The Italian and Spanish giants will meet for the first time in nearly five years as the ICC continues in California.
02:05 BST, Sunday 5th August, Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara), BBC One
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After a series of negative articles chronicling their financial tribulations, Milan are back in the news for all the right reasons. With former player and coach Leonardo installed as sporting director and investment firm Elliott Management Corporation now steering the club, it’s their transfer dealings that are filling the headlines.
Juventus pair Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara have arrived as part of a swap deal which sees Leonardo Bonucci head the other way – an arrangement considered a coup for Leonardo and his team.
This follows the €20 million acquisition of striker Nikola Kalinic from Fiorentina and the free transfer of Pepe Reina from Napoli. The Italians should be in a positive mood heading in to this clash against the reigning La Liga champions despite brewing uncertainty about the future of boss Gennaro Gattuso.
Barcelona have already spent over €130 million on new recruits this summer with winger Malcom arriving from Bordeaux, centre back Clement Lenglet making the switch from La Liga rivals Sevilla, 21-year-old midfielder Arthur moving from Gremio and Arturo Vidal joining from Bayern Munich.
Both sides still have well over two weeks to prepare for the new season and both will look to bounce back from recent defeats.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Milan [International Champions Cup]
Gattuso fielded a strong lineup in their last outing, but fell to a young and inexperienced Tottenham side. The Italians outplayed their opponents early on and could have been three goals up before half-time save for Patrick Cutrone’s wastefulness in front of goal – Suso impressing on the right.
Unable to make the breakthrough, Gattuso’s men inevitably came under pressure as Spurs grew into the game. With just a minute of the second half played Georges-Kevin Nkoudou latched onto a loose pass from Davide Calabria and rifled the ball into the roof of the net via Gianluigi Donnarumma’s fingertips.
Milan had chances to equalise before a raft of substitutions disrupted the flow of the game with both sides valuing fitness and tactical preparation over results at this stage of pre-season.
Barcelona 2-4 Roma [International Champions Cup]
Barcelona followed their ICC penalty shootout win over Tottenham Hotspur with a defeat at the hands of AS Roma.
The Italian side twice came from behind to stun the Spanish champions at the AT&T Stadium. Rafinha put Ernesto Valverde’s men ahead after just six minutes before Stephan El Shaarawy equalised following an assist from recent recruit Justin Kluivert, son of former Barcelona player Patrick.
Then the inevitable happened as Roma’s top summer transfer target Malcom, who signed for the Catalans instead, scored against his former suitors to make it 2-1, Jean-Yves Tabla providing the assist.
The Blaugrana fielded all three newcomers, but made ten substitutions in the second half with mainly reserve players taking to the field.
AC Milan Lineup
New signing Ivan Strinic has arrived at Milanello but will not join up with the squad in the USA while the deals for Higuain and Caldara won’t complete in time for them to feature this weekend.
Bonaventura could return in midfield with Andre Silva replacing Cutrone up front while Donnarumma may start ahead of Pepe Reina.
Barcelona Predicted Lineup:
Barcelona will still be without Leo Messi, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Sergi Samper who are all training back in Spain.
Rafinha trained away from the main group on Thursday and could miss out with Collado stepping in.
Key Battle: Suso (Milan) vs Marc Cucurella (Barcelona)
Both regular internationals for Spain at youth level, Suso and Cucurella could deliver the game’s most intriguing battle, providing they both play.
The Milan player was one of their brightest performers against Tottenham and is set to feature heavily for the club this term. Now aged 24, the former Liverpool player is entering his prime and has ambitions to be a regular for his national senior team.
He gave Tottenham’s Anthony Georgiou a tough time in the last game and will look to cause similar problems for compatriot Cucurella.
The Barcelona youngster was a regular in Barcelona B’s promotion winning side of 2016/17 and earned his first senior call up just a few months later, replacing Lucas Digne in a 3-0 Copa del Rey win at Murcia. With Lucas Digne now departed, the door is open for the Catalan-born left-back.
Talking Points
Can Andre Silva finally make an impact in Milan?
Having arrived on a five-year deal worth €38 million last summer and being handed the prestigious number nine shirt, expectations were high for the former Porto man. However, despite some impressive performances and an eight-goal return in Europe his league form was disappointing.
His first Serie A goal, a last-minute header winner away to Genoa, didn’t come until March, although it earned his team all three points. The second of his two league goals came a week later, an 82nd minute strike that sealed a 3-2 win at home to Chievo.
Still only 22, Silva has had a year to adapt to the league and life in a different country. It is now up to him to stake his claim as a first team regular. A task that will be even harder once Higuain arrives.
Will Gattuso still be the coach at the start of the season?
Milan have done some good business since the board room shakeup earlier this summer and could bring in more new faces before the season begins in just over two weeks. The question is whether they will persist with Gattuso.
A club legend with a majority support amongst the fan-base, Gattuso galvanised a squad lacking in confidence and direction and guided them to a sixth place finish last term. With expectations higher this season the club could call on the experience of Antonio Conte to take them to the next level.
Pre-season performances are unlikely to influence any decision, but fans of the Rossoneri will be keen for the matter to be resolved one way or another before the start of the season.
Prediction: Milan 2-2 Barcelona
With both teams likely to adopt attacking formations, fans should expect an open game. However, with a flurry of second half substitutions also probable, it’s hard to pick out a clear winner. Both sides lost last time out, so avoiding defeat will be the priority.
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