On this day in 2016, Chelsea had the honour of taking part in the first ever event at the brand new US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The occasion was a pre-season friendly and the opposition were AC Milan, who we meet again at Stamford Bridge a week today.
To continue our build-up to the VisitMalta Weekender, for which tickets are still available, we tell the story of that 2016 fixture with the help of a piece of memorabilia which you can find in the Chelsea Museum.
The item in question, pictured top and below, is a shield commemorating this significant moment in American sporting history. It was presented to us by the stadium’s new tenants, the Minnesota Vikings NFL team, with the design of the gift a nod to their heritage.
The fixture came at the end of a ten-day tour of the USA for Antonio Conte’s Blues, during which we contested three matches in the 2016 International Champions Cup. The first was a 1-0 win over Liverpool in Pasadena, before the largest official crowd for a Chelsea game – 105,826 – watched Real Madrid edge past us 3-2 at ‘The Big House’ in Michigan.
Milan, who like Chelsea had appointed a former Italy international as head coach, came next. Vincenzo Montella was overseeing his first summer in charge and had a similar remit to Conte. Like Chelsea, Milan had endured a disappointing 2015/16 campaign, finishing seventh in Serie A and missing out on Europe. A rebuilding job, including a rediscovery of confidence, was required.
The rebuilding job in downtown Minneapolis had been a huge success. The US Bank Stadium was officially opened on 22 July 2016, two weeks before Chelsea’s visit. The gleaming $1 billion arena was twice the square footage of the Metrodome, the Vikings’ former home on the same site. It had a capacity of 66,000 and stood nearly 30 stories tall. The innovations were endless. Perhaps most impressive was the slanted, lightweight, translucent roof that would allow plenty of natural light in and also ensure snow slid off it during the harsh Minnesotan winters.
Conte got to work with his players inside it on the eve of the game. He reported after training that Diego Costa was ready to play his first game of the tour, and N’Golo Kante his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt after five days of training. We had recently signed the dynamic France midfielder from Leicester City.
‘I need to get fit because I have just come from a holiday,’ Kante told the official Chelsea website in his first interview.
‘I had a little break since the Euros, and now the pre-season comes and I have to be ready for the Premier League. I think what is important to fight for winning the ball is the spirit. I have had that since I started playing football, so it is the spirit but I need to be fit for doing it.
Like everyone I am sometimes tired, but if I need to run, I will try to run.’ How Kante did that over the next few years!
Conte named an attacking side in a 4-2-4 shape. The wing-back system that revolutionised his first season in charge was still a couple of months away. Marcos Alonso was not yet a Chelsea player, anyway.
The Chelsea side at a sold-out US Bank Stadium was:
Chelsea (4-2-4): Courtois; Aina (Ivanovic 59), Terry (c), Cahill, Azpilicueta; Matic (Chalobah 29), Fabregas (Oscar 59); Willian (Cuadrado 79), Traore (Hazard 52), Costa (Batshuayi 59), Moses (Kante 52).
Bertrand Traore instinctively nodded us in front midway through the first half, before Giacomo Bonaventura curled in a brilliant free-kick to equalise for Milan.
After Kante’s introduction, another second-half sub, Oscar, won the game for Chelsea in the final 20 minutes to the delight of the crowd, a record figure for a football match in Minnesota. He first converted a penalty awarded for handball and then beat 17-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma with a fine finish from Juan Cuadrado’s cute pass.
‘The atmosphere was fantastic, wonderful,’ Conte smiled afterwards. ‘It’s fantastic to play in this atmosphere for me and the players.’
Captain John Terry also liked what he saw.
‘It was good to get another 90 minutes and finish the US tour with a win,’ said the skipper.
It was fantastic to play in the US Bank Stadium, we had a great reception from the fans, at the home of the Vikings, and we’re delighted to have been the first team to play at an incredible stadium.’
The Vikings would play their first game at their new stadium on 28 August 2016, a few weeks after Chelsea defeated AC Milan. The venue hosted the Super Bowl in 2018 and has since been voted the best stadium in the NFL.
Chelsea were England’s best in 2016/17, with Diego Costa and Kante playing integral roles in arguably our least expected Premier League triumph. Milan, meanwhile, started the season promisingly and were well placed to challenge for a Champions League berth by the midway point of the campaign, but a youthful side fell away in the new year and finished sixth.
