Preview: AC Milan vs. Barcelona - prediction, team news, lineups

The Catalan outfit recorded a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid in their last match on Saturday, while Milan will enter the contest off the back of a 2-2 draw with Juventus on Thursday.

Match preview

Milan have played twice this summer, opening their preparations for the new season with a 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid, before playing out a 2-2 draw with Juventus in their last match on Thursday.

The Italian giants will now take on Barcelona and Monza in their final two friendlies of the summer before starting their 2023-24 Serie A campaign away to Bologna on August 21.

Stefano Pioli's side have made seven new signings this summer, with Samuel Chukwueze, Christian Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Noah Okafor, Luka Romero and Marco Sportiello all arriving to boost the squad, while Sandro Tonali has been their major departure.

The Red and Blacks made the semi-finals of the Champions League last season but finished down in fourth position in Serie A, and they will be hoping to launch a title challenge in the coming campaign.

Milan are still thought to be working to bring in a centre-forward, with Arsenal's Folarin Balogun among those to be linked with a move to San Siro during the summer market.

Barcelona, meanwhile, started their preparations for the 2023-24 campaign with a 5-3 defeat to Arsenal before recording a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid on Saturday night.

Ousmane Dembele made the breakthrough in El Clasico before Fermin Lopez and Ferran Torres netted late on, with Xavi's side in impressive form against their bitter rivals in Texas.

The Catalan side will round off their pre-season tour of the United States against Milan before taking on Tottenham Hotspur in the Joan Gamper Trophy final on August 8; Barcelona will then begin their La Liga campaign away to Getafe on August 13.

Xavi's team have made three signings this summer, bringing in Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez, and they are still working on more additions before the end of the window despite their financial issues.

Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix are among the attackers to be linked with moves to the club in recent weeks, but deals for either are seen as difficult at this stage due to the restrictions in their budget.

AC Milan friendly form:

W

L

D

Barcelona friendly form:

W

L

W

Team News

Milan are expected to be without the services of Davide Calabria, who was forced off injured in the early stages of the clash with Juventus last time out.

Head coach Pioli is unlikely to make many changes from the side that started against the Old Lady, but Tommaso Pobega could come into the midfield, while Alessandro Florenzi might start at right-back.

Rafael Leao and Pulisic should join Olivier Giroud in the final third of the field, with Romero set to again feature off the bench for the Italian giants.

As for Barcelona, both Andreas Christensen and Gundogan were forced off injured against Real Madrid with muscular issues, and neither are expected to be involved in the clash with Milan.

Inigo Martinez is also a doubt, as he deals with a troublesome foot injury, but Barcelona are otherwise in strong shape, and it is again expected to be a strong XI.

Head coach Xavi will make changes from the side that started El Clasico, with Sergi Roberto and Raphinha potentially coming into the side, which could see Pedri drop into a deeper role.

Dembele is also expected to again be involved for Barcelona despite the strong rumours linking him with a move to French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

AC Milan possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Florenzi, Thiaw, Tomori, T Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Pobega; Leao, Giroud, Pulisic

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Ter Stegen; Roberto, R Araujo, Kounde, Balde; Romeu, De Jong, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Raphinha

We say: AC Milan 2-2 Barcelona

There should be goals in this match, with both teams having a lot of talent in the final third of the field. Barcelona will have been boosted by their win over Real Madrid, but Milan are a strong team, and we are backing the spoils to be shared during the pre-season contest.

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