In the end, Milan’s performance was a tale of two halves as they led 2-0 at the break due to goals from Luka Romero and Fikayo Tomori.
Federico Valverde scored two quick goals shortly before the hour mark to tie the game for the La Liga team. Vinicius Jr. then scored the game-winning goal in the closing 10 minutes.
Regardless of the outcome, Stefano Pioli’s team had a helpful runout on the west coast of the United States because several of the returning foreign players got some playing time.
Pioli chose a starting lineup that probably wouldn’t have been his first choice, including players like Marco Sportiello, Jan-Carlo Simic, Alessandro Florenzi, Tommaso Pobega, Junior Messias, and Lorenzo Colombo. This was because Milan’s international players weren’t available to start because they had just returned to training.
The first meaningful opportunity of the contest belonged to the team that was given the privilege of playing at home that night when Valverde fizzed a low effort just wide of Sportiello’s left-hand post.
With Milan players receiving jeers every time they received the ball, it was immediately clear from the opening exchanges that the vast majority of the 100,000 spectators there were Real Madrid supporters.
The first hint of dangҽr for Milan came in the 17th minute when Mendy gave Colombo the ball after some deft pressing work. Colombo then blasted fiercely from the edge of the box, just missing the bar.
Shortly after, Ruben Loftus-Cheek went in a heap grabbing the back of his ankle after what appeared to be a foul, but he was able to continue.
The first hint of dangҽr for Milan came in the 17th minute when Mendy gave Colombo the ball after some deft pressing work. Colombo then blasted fiercely from the edge of the box, just missing the bar.
Shortly after, Ruben Loftus-Cheek went in a heap grabbing the back of his ankle after what appeared to be a foul, but he was able to continue.
Shortly after, Loftus-Cheek gained control of the ball and quickly outran Real before passing the ball to Junior Messias, who curled a shot just wide and past the top corner.
Messias collapsed holding his hip just after the halfway point, prompting Pioli to decide to remove him from the game; Luka Romero, a summer acquisition, took his place.
Primrose’s center back Due to Matteo Gabbia’s impending move to Villarreal, Simic received the start. Simic delivered an excellent block to stop Militao’s shot inside the area.
Romero made a truly remarkable first impression. Krunic did a fantastic job winning the ball back high up the field three minutes before the break.
At the half, Real Madrid made eight substitutions and substituted some of their strong hitters, including Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, Modric, Tchouameni, Alaba, and Ruddier.
After Vinicius proceeded on a weaving run inside the box, where he slid past Tomori and shot with the outside of his boot, Sportiello made a magnificent stop to preserve the two-goal lead.
However, a present was what came next a few minutes later. Valverde fired another long ball, and although Sportiello should have made a straightforward stop, the ball ultimately sailed straight through him despite a minor deflection.
In his brief appearance, Leao was electrifying and nearly scored with one of his lethal darts to the left. Tijjani Reijnders’ shot was stopped after Romero raced his defender to the byline and set him up, but Romero missed the rebound when he should have done better.
Giroud’s free kicƙ from about 25 yards out provided the game’s final opportunity, and he came dangҽrously close to burying it with Lunin thoroughly outmatched.
The following match for Milan will take place against Juventus on Friday morning early at the Dignity Health Sports Park.