DRAW IN FIRST PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY: 1-1 AGAINST RAPID

The first 90 minutes of the season are over. At the Allianz Stadion in Hütteldorf, Vienna, the Rossoneri played out a 1-1 draw with Rapid: Florenzi gave AC Milan the lead in the 64th minute, but Demir bagged a late 88th-minute equaliser for the hosts. Coach Fonseca, who sat in the Rossoneri dugout for the first time, sent out completely different teams for the two halves. AC Milan showed more purpose after the restart after a slightly subdued opening 45.  

Various positives emerged from a match where two experimental line-ups were played, starting with a full debut for Mattia Liberali, who was confident in his touch and showed commendable character. The same could could be said about Florenzi, who found the net and played alongside Bennacer in midfield in the second half. Maldini, who was full of running and provided the assist for the goal, also enjoyed some positive moments, as did Saelemaekers. The Rossoneri will now return to Milan with plenty of information to analyse going into the rest of pre-season. The players have been granted a day off tomorrow and will return to training on Monday, when they’ll complete a double session.  

CHECK OUT THE GALLERY OF SK RAPID v AC MILAN

MATCH REPORT
The hosts made the brighter start, which perhaps wasn’t all too surprising given they are much further ahead in their pre-season preparations (they’ll face Wisła Kraków in the preliminary stages of the Europa League on Thursday). Seidl hit the post (7’) before firing narrowly wide with his left foot a minute later. The Rossoneri responded in the 19th minute with a move involving Chukwueze, Liberali and Colombo, but the latter was beaten to the ball by goalkeeper Hedl. Shortly before the break, a right-footed Schaub strike was saved by Sportiello. The last effort of the half came from Pobega, who shot over with his left foot from the edge of the box.

The second half started at a higher tempo, with Rapid having the opening chance: Beljo, under pressure from Tomori, headed off target from an excellent position. In the 52nd minute, the lively Saelemaekers made ground but was closed down by the defence just as he was taking aim. After taking a bit of time to get into the flow of the game, Kalulu made an impressive intervention to get in the way of Dursun’s strike. AC Milan then took the lead: having received the ball from Bennacer, Maldini sent in a cross for Florenzi, who fired home with a right-footed volley from inside the box. After a fine save from Torriani to deny Auer, Rapid scored an 88th-minute equaliser through Demir. It finished in a 1-1 draw.

MATCH DETAILS

SK RAPID 1-1 AC MILAN

SK RAPID: N. Hedl, Raux-Yao, Beljo (60' Dursun), Grgić, Sangaré, Seidl (46' Burgstaller), Schaub (73' T. Hedl), Jansson (82' Demir), Auer, Cvetković (60' Hofmann), Bolla (46' Oswald). Subs.: Göschl, Gartler. Coach: Klauß. 

AC MILAN FIRST HALF (4-2-3-1): Sportiello; Calabria, Thiaw, Gabbia, Terracciano; Adli, Pobega; Chukwueze, Liberali, Traorè; Colombo. 

AC MILAN SECOND HALF (4-2-3-1): Torriani; Bakoune, Kalulu, Tomori, Jiménez; Florenzi, Bennacer; Cuenca, Loftus-Cheek, Saelemaekers; Maldini. Subs.: Longoni; Coubis; Bonomi. Coach: Fonseca.

Referee: Koscielnicki (AUT).
Goals: 64' Florenzi (M), 88' Demir (R).

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