an injury, was replaced by Alessandro Florenzi.
Milan started the game by looking rather sloppy, not pressing high and allowing Barcelona to have the majority of possession. As a result, the Spanish side also had the majority of chances at the start of the first half.
The Rossoneri made quite a few mistakes at the back, giving the ball away in dangerous chances, including a Christian Pulisic pass that set up a perfect chance for Jules Kounde. Fortunately for Milan, the latter’s shot hit the post and Fikayo Tomori then made a great block on the follow-up.
Milan’s first real chance came after 18 minutes and was the result of quick movements. Olivier Giroud laid it off to Ruben Loftus-Cheek and the English man then picked out Tijjani Reijnders in a good position. However, the shot was saved.
After that chance, the Rossoneri clearly improved a bit and the game was much more balanced, with both sides creating a few half-chances here and there. It was actually Milan that came closest towards the end, with Rafael Leao making a trademark run but then seeing his outside-of-the-boot effort saved.
Mike Maignan made a couple of saves in the final minutes of the first half but it was nothing too serious, with the scores remaining 0-0 as both teams headed into the break. Milan then made no chances for the second half, while Barca made quite a few.
The first dangerous chance of the second half also resulted in the first goal of the game. Ansu Fati received the ball on the right flank and rather easily beat Alessandro Florenzi, cutting inside before sending a very good effort past Maignan.
The goalkeeper certainly couldn’t do much about Fati’s shot, but his defensive teammates certainly could have done better to close the winger down. After beating Florenzi, in fact, there was loads of space for the Barca man to pick out the back of the net.
Milan’s first substitution of the game came after 64 minutes as Pierre Kalulu made his first appearance in the USA pre-season tour after recovering from an injury. He replaced Florenzi on the right-hand side.
Ten minutes later, Pioli also decided to bring on the likes of Simon Kjaer, Tommaso Pobega, Luka Romero and Lorenzo Colombo in place of Malick Thiaw, Rade Krunic, Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud. At this point, the game had gone a bit quiet, with the teams trading possession.
In the 76th minute, Milan had their biggest chance of the game as Tijjani Reijnders managed to steal the ball from Sergino Dest. He picked out Rafael Leao on the left flank and the Portuguese winger returned the favour, but the Dutchman completely mishit his shot from a great position. It’s a replay the midfielder won’t want to watch.
Four minutes later, Pioli brought on Davide Bartesaghi in place of Theo Hernandez and the Primavera star’s first action was a great block to deny Barca what looked like a certain goal, following a Kjaer mistake. The 17-year-old certainly has looked good in this pre-season.
Alexis Saelemaekers came on in place of Fikayo Tomtoi with four minutes to go and Milan did have a few half-chances to find the equaliser and take the game to penalties. However, Barcelona defended well and deservedly came away with the win in the end.
It was Milan’s final game of the pre-season tour in the United States and unfortunately, it ended on a negative note. The Rossoneri now have four friendlies remaining in Italy before their season opener against Bologna.
