Milan's second friendly in as many days and final preseason friendly this summer takes them to London. There, Milan will face this year's Conference League Winners and Club World Cup winners, Chelsea. Kickoff will be only 24 hours after Milan's 1-1 draw with Leeds in Dublin. But I'm sure Allegri will rely primarily on players he rested on Saturday to start. Meanwhile, Chelsea will also be playing their second friendly in just three days, having defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Friday at Stamford Bridge. They are also paying the terrible toll of playing in the Club World Cup this summer, with one big injury already. Whereas Milan are coming off of a season of shame and disappointment, Chelsea spent last season fighting to get back to where they belong, and so Milan will be clashing with champions Chelsea.
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| Chelsea won a giant trophy this summer, I wonder if their special friend will also be there on Sunday? |
Chelsea's manager is also Italian, Enzo Maresca. He has done wonders with this Chelsea side in the past year, after years of reckless overspending and neglect to Milan's once great Premier League feeder club. In addition to two trophies, they finished fourth in the Premier League this past season, qualifying for next year's Champions League.
Maresca spoke on Thursday about his squad and how he was going to manage integrating his newer players and also give some time to some young players in these two friendlies. His starting 11 vs. Bayer Leverkusen are less likely to play as much on Sunday, while he will be missing at least six players: Levi Colwill, who injured his ACL in that match and will now be out for the season; as well as Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Lavia, and Essugo. Mudryk is still suspended due to an alleged doping violation.
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| Thiaw's last appearance in a Milan jersey. |
As for Milan's Premier League feeder club, we still have a few of our Chelsea boys in the squad. Pulisic will not be at this one, but for Loftus-Cheek and Tomori, who both grew up in Chelsea's youth system, it will be like a homecoming to return to Stamford Bridge. Many Milan fans will be disappointed not to see our old friend João Félix in the Chelsea squad, though, after spending the second half of last season on loan with us. He recently joined Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Normally, I would be able to copy and past the available team from one day to the next. However, after Saturday's match, Thiaw said goodbye to the team and left for Newcastle to take medicals ahead of a reported transfer that will bring Milan €38 million plus potentially another €4 million in bonuses. A huge plusvalenza for a player that only cost €5 million plus a potential €2 million in bonuses three years ago. And quite ironic that he would go to Newcastle, too, as he came to Milan because Newcastle stole Botman from a tentative transfer agreement we had with him. Now they will have both.
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| Thiaw celebrating his goal vs. Real Madrid in the Champions League. |
Some may argue, but Thiaw was our best and most complete center back (hence the giant transfer fee.) Allegri also rated him highly, and it was reported that he and Tare begged him to the end to stay, offering him a renewal with €3 million annual wages (he has been on €800 thousand.) Thiaw has been looking to return to Germany or at least leave Milan since Maldini left, though. Maldini was the one who signed him and believed in him. Also, the opportunity to play in the Premier League and have Champions League football (and the reported €4m annual wages) was probably a dream come true after living in this hellish environment and spending too much time on the bench this past season.
However, the price Milan will pay for making such a foolish decision just one week ahead of their first competitive match may actually be costly. Fans think we can just grab any center back from any other team we want with this money, but Furlani is unlikely to reinvest the full amount given we have no Champions League this year. And what team would part with a starting center back at this point in the transfer window? That's right, only Milan. Which leaves our defense threadbare, rather than reinforced, as promised. Did I mention our first competitive match is in a week?
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| Jashari's debut was everything we'd hoped for, even just in a friendly. |
Back to the Chelsea match, though, the players who have traveled to London are:
Goalkeepers: Maignan, Pittarella, Pietro Terracciano, Torriani
Defenders: Bartesaghi, Coubiş, Duțu, Estupiñan, Gabbia, Magni, Pavlović, Filippo Terracciano, Thiaw, Tomori
Midfielders: Victor Eletu, Fofana, Ardon Jashari, Loftus-Cheek, Luka Modrić, Musah, Ricci, Sala
Forwards: Chukwueze, Okafor, Leão, Saelemaekers, Diego Sia, Gimenez
* Milan Futuro or Primavera players are indicated with italics, new players are indicated with bold italics
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| The starting 11 vs. Leeds. |
Against Leeds, Milan played well in the first half, and obviously, Santi scored a goal in his first match back, which was very positive. Jashari made his Milan debut and did very well, and it was nice to see so many of the young players get some time as well. Leeds dominated the second half, though, and our defense was shaky enough without now losing another important player. Curious that Allegri subbed Torriani on as soon as Pietro Terracciano conceded the goal – that could not have been great for Terracciano's confidence. Amongst the positive performances from young players, Diego Sia nearly scored a couple of times, he definitely tried to make his mark.
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| Celebrating Santi's goal. |
Since Milan struggled so much vs. Leeds, it is difficult to imagine a more successful match vs. Chelsea. Sure, Allegri held back some of his best players, but this is a team still under construction, not to mention that it will be the second match in 24 hours. In his postmatch comments Saturday, he spoke more of getting to know his players, even though obviously, he will always play to win. I would assume that Maresca will be doing the same, with only 24 hours more rest, but at least playing at home. It seems like this will be a difficult match to expect a result in, but that is what happens when clashing with champions, Chelsea.
This post inspired by the music of Baby Lasagna's "Biggie Boom Boom"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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