Milan played three friendlies on three continents inside ten days. Whoever signed off that itinerary was thinking about something other than football. Perth ended level, Jakarta ended 3-0 to Chelsea and was comfortably the worst of the three, and Wrocław ended 4-2 to Milan after they had twice been behind.
An Italian club's pre-season usually means a couple of short hops around Europe. Milan went to Australia, Indonesia and Poland instead, on a schedule that probably owes more to the commercial calendar than to anything a fitness coach would have drawn up. Ruben Amorim took over in June, and he had been Manchester United's manager until January, so the last fixture of the tour was always going to read differently from the other two. The trip doubled as a look at the newcomers, which after all is what August is for. Ramos made his debut in Perth and scored in Wrocław, while Torriani, the young goalkeeper, produced one big save in each of the two matches Milan didn't lose.
Draw with Inter in Perth
Optus Stadium, 5 August, 1-1. Federico Dimarco put Inter ahead in the 52nd and it stayed that way until Christopher Nkunku won a penalty and took it himself in the 84th, which one report puts a minute earlier. Çalhanoğlu's shot from the edge of the area in the 88th was probably the best chance either side had all evening, and Torriani got fingertips to it. Gonçalo Ramos and Luka Modrić came on together just after the hour, which if you were after a summary of this squad was as good a one as the night offered.
Chelsea in Jakarta
Optus Stadium, 5 August, 1-1. Federico Dimarco put Inter ahead in the 52nd and it stayed that way until Christopher Nkunku won a penalty and took it himself in the 84th, which one report puts a minute earlier. Çalhanoğlu's shot from the edge of the area in the 88th was probably the best chance either side had all evening, and Torriani got fingertips to it. Gonçalo Ramos and Luka Modrić came on together just after the hour, which if you were after a summary of this squad was as good a one as the night offered.
Comeback in Wrocław
A week later, at the Tarczyński Arena, Milan faced the club Amorim had left in January, and United were ahead inside two minutes through a Harry Maguire header from a Bruno Fernandes corner. Samuel Chukwueze levelled in the 37th with a tap-in from a Ramos pass, and four minutes later Torriani pushed away a Fernandes penalty, which by then was becoming his habit on this tour. Patrick Dorgu put United back in front in the 51st after a loose backpass from Filippo Terracciano. That, anyway, was United's last good moment. Alphadjo Cissé went in at the far post in the 57th. Ramos headed in a Chukwueze cross in the 68th, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek made it four in the 71st, by which point the game had rather gone. Chukwueze had a hand in three of the four. Ramos got a goal and an assist, which for a first month is a decent return.
United led twice in that match - Maguire inside the first minute, Dorgu in the 51st - and still lost. Milan only found their rhythm in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to turn it around. Online slots can run the same way - a long dry stretch, then one spin that lands both the winning combination and the jackpot. Rollingslots, an online casino built around exactly that kind of game, keeps its current catalogue at rollingslots-italia.com where, like in Wrocław, the jackpot stays possible right up to the last spin.
What Amorim carries into the season is a squad that shipped three goals to Chelsea and then came from behind twice against his former employers, which is arguably two different pieces of evidence about the same team. None of it counts for points. The next match does.
