AC MILAN HELD IN FINAL PRE‑SEASON FRIENDLY

It was only a friendly, but it truly was a hard-fought match. In front of almost 15,000 spectators at the Orogel Stadium Dino Manuzzi, Cesena battled hard, playing to the maximum and fighting for every ball. In their final pre-season fixture before the start of their league campaign, AC Milan struggled more than expected as the match ended in a 0-0 draw. More could have been done. The Rossoneri weren't at the levels they have been: there was a slight lack of conviction, precision and that clinical touch. AC Milan weren't able to find the back of the net despite creating a number of chances in the second half, many more than in the opening 45 minutes. Duarte's debut and Paquetá and Kessié's performances after coming on are two things to be noted. As is completely normal at this time, Coach Giampaolo's side need to work hard and grow. The Diavolo's pre-season is now over, and now the Rossoneri will eagerly anticipate their first competitive match of the new season. The start of the 2019/20 Serie A season is just around the corner: on Sunday 25 August at 18:00 CEST, Udinese v AC Milan will take place at the Dacia Arena. 

REPORT
Cesena started aggressively, while AC Milan struggled to get out of the starting blocks. The Rossoneri's first effort at goal came though Suso, whose powerful free kick from distance was saved by Agliardi. In the 17th minute, Valeri had a goal ruled out for offside. Both teams were struggling to create chances, although Musacchio's ball into the box in the 35th minute did require a desperate clearance from Cesena's defence. With 38 minutes on the clock, Suso once again tried his luck from a set piece, but the ball sailed over the bar. After 44 minutes, Çalhanoğlu shot narrowly wide before the same player failed to properly connect with the ball from close range shortly afterwards following an AC Milan corner. With the ball rolling again after the restart, Jesus was once again the first to threaten, but there wasn't a lot of power behind his right-footed effort from the edge of the box. The Rossoneri changed gear and started to push forward, with Çalhanoğlu looking especially lively. In the 75th minute, Calabria got his cross wrong despite being free in the area. Just a minute later, the Diavolo came so close to opening the scoring: Paquetá got on the end of Kessié's ball into the box but saw his header pushed away by Agliardi. After 82 minutes, it was Donnarumma's turn to excel as he denied Butic from close range. This proved to be the final chance, with the match ending in a stalemate.

CESENA 0-0 AC MILAN

CESENA (3-4-3): Agliardi; Maddaloni (63' Ciofi), Brignani (79' De Feudis), Sabato; Cappellini (46' Butic), Franco, Rosaia, Valeri (72' Brunetti); Borello, Sarao (58' Valencia), Cortesi (58' Franchini). Subs: Olivieri, Pantaleoni, Ricci, Russini, Stefanelli. Coach: Modesto.

AC MILAN (4-3-1-2): Donnarumma G.; Calabria, Musacchio (76' Duarte), Romagnoli, Rodríguez; Borini (72' Kessié), Biglia (47' Paquetá), Çalhanoğlu; Suso; Castillejo (76' André Silva), Piątek (85' Maldini). Subs: Donnarumma A., Soncin; Conti, Gabbia, Strinić; Brescianini, Mionić. Coach: Giampaolo.

Referee: D'Ascanio from Ancona.
Booked: 23' Valeri (C), 82' Franchini (C).

A reminder that applications for season tickets for the 2019/20 season are still open. You can also buy tickets to Milan v Brescia, our first home game in the new Serie A season.