AC Milan vs. Real Betis Preview: Going Green

Tomorrow night in Catania, Milan will face Spanish side Real Betis. I assume this match was organized to put Carlos Bacca in a very large suitcase and have Betis drop him off at Sevilla’s stadium when they head home. But then again, maybe not. Besides, we probably want some money for him. Or, with the Trofeo TIM having been cancelled this year and us not facing Sassuolo preseason, maybe Milan felt the need to play another team with green colors. It’s really hard to know. In reality, this is actually just another preseason friendly. Our last one, I believe. A good chance for Montella to try some things out, like his previously mentioned 3-5-2 formation, now that Bonucci and Biglia are eligible to play in competitive matches. So it’s the perfect time to go green.

Will we struggle against this green team preseason?

Real Betis Balompié have already played a lot of preseason friendlies and have another one tonight vs. Cordoba. Most recently, they defeated Stuttgart 2-1 on Sunday. But after playing teams that matter, like Stuttgart, Cordoba, and Milan, they will be having a little warm-down with Inter on Saturday. So really, we are the pinnacle of their preseason.

From Milan’s standpoint, this is a great opportunity for Montella to put his tactical ideas together and test his proposed new 3-5-2 system if that is what he is going to do. With our first leg of  our Europa League qualifier vs. Macedonian side Shkëndija only eight days out, and just over a week and a half until Serie A kicks off, this is a great chance for him to fine tune his tactics for those competitive matches.

Getting ready for the Europa League

The aforementioned Bacca would do well to hitch a ride back to Sevilla with Betis, honestly, as he and Paletta have been left off of the list of players available for the Europa League. Hard to know if Montella would play them in a friendly or not. Romagnoli is still working to regain fitness for his meniscus issue. But I believe everyone else will be available for tomorrow, including Montolivo, unfortunately. While it is customary to play as many players as possible in a friendly, I’m really hoping he starts something like his starting eleven just to test things out.

I guess we would want to win this thing for self-respect and team morale. But I think the bigger issue would be to give playing time to those who need it and to try to sort out a system for competitive play. I’m really hoping that Montella doesn’t start one eleven and then literally change out the entire team for the second half again. That doesn’t seem prudent. But if we can challenge Betis and put our stamp on them as the best Milan team, then maybe we’ll be ready for next week and Serie A kickoff. Sorry, Real Betis, but this might not be so friendly after all, even if we’re going green.

This post inspired by the music of The Muppets “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green”

AC Milan vs. Real Betis

Wednesday, August 9 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)

This match will NOT be shown LIVE in the U.S.

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