AC Milan closed out their 2025 preseason schedule with games against two Premier League opponents, and the results were mixed.
Firstly, Milan faced off against newly-promoted Leeds United at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and took the lead in the first-half through Santiago Gimenez. However, they would be forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in the Saturday afternoon game.
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Then, the Rossoneri played Club World Cup winners Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and were beaten 4-1. Youssouf Fofana got the only goal for the visitors, though it must be said that it was a weakened side and not helped by Andrei Coubis’ early red card.
What did we learn from the final two friendlies, which come just a week before the competitive curtain-raiser at San Siro against Bari? Rohit Rajeev picked out some tactical points, mostly from the Leeds game given what the Chelsea match turned into.
System switches and shape
Milan alternated between 5-3-2 and 5-4-1, with Musah tucking in as right wing-back and Magni slotting in as the third centre-back.
This gave them width in defence while keeping the central block compact. Makes me feel our starting formation was a 3-4-2-1 more than a 4-3-3.
High press: Milan pressed high with a man-oriented scheme, forcing Leeds’ goalkeeper Perri into chipped balls toward the wingers. The aim? Cut off central build-up and force play into the wide traps.
Flexible build-up: Milan alternated between 2+2 and 3+2 build-up shapes, adapting to Leeds’ pressing structure. This fluidity helped them find the free man and bypass the first press.
Milan looked to overload the wide areas creating 3v2’s and 2v1’s forcing Leeds to over commit men to the wide areas creating space in the inside areas.
Half-space exploitation: Milan consistently found pockets in the half-spaces to break down Leeds’ block, creating angles for progression and pulling defenders out of shape.
— Rohit Rajeev (@RohitRajee23232) August 10, 2025
The goal sequence: Milan’s goal came from Chukwueze’s smart positioning, with Musah staying wide to stretch the defence, space opened inside for Chukwueze to attack & finish.
— Rohit Rajeev (@RohitRajee23232) August 10, 2025
Magni’s freedom: Allegri repeatedly let Magni overlap and underlap, creating overloads in different zones of the pitch. This unpredictability kept Leeds guessing and disrupted their defensive shape.
Signs from the Bridge
Chelsea pressed high in a 5-3-2, so Milan countered with a 3+2 build-up shape. With Musah stretching the pitch wide, the progressive pass found him, while RLC positioned himself at an angle between two Chelsea players to break the press.
Milan continued to overload the Chelsea’s right side as Neto was seen as a weak link. Neto would jump out to press Bartesaghi and with Enzo not moving up quickly it creates space for Modric to pass to Saelemaekers who is able to play on Reece James in a 1v1.
Milan’s goal mirrored the build-up that created Giménez’s chance against Leeds. With Saelemaekers pulling wide, Chalobah failed to close the half-space, and with Andrey Santos occupied by Modric, Saelemaekers slipped the ball through to Fofana.
There is an element to Milans play that I wish Allegri will address and sort out. Both Fonse and Conce completely failed in it and I saw it again against Chelsea. Our off the ball runs are just not up to standard. We are too static sometimes creating opportunities for opponents to press us down quickly and create turnovers. Especially when trying to play out from the back. We are too predictable and easily cornered for this level of the game. Wish the current coach can work on that, it’s one of our weaknesses thats why we battled against the low block teams all season.
you understand ball
Very, very true. That has been our main issue in the past three seasons. As long as they want to play to Leao’s strength then our off the ball movement will continue to be poor. Let’s hope our midfielders can pick up the pace. One player that was very good in off the ball movement was bennacer and he’s already not in the plans
Allegri has no tactics. His tactic is to defend and play on counters. Possession 30%. We will see that all season, and Milan does not have the players to defend the entire match.
“Allegri has no tactics. His tactic is to defend and play on counters.”
WTF are you talkinng about LOL
He doesn’t…for a system of play in the offensive phase moreso (defence he just wants the team to sit back and be compact). Were you not there the last time he was our coach at the club or are you too young? What’s the defining feature of Allegri ball? I’m dying to hear it
LOL
Ok old man so can you give me a definition of tactic according to old fossil like you? Are tactic is only about attacking for you? Defense is only about sit back and be compact? LOL
Defending is not a system or style of play because you don’t have the ball.
Again, answer the question What’s the defining feature of Allegri ball?
If you want to play attacking, you need to have strong central FW dan good AMF, look at Man City, Barca, Bayetn, Inter etc (Arsenal is exceptional, which doesnt have a good CF). Something that Milan lack off for years.
We have Leao, who is excellence at counter. So, the game is building around him. Now we have good MF’s and with addition FW probably we could have good season.
Allegri’s best action is to unify the team.
We’re about to have the strongest midfield in Serie A. Nobody will be close to us. We need competent defending and another #9.
Yes my brother that coach has no tactics u can only win in Italy but outside Italy no way sometimes I dnt understand Milan from the fluid football to defensive minded game this coach is sick for my liking
Tactical Review: AC Milan 1–4 Chelsea
The scoreline flatters Chelsea — the game was far more balanced than the result suggests. Milan showed structure, discipline, and moments of high-quality build-up play, but key individual errors proved decisive.
Goal 1 (Chelsea) – An unfortunate own goal from a young defender. No system breakdown here, simply an unlucky deflection.
Goal 2 (Chelsea) – This is where Milan’s experiment backfired. Tomori was placed as the central centre-back in a back three. It’s not his natural position; his aerial vulnerability and hesitation in reading the striker’s movement were exposed. Allegri likely wanted to test his leadership in the most demanding defensive role — the result was costly.
Goal 3 (Chelsea) – A tactical domino effect. Coubis’ red card forced Milan to abandon their 3-4-2-1 for a compact 4-4-1. Musah, already playing out of position at right-back, was caught in a bad challenge, conceding a penalty. The positional reshuffle disrupted Milan’s defensive balance.
Goal 4 (Chelsea) – A quick one-two pass exploited the space between Tomori and Dutu, both still developing chemistry. Here, Milan’s lack of a natural defensive midfielder was glaring. Fofana’s box-to-box profile left the pivot unprotected — a true holding midfielder would have read and intercepted that pass before it reached the danger zone.
Milan’s Goal – Pure quality. A sequence of incisive passes split Chelsea’s lines and created a clear shooting opportunity — not a counterattack, but a deliberate and well-orchestrated attacking move.
Chelsea took their foot off the gas.. stop lying to y’all selves.. they hit posts a couple times and nearly scored twice on free kicks and carved us open while only I second gear. The scoreline is flattering…for us