Barcelona will take on European rivals AC Milan in a friendly in Las Vegas. The Catalan outfit recorded a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in their last match on Saturday. Milan will enter the contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with Juventus on Thursday.
Preview (AC Milan vs Barcelona)
Milan has played twice this summer, beginning its season-starting preparations with a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid. They finished with a 2-2 tie against Juventus on Thursday. The Italian powerhouses will now play their final two summer friendlies against Barcelona and Monza before opening the 2023–24 Serie A season on the road against Bologna on August 21. Sandro Tonali was the team’s main departure, but Stefano Pioli’s club added seven new players this summer: Samuel Chukwueze, Christian Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Noah Okafor, Luka Romero, and Marco Sportiello.
The Red and Blacks finished fourth in Serie A last season despite reaching the Champions League semifinals. They will be expected to mount a title assault in the upcoming season. Folarin Balogun of Arsenal is one of the players that has been connected with a move to San Siro during the summer transfer window. Milan is still reportedly trying to sign a center-forward.
Pre-Season
Barcelona, meanwhile, lost to Arsenal 5-3 to begin their preseason for the 2023–24 season before defeating Real Madrid 3-0 on Saturday night. In El Clasico, Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal before Fermin Lopez and Ferran Torres added goals late on. Xavi’s team was in fantastic form against its enmity rivals in Texas. Barcelona will play Milan to close out their preseason tour of the United States before facing Tottenham Hotspur in the Joan Gamper Trophy final on August 8. On August 13, Barcelona will host Getafe to start their La Liga season.
Despite their financial difficulties, Xavi’s club has added three players this summer in Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan, and Inigo Martinez. They are still looking to acquire more players before the transfer window closes. Attackers Bernardo Silva of Manchester City and Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid have both been linked with moves to the club in recent weeks, but negotiations for either player are now viewed as challenging due to budgetary constraints.
Team News
Davide Calabria left the match against Juventus early due to injury. He will be unavailable for Milan. Pioli won’t make many adjustments to the lineup from the match against the Old Lady, but Tommaso Pobega might go to the middle of the field and Alessandro Florenzi might start at right-back. In the last third of the pitch, Rafael Leao, Pulisic, and Olivier Giroud should all be present. Romero will start on the bench. As for Barcelona, Andreas Christensen and Gundogan were both forced off against Real Madrid due to injuries sustained from muscular strain, and neither is anticipated to play in the match against Milan.
Inigo Martinez is also questionable due to a problematic foot ailment. Barcelona is otherwise in excellent health, thus a solid starting lineup is once again anticipated. Sergi Roberto and Raphinha will start. It might cause Pedri to move into a deeper position. Head coach Xavi will make changes to the lineup that opened El Clasico. Despite the persistent rumors tying Dembele to a transfer to French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain, he is also anticipated to play a part for Barcelona once more. Given the ability on both teams in the final third of the field, there should be goals in this game.
AC Milan 2 – 2 Barcelona
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