Tuesday night at the San Siro may be listed as "just a friendly," but true Milan fans know it is the Biggest Match of the Year. In one single match against a midtable team that was Silvio Berlusconi's sad attempt at re-creating what he had at Milan, we could win one of the literally biggest trophies around – the Trofeo Silvio Berlusconi. Named in honor of a previous owner of Milan who passed away, Milan are the current title holders of this trophy, having won it on penalties in its inaugural year last year. To top it off, there will be a special presentation of our new players, Pavlović, Morata, and Emerson Royal ahead of the match at 19:45 CEST. Last year in Italy, this match was the highest rated programming in its time slot. It literally was the Biggest Match of the Year. (Or at least the night.)
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| Two teams, one president, always in our hearts... sure, but there's only one trophy. |
Fans have been mildly distracted by the recent U.S. tour, the friendlies vs. Rapid Wien, then Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Barcelona while in the U.S. Perhaps even more distracting has been the final arrival of Milan's first signing in the transfer window, Álvaro Morata, who captained Spain to victory at the Euro tournament, earned himself a one match ban from UEFA for his behavior during those celebrations, then went on vacation with his family. Now he has finally arrived in Milano, and the first thing he does after arriving is announce on his Instagram account that he and his wife of seven years are separating. Nothing like making a dramatic entrance.
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| Morata is finally here, but that DNA thing or whatever looks like it may attack him... |
Our next signing was our new left-footed center back, Strahinja Pavlović, coming from Red Bull Salzburg. He seems incredibly normal and boring in comparison in terms of his life off the pitch, but he revealed last week that his name means "fearless," although I cannot say the same for our opponents when they meet him. He looks fierce as hell, and I am so here for this. Bring on that big Balkan energy.
On Sunday night, Emerson Royal arrived in Milano. Monday was a busy day, as he took his medicals and signed his contract, with the club officially announcing him as a Milan player after negotiating with Tottenham for him literally all summer long. He chose fellow Brazillian and Milan legend Kaká's number 22, and Tuesday he will have his presentation press conference at 11:30 CEST, then he will be presented along with our two other signings at 19:45 CEST ahead of the biggest match of the year at the San Siro.
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| At least someone is excited about our mercato. |
Of course, Cardinale flew in for this one, too. Partially because he heard it was called the "Trofeo Berlusconi," and last year he said he wanted to be "Berlusconi 2.0" way too soon after Silvio passed away. Absolutely shameless. Also, obviously, because it is the biggest match of the year, and he heard it was our best chance of winning a trophy, so I'm sure he did not want to miss it.
For Fonseca, though, this is not only his San Siro debut, but also his last chance to tinker with the squad in a friendly before the season kicks off on Saturday vs. Torino. It is one thing to destroy a few little clubs like Man City, Real Madrid, and Barcelona, but it is another altogether to defeat the mighty Monza, who needed penalties to defeat Sudtirol of Serie B in the Coppa Italia on Friday after it was scoreless at the end of regulation. In fact, there were 16 penalties scored in a row in that match, until finally, Sudtirol had their penalty saved.
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| Nesta at Monza... it's always hard to see our legends on the opposing side. |
The trouble with assuming that Milan will automatically repeat their trophy win is that much has changed this year. Milan legend Alessandro Nesta is now the manager of Monza, and Cardinale and Furlani have completely purged the very essence of Milan from the club – The Maldini family – ending a dynasty that began in 1954. That's right, Daniel Maldini was sold to Monza this summer.
So the big question is, will Paolo return to the stadium? Last year, he admitted that he didn't feel right coming to the stadium since his harsh dismissal from Milan. And Cardinale will reportedly be there. However, now his son is playing for the opposing team, and he has no more official ties to the club, so I honestly hope he can attend and watch his son play.
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| From winning the Scudetto just 2 years ago to completely banished from Milan, apalling. |
As for Monza, Nesta lined up a 3-4-1-2 against Sudtirol, consisting of: Pizzignacco; Izzo, Mari, Caldirola; Birindelli, Pessina, Bondo, Kyriakoupoulos; Daniel Maldini; Danny Mota, and another former Milan player, Andrea Petagna. Nesta apparently has a few injuries preseason, as Cragno, Ciurria, Gagliardini, and Machin all start the season with injury or fitness issues, so will be unlikely to be available for this match.
Fonseca will obviously be missing Sportiello, of the freak hotel accident, and Florenzi, of the heartbreaking preseason ACL injury, both having had surgery for their respective injuries. It is unlikely that Emerson Royal would be called up for this one, having his first training with the team that morning, and it is unlikely Morata would play, either, given he has only just arrived. Also of note, Jović took the number 9 jersey, abandoning his number 15 from last year and accepting the challenge of the curse before Giroud came to the club, apparently.
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| Ok, but the San Siro is no Yankee Stadium. This is real. |
I would assume that Fonseca would want to see the players who returned from vacation while the team was in the U.S., including Maignan, Theo Hernández, and Reijnders, while it is unclear whether he feels comfortable yet with Pavlović's fitness and acclimation to the team. I think fans would love to see at least a few minutes of the players we did not yet get to see, but there are also some amazing young players he could give some more preseason minutes to as well. He certainly has a wealth of choices.
As for the trophy, we actually went to penalties to win it last year, so do not take anything for granted. Both managers are new and have something to prove, while also taking one last chance to see some players and try some things out before the official matches start. Also, the money made from the match does go to charity, as a bonus. While it would be nice to start the season off with a gigantic trophy and another win for the mentality of the squad, we should not get our expectations too high. After all, it is only the biggest match of the year.
This post inspired by the music of The Math Club's "Gimme That Money"
Our next match is