It’s been more than a decade since Milan and Juventus met each other in a friendly match. Mutual ‘control checks’ between the most trophy-winning club in Italy and the most trophy-winning Italian club in Europe are not frequent, because there is not much friendship in that relationship. Both teams scattered from the first minute, players ready to slide sharply, pull from the back, and step on each other. The matchup, which rather resembles Serie A then a control match was fairly even, Milan led twice, Juve fell behind on two occasions, and in the end the American audience did not have the opportunity to see a goal from an open play- 2:2.This was a friendly test between the two biggest Italian clubs, but the main impression is that by August 20, when the season in Serie A starts, they have to fix the defensive play. Stefano Pioli included three summer signings among the starters at Milan, and in the competition of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cristian Pulisic and Tijjani Reijnders, the Dutchman showed the most and hinted that he could be a great replacement for Sandro Tonali. Strong on the ball, fast, with a quality forward pass, able to feel the moment and make the right decisions. As for Juve, the only newcomer who got a chance from the start was Timothy Weah, and the son of the legendary George, apart from his speed, did not show much.Signed and sealed: fanfare and flares for Chukwueze as he officially joins MilanThe Old Lady defense failed the test for the first time midway through the half. Theo Hernandez’s cross, Malick Thiaw’s brilliant rebound and the ball away from Wojciech Szczesny. In the second part of last season, the German hinted at a huge potential, and there are big hints that Stefano Pioli will exploit that potential to the maximum in the coming competitive year. Because tonight, Thiaw showed that the stopper is capable of playing on both sides and that he does a great job with whatever task you put in front of him. He cleared balls, was calm when pressing Juventus, even assisted with Milan’s second goal. At first it appeared that Giroud was offside when Thiaw dropped the ball to him in the 39th minute, but Miretti returned late to leave the Frenchman offside.The long-awaited Dutchman as a replacement for Tonali has arrivedChiesa caused the biggest problems during the first half of the game for Milan’s defense, but the Bianconeri equalized after the break just two minutes after conceding a goal. A mixup happened in front of the Rossoneri box and no one managed to clear the danger before Danilo scored. Milan took a one-goal lead into halftime, which they lost in the 48th minute. Another free kick after which Chiesa’s cross and Rugani’s header turned into a goal similar to Milan’s first. It was also Juventus’ only shot on goal in the second half. Epilogue – a solid and quality check for both teams. Juventus’s first this summer, Milan’s second after losing to Real Madrid (3:2). The Rossoneri also had bad luck in the form of an injury to captain Davide Calabria, who had to leave the field in the 21st minute.##NAJAVA_MECA_7396321##
