Romavs.AC Milan

The Giallorossi's campaign ended on a losing note at Empoli, while the Rossoneri held on to second place despite an exciting draw with Salernitana.

Match preview

Daniele De Rossi was disappointed with his team's execution on the counter-attack in Sunday's 2-1 loss at Empoli as they ended the 2023-24 season on a losing note.

The Giallorossi's late-season wobble saw them fall to two defeats in their last three games, and Atalanta finishing higher than fifth see the capital club miss out on next season's Champions League.

De Rossi's men aim to put that disappointment behind them in this week's post-season game in Perth, keen to depart before the summer break with a victory.

While success in Australia may not move the needle much, triumph will see the Rome-based outfit extend their undefeated run against Milan to three after winning both fixtures in their Europa League quarter-final.

Avoiding a loss may not erase Roma's eventual Serie A disappointment, but they hope to deliver a decent-to-good showing for their Australian supporters.

Milan have travelled to Perth without Stefano Pioli, whose departure from Milanello should be official sooner or later.

Without Pioli, who recently teased a Premier League switch, the Rossoneri have revealed that Daniele Bonera will be in charge of Friday's match against their league rivals, keen to claim success despite nothing riding on Friday's events.

It was not the strongest ending to the season for Serie A's runners-up, whose eventual position was an upshot of Juventus' collapse in the second half of the campaign, with Milan claiming one topflight win in their final seven league games.

Sunday's exciting 3-3 draw against relegated Salernitana at San Siro pointed to a team already on the proverbial beach, as they twice lost two-goal leads at 2-0 and 3-1 in the draw.

Whether they put on a show in Australia is uncertain, even if results to close out the 2023-24 season indicate a slide in overall motivation.

Roma form (all competitions):

L

D

D

L

W

L

AC Milan form (all competitions):

L

D

D

W

L

D

Team News

De Rossi's 22-player group does not include the Italy quartet of Lorenzo Pellegrini, Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante and Stephen El Shaarawy, who have been included in Luciano Spalletti's provisional squad for Euro 2024. Romelu Lukaku and Rui Patricio are also missing.

However, supporters in Perth will be excited to watch Paulo Dybala and possibly even Tammy Abraham following his recovery from a severe knee injury that sidelined him until April.

Despite their expected involvement for France at the Euros, Theo Hernandez and Olivier Giroud are in Bonera's squad for the friendly in Perth.

Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic are notable absentees, with fans probably gutted that both forwards are missing Friday's match.

Roma possible starting lineup:

Svilar; Karsdorp, Smalling, Ndicka, Angelino; Bove, Tumminelli, Aouar; Dybala, Abraham, Azmoun

AC Milan possible starting lineup:

Sportiello; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Adli, Reijnders; Musah, Loftus-Cheek, Okafor; Giroud

We say: Roma 2-2 AC Milan

These clubs won one of their final five games in Serie A, and neither has any form of momentum heading into the post-season friendly.

With little on the line in Perth, we should see lots of entertainment at both ends, with both sides finding the back of the net in a high-scoring draw.

Previews by email