Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus faced off in a preseason friendly in Los Angeles, with neither team showing their hand for the upcoming season. The match ended in a 2-2 draw, with all four goals coming from set-pieces. American players Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, and Weston McKennie started the match and had moments of quality, but overall, the game lacked excitement.
In their first friendly of the summer, Juventus starters played only a half, while Milan’s main stars were substituted off after an hour. Federico Chiesa of Juventus and Malick Thiaw of Milan were the standout performers, but no one else had a significant impact on the game.
Juventus ultimately won the match on penalties, with the shootout going beyond the usual five spot-kicks. The Sporting News provided live updates, commentary, and highlights throughout the game.
The starting lineups for both teams were as follows:
AC Milan (4-3-3, right to left): Maignan (GK — Sportiello, 57′) — Calabria (Florenzi, 20′; Zeroli, 84′), Thiaw (Bartesaghi, 62′), Tomori (Simic, 57′), T. Hernandez (Romero, 57′) — Reijnders (De Ketelaere, 57′), Loftus-Cheek (Pobega, 57′), Krunic (Adli, 57′) — Pulisic (Saelemaekers, 57′), Giroud (Colombo, 57′), Leao (Toure, 57′).
Juventus (3-5-2, right to left): Szczesny (GK — Pinsoglio, 46′) — Danilo (Sandro, 46′), Bremer (Rugani, 46′), Gatti (Huijsen, 61′) — Weah (Soule, 61′), McKennie (Boende, 61′), Locatelli (Caviglia, 61′), Miretti (Iling-Junior, 46′), Cambiaso (Kostic, 46′) — Chiesa (Milik, 61′), Kean (Yildiz, 61′).
The match ended in a penalty shootout, with Juventus winning 4-3 in sudden death. Luka Romero of AC Milan missed the first penalty, while Arkadiusz Milik of Juventus scored the decisive spot-kick.
Overall, the match was lackluster, as both teams were cautious and did not want to reveal too much. The substitutions disrupted the flow of the game, and open play was a struggle throughout.
