Torino-Milan Preview: Facing Abate

Revenge is a dish best served up... on the pitch. And that is what I'm afraid of. Not only has Torino never forgiven us for the 7-0 smackdown we gave them five years ago in their house, now their manager is former Milan player, youth team manager, and ex-BFF of one Zlatan Ibrahimović, Ignazio Abate. Both his job and his friendship with the former Milan player and current RedBird Senior Advisor to Milan ended when Zlatan went all crazy diva soccer mom on both Abate and his father, Benjamino, who had worked for many years as a goalkeeping coach at Milan. Fast forward to 2026, and Abate is now at Torino, his first Serie A managing job, which also happens to be the club we play first this season. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to facing Abate.

It hurts to see him as the opposition manager, especially after the way Milan treated him.

Milan's Preseason: Press Restart

After setting Milan's management on fire and burning everything to the ground, Gerald Cardinale finally found a new manager and appointed a CEO, as well as promoting people to do the roles-formerly-known-as Technical and Sporting Directors. So, after welcoming new manager Rúben Amorim to Milanello and presenting him to the press, it was time to welcome back the players and get back to work. After a scrimmage with Milan Futuro on July 19th, Milan headed to Scotland to face Celtic on  for their first friendly of the season. Their next stop was Australia, where they played a 1-1 draw with Inter, then on to Indonesia, where they were destroyed 3-0 by Chelsea. Back home to Milano for a couple of days of rest, and then off to Poland to humiliate Manchester United, Amorim's former club, to wrap up Milan's preseason. Press restart.

Milan's restart includes a new manager and a (hopefully) a returning young talent.