Pre-season progression overlooked due to Juve loss
A.C. Milan 3-1 Benfica (Friendly)
Essien (x2), Honda
Essien Club Brugge 0-2 A.C. Milan (Friendly) Robinho, Moreno Robinho
Wolfsburg 1-1 A.C. Milan (Friendly) Robinho De Bruyne Crystal Palace 1-3 A.C. Milan (Friendly) Honda, Niang, Balotelli Honda
A.C. Milan 1-2 Juventus (Friendly) Balotelli Marchisio Leganes 0-6 A.C. Milan (Friendly) Niang, Constant, Saponara, Balotelli, Cerci (x2) BalotelliAntonio Conte's reign as A.C. Milan manager got off to a mixed start in pre-season as the Rossoneri recorded 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. German side Wolfsburg proved to be, perhaps unexpectedly, the toughest opposition for Milan in all of their pre-season friendlies.
The Rossoneri began their pre-season with the visit of Portuguese champions Benfica. A maraudering midfield display from Michael Essien as well as a spot of creativity from Japanese international Keisuke Honda helped the home side comfortably beat their opponents whom, disappointingly, proved to be an easy test. Club Brugge were swept aside in a fairly routine encounter as a Milan side featuring several reserves efficiently controlled the game from start to end.
A trip to the Volkswagen Arena to face Wolfsburg was next for Conte and his men. A dominant display from Wolfsburg wasn't enough to earn all three points for the German side due to an 89th minute Robinho equaliser. Shortly after the draw, Conte appeared furious at his teams performance and didn't hold back in a short interview with Italian media.
"Today we have been atrocious. Wolfsburg undeniably are a great team but we should not allow them to walk all over us like this again. Internationally experienced players went missing for us today and that shouldn't be happening, even in friendly games. Maybe some of the players in my team need awakening but we can not play like this all season or we will be in trouble."
Conte and his staff had a week to prepare his team for their next game in England at Crystal Palace. Perhaps tellingly, three changes were made to the starting eleven from the Wolfsburg group as Adil Rami, Mario Balotelli and Alessio Cerci were excluded and replaced by Alex, Jeremy Menez and Riccardo Saponara. A much improved display from the Rossoneri was personified when Balotelli appeared at half-time from the bench and scored a goal, adding to earlier strikes by Niang and Honda.
Milan then travelled home and played host to Conte's former team and Serie A champions Juventus in an annual friendly. An impressive attendance for a pre-season friendly turned up as 46,667 fans enjoyed an exciting end-to-end game. An excellent Mario Balotelli strike wasn't enough to prevent the loss in an even game in which Milan enjoyed the majority of possession whilst Juve had one more shot than their hosts.
In the final friendly scheduled of the pre-season, Milan travelled to the outskirts of Madrid to face Leganes. A route win was sealed by five different goalscorers - with improving Alessio Cerci getting himself on the score sheet twice.
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