AC Milan made it two wins out of two in their 2024 Soccer Champions Tour campaign as they beat Real Madrid 1-0 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Head coach Paulo Fonseca made some changes to the starting line-up that played in New York against Manchester City, with Malick Thiaw coming in for Matteo Gabbia, Mattia Liberali occupying the playmaker role and Marco Nasti up front.
Milan made a very positive start to the game and could have taken the lead inside four minutes through Samuel Chukwueze. A loose pass inside the Real Madrid box fell to the Nigerian winger, whose low shot was well saved by Courtois from a central position.
Three minutes later, another chance was spurned by the Rossoneri. This time a flowing attack saw Chukwueze feed Mattia Liberali who poked the ball through to Marco Nasti, but again Courtois came to the rescue by saving with his legs.
There was another demonstration of Milan’s ability to go from defence to attack quickly in the 13th minute when Lorenzo Torriani started a move that ended with a cut-back from the right side, yet Saelemaekers saw his shot blocked at the far post when it looked like the goal was gaping.
The only other two opportunities of note in the first half involved shots that narrowly missed the target. Chukwueze bent an effort just wide of the far top corner after cutting inside in the 24th minute, then Brahim Diaz wasn’t far off scoring with a curled attempt after the hydration break.
In the 55th minute, Milan took a lead that their pressure had probably warranted. A loose pass out from defence by Real was pounced on by Fikayo Tomori, and Mattia Liberali did well to slide a ball through for Chukwueze who finished low and hard past Lunin.
Two minutes later, it should have been 2-0. Davide Calabria seized a stray pass and Chukwueze pulled the ball back to Liberali, who shot just over with the keeper out of the equation.
A few minutes after the hour mark, the Rossoneri came close again and this time it was the crossbar that denied them. A teasing free-kick from Ismael Bennacer met the head of Malick Thiaw, who was inches away from scoring.
A number of changes came in minute 65, with Christian Pulisic, Luka Jovic, Alex Jimenez, Pierre Kalulu and Yunus Musah coming on. Nasti, Liberali, Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek and Terracciano came off.
Pulisic could have netted his first preseason goal in his home country not long after coming off the bench when Chukwueze did well to find his run in behind the defence yet Lunin was equal to his shot.
With 12 minutes left, some more changes were made: Tommaso Pobega, Matteo Gabbia, Hugo Cuenca and Andrea Bakoune came on, while Bennacer, Thiaw, Chukwueze and Saelemaekers went off. Francesco Camarda also got the final few minutes, replacing Tomori.
Chuky is in red hot form right now. Lets hope this continues. I like what I see. And I do like Torriani…
Quite impressed with the team. We can see a style of play and urgency in their game. Think Calabria was decent , Loftus cheek and Bennecer as well. Chukwueze seems re-born and Libero decent. I think we need to give the keeper a chance, quite impressed with him. Generally the team played well.
I get that Chuk was motm as he played most of it.
Honestly the assist from Liberali was a thing of beauty. He had a number of quality moments.
Torriani looks like he’s 25 without a care in the world.
Jimenez in the lat 30 min was maurading the left
Calabria for the first 60 looked like the dependable, lunch pail RB we need to let the LB roam.
Puli looks dangerous no matter where he is on the field.
Saleamakers was strong against Vasquez and created a sense of danger regularly.
There is rather a lot to be excited about in the depth of our squad and the prospects that Futuro will develop.
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Finally, the speed by which we transitioned between defense and attack was clearly more than the RM players were ready to handle.
Forza Milan.
That’s where we’ve fallen short under Pioli, that ability to transition between defence and attack at pace and speed. It was imo the reason for most of our failures last season. So far under Fonseca the team set up looks good
Torriani is new Donnarumma. He should be Maignan backup while waiting Sportiello to recover
better than spending time and money on a new GK
I haven’t watched the game. How was Bennacer-RLC pair doing in the middle?
Bennacer was good. RLC ran with the ball too much and ran into presses which he couldn’t get out of. But it was better than him playing as a CAM. However I actually now see why Pioli used him as a CAM tbh. It basically the only place he could play without being much of a liability. At least if he lost the ball upfield then we have lots of players to recover but if he loses it in midfield it’s much worse. That being said, it’s the best combo this preseason but that’s not saying much as the alternative is Pobega and Adli.
So you mean he isn’t a good player. Should have sold him if there is any buyer. In essence, he is a typical EPL benchwarmer with good physique.
Who was it that says Milan is gonna get clapped
3-0
2-0
5-0
Each game?