AC Milan get both their 2024-25 campaign and the Paulo Fonseca era officially underway on Saturday night when they welcome Torino to San Siro.
It has been a very positive pre-season for Milan under their new coach as they won games against Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona out in the United States before retaining the Silvio Berlusconi Trophy against Monza on Tuesday.
However, friendly results mean nothing unless they translate into a good start in the league, which is something that Fonseca himself stressed in his pre-match press conference.
Team news
Fonseca will be able to rely on a strong squad for his first game, with no injuries to note, though Emerson Royal hasn’t been called up for bureaucratic reasons. Youssouf Fofana also hasn’t arrived yet but none of us expected him to be ready for the first game anyway.
According to the latest reports, there are only two doubts about the starting XI and in defence, it looks like it will be Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and Theo Hernandez. Gabbia has seemingly won the battle against Malick Thiaw and that isn’t hugely surprising, considering the Italian’s performances last season.
In midfield, Ruben Loftus-Cheek could get to play in the tandem once again while Ismael Bennacer is certain to start. The Algerian has been a leader in pre-season and one would have to imagine that he will start most games with Tijjani Reijnders, who returned late due to the Euros.
Further up the pitch, more specifically in the attack, we found the second battle as Fonseca is deciding between Samuel Chuwkwueze and Alexis Saelemaekers. Both did very well in pre-season and as things stand, the Nigerian is ahead. Most would agree that he deserves to start the most after really showing great spirit in the pre-season.
Finally, Milan’s new No.7 Alvaro Morata will be up front and his Monza display was promising. Unlike Olivier Giroud, he’s a very mobile striker and this is something that the Rossoneri will benefit from, especially considering the qualities of the wingers.
In short, it’s a strong XI that Fonseca is expected to put on the pitch and the bench is not too bad either, with the likes of Strahinja Pavlovic, Reijnders, Noah Okafor and Luka Jovic able to lend a hand in the second half.
Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Gabbia, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Bennacer, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Leao, Morata.
The opponents
Torino finished in ninth place last season and thus decided to part ways with Ivan Juric, hiring Paolo Vanoli as his replacement. The latter coached Venezia last season and earned them promotion to the top flight, so there is some optimism among Il Toro fans.
Some interesting signings have been made, including Che Adams from Southampton, but they have also lost their star Alessandro Buongiorno. The centre-back was the true leader in defence and his absence should be notable, not to mention that Perr Schuurs is out with an injury.
Adam Masina and Mergim Vojvoda are both full-backs converted to centre-backs, so it will be very interesting to see them in the back three tomorrow evening. There are many familiar names in the rest of the XI, but on paper Milan are big favourites to clinch all three points.
The former Milan man Ricardo Rodriguez, who actually was quite the key player for Torino, also left this summer and he will not be able to score another goal against his former side. Another former Milan man Pietro Pellegri will also miss the game, more specifically due to injury (who could have guessed).
In conclusion, Vanoli has his work cut out for him in this first game, not only missing key defenders but also facing a much better side – in better form. Anything can happen in a season opener, though, so Milan shouldn’t get too cocky.
Predicted Torino XI (3-5-2): Milinkovic-Savic; Vojvoda, Coco, Masina; Bellanova, Ricci, Linetty, Ilic, Lazaro; Sanabria, Zapata.
Head to head
There are only three teams that Milan have played more across all competitions in their entire history (Roma, Inter and Juventus), with a record of 77 wins, 66 draws and 55 defeats in 198 games.
After winning the home game 4-1 last season thanks to goals from Theo, Pulisic and a brace by Giroud, Stefano Pioli’s men were aiming to complete the double over the Granata for the first time since the 2020-21 season, but ended up losing 3-1.
Duvan Zapata, Ivan Ilic and Ricardo Rodriguez had Ivan Juric’s side 3-0 up after just 46 minutes, and a penalty from Ismael Bennacer in the 55th minute proved to be a mere consolation.
Going into that fixture back in May, Milan had won six of their last eight Serie A matches against Torino (D1 L1), as many wins in the previous 17 games against Il Toro in the top-flight (D9 L2).
Milan can count themselves lucky that the game will be played at San Siro and not Stadio Olimpico, with just one win in the last six games at the latter (1D, 4L). At home, the Rossoneri have won five of the last six games (1D).
Prediction
It might not be a walk in the park, seeing as it’s the first game and all, but Milan should still be victorious. Especially if we consider their record against Torino at San Siro, as well as the clear difference in squad quality. Some defensive doubts still remain, though.
Milan 2-1 Torino
