Real Madrid and AC Milan will meet at Chicago’s Soldier Field on Wednesday for a prestigious pre-season friendly. The reigning Spanish and European champions will be without Kylian Mbappe, as the French superstar is not due to return to training with his new teammates until next week, but his newly arrived compatriot Endrick is expected to join his teammates in the United States soon. On the other side of the pitch, Christian Pulisic is back in Milan after summer duty at the Copa America with the United States men’s national team.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have not played a major game since their UEFA Champions League triumph over Borussia Dortmund in London. Real have now won 15 UEFA Champions League titles and will be expected to consolidate that dominance with Mbappe in their ranks, alongside Vini Jr. and Jude Bellingham. A 3-0 win over Albacete kicked off preparations for this campaign and Barcelona and Chelsea still have to travel to the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta, which could see Mbappe make his debut.
AC Milan now have Paulo Fonseca at the helm, with the Portuguese returning to Serie A after two years at Lille OSC. The Rossoneri will now be keen to challenge for the Italian title after losing to their bitter rivals last season. A defeat to AS Roma before a draw with SK Rapid Wien and a win over Manchester City mean results have been mixed so far, with the arrival of Alvaro Morata to lead this new-look side after leading Spain to success at UEFA Euro 2024.
Here are our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday July 31 | Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Soldier Field – Chicago, United States
- Watch: ESPN+
- Odds: Milan +189; Draw +276; Real +110
New faces
While not all the new faces will be there, Mbappe and Endrick are the main signings this summer for Real, who will start life without the retired Toni Kroos and the recently departed Nacho Fernandez and Joselu. On the Milan side, Morata is the main new name, alongside Alex Jimenez, who arrived this summer from Real, while the experienced pair Olivier Giroud and Simon Kjaer have both been allowed to leave.
Team News
Milan: Jimenez could make his debut against his former club while Samuel Chukwueze is having a good pre-season and registered two assists against City. Otherwise, expect to see a mix of youth and experience with Fikayo Tomori, Tommaso Pobega, Ismael Bennacer, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alexis Saelemaekers among the more well-known names expected to start.
Possible eleven from Milan: Torriani; Calabria, Tomori, Gabbia, Terracciano; Pobega, Bennacer; Chukwueze, Loftus-Cheek, Saelemaekers; Dove.
Real: Eder Militao was in the US for the Copa America and will join his teammates later in the tour with Vini Jr. and Rodrygo, but Endrick is present and should be there. Otherwise, expect to see Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, Dani Ceballos, Arda Guler and former Milan player Brahim Diaz.
Possible real XI: Courteous; Vazquez, Vallejo, Rudiger, Garcia; Ceballos, Paz, Güler; Diaz, Endrick, Latasa.
Prediction
It’s unlikely to be a goal-fest, although you can never really tell in pre-season given the number of changes usually made during games, this one should be decided by one or two goals. With Milan further along in their summer preparations than Real, an Italian victory seems logical. Take: Milan 1, Real 0.
