Real Madrid and Milan meet in a prestigious preseason friendly at Soldier Field in Chicago on Wednesday. The reigning Spanish and European champions will not have Kylian Mbappe with them as the French superstar is only due to return to training with his new teammates next week, but fellow new arrival Endrick is linking up with his teammates soon in the U.S. On the other side of the ball, Christian Pulisic has returned to Milan after his summer duties at the Copa America with the United States men’s national team.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men have not been in major action since their UEFA Champions League triumph over Borussia Dortmund in London. Real are now record 15-time UCL winners and will be expected to build on that dominance with Mbappe in their ranks along with Vini Jr. and Jude Bellingham. A 3-0 win over Albacete started this campaign’s preparations and Barcelona as well as Chelsea are still to come before the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta which could see Mbappe debut.
Milan now have Paulo Fonseca in charge with the Portuguese returning to Serie A after two years away with Lille OSC and the Rossoneri will now be keen to challenge for the Italian title after losing out to their bitter rivals last term. A loss to AS Roma before a draw with SK Rapid Wien and a win over Manchester City means that it has been a mixed bag of results so far with Alvaro Morata joining to lead the line in this new-look side after leading Spain to UEFA Euro 2024 success.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Wednesday, July 31 | Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Soldier Field – Chicago, U.S.
- Watch: ESPN+
- Odds: Milan +189; Draw +276; Real +110
New faces
Although not all of the new faces will be on display, Mbappe and Endrick are the headline signings this summer for Real who will be starting life without the retired Toni Kroos as well as departed pair Nacho Fernandez and Joselu. On Milan’s side, Morata is the main new name along with Alex Jimenez who joined this summer from Real while experienced pair Olivier Giroud and Simon Kjaer have both been allowed to move on.
Team news
Milan: Jimenez could debut against his former club while Samuel Chukwueze is enjoying a strong preseason and notched two assists against City. Otherwise, expect to see a mix of youth and experience with Fikayo Tomori, Tommaso Pobega, Ismael Bennacer, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alexis Saelemaekers some of the more recognizable names expected to start.
Possible Milan XI: Torriani; Calabria, Tomori, Gabbia, Terracciano; Pobega, Bennacer; Chukwueze, Loftus-Cheek, Saelemaekers; Colombo.
Real: Eder Militao was in the U.S. for Copa America and will join his teammates slightly later in the tour along with Vini Jr. and Rodrygo but Endrick is present and will be expected to feature. Otherwise, expect to see Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, Dani Ceballos, Arda Guler and former Milan man Brahim Diaz here.
Possible Real XI: Courtois; Vazquez, Vallejo, Rudiger, Garcia; Ceballos, Paz, Guler; Diaz, Endrick, Latasa.
Prediction
Unlikely to be a goal fest although you can never really tell in preseason given how many changes usually get made during games, this one should be decided by a goal or two. With Milan further ahead in their summer preparations that Real, an Italian win seems logical. Pick: Milan 1, Real 0.
