Milan held Real Madrid to a prestigious 0-0 draw, with Theo Hernandez and Luka Modric rattling the woodwork, and Mike Maignan parrying the Gareth Bale penalty.
Olivier Giroud got his first start in the Rossoneri jersey in this high-profile friendly against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, in front of 30,000 spectators in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Theo Hernandez almost scored within the opening three minutes, smashing a cross-shot against the base of the near post, much to the surprise of Thibaut Courtois.
New goalkeeper Mike Maignan showed some difficulties in playing out from the back, but did beat away a David Alaba snapshot, while Mariano Isco’s effort was deflected wide.
Sandro Tonali’s error sparked a Gareth Bale counter-attack, with the Welshman eventually brought down by Davide Calabria. However, Maignan parried the Bale penalty to keep the result level.
After the restart, Luka Modric cracked the crossbar with a ferocious strike from distance and Andriy Lunin flew to palm a Brahim Diaz stunner out of the far top corner.
Sergio Arribas volleyed over from a promising position, but it ended goalless.
Real Madrid 0-0 Milan
Real Madrid: Courtois (Lunin 46); Lucas Vazquez (Marvin 70), Nacho, Alaba (Eder Militao 46), Marcelo (Gutierrez 46); Casemiro (Blanco 46), Modric (Odegaard 60), Isco (Chust 83); Bale (Vinicius 46), Rodrygo (Arribas 70), Jovic (Mariano Diaz 46)
Milan: Maignan; Calabria (Kalulu 76), Tomori, Romagnoli (Kjaer 62), Theo Hernandez (Ballo-Toure 81); Krunic, Tonali (Pobega 81), Saelemaekers (Castillejo 81), Brahim Diaz (Maldini 81), Leao (Rebic 46); Giroud
Saved penalty: Bale 40 (R)
Gareth Bale wins a penalty for Real Madrid…but then steps up himself and misses the spot kick! 😱
A weak effort and an easy save for Maignan in the Milan goal 🧤 pic.twitter.com/2hHbDRBmIT
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) August 8, 2021
🦅 @mmseize 🔴⚫#RealMadridMilan #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/DNb2Z7GQIq
— AC Milan (@acmilan) August 8, 2021
I was very disappointed with Tonali last season,
he’s still a liability in midfield not strong enough gets caught easily in possession ,
and what can u say about his passing not a lot,
He’s definitely not creative maestro.
Maignan certainly gave us a scare a few times. Seems a bit nervous maybe? Great pen save though. Calabria looked a bit off the space being caught out positionally a few times, but if he hadn’t fouled Bale then Bale would’ve had a shot on goal. Diaz again looking sharp but the worry is still where the goals will come from. Never really looked like scoring.
Milan are in big trouble this season. I understand the need to budget but they’re going to need a miracle to finish above 6th and get out of the group stages of CL. They’ve got ‘sicknote’ Ibra and Sir Misalot-Giroud upfront who will soon total 75 years old between them and Ibra will probably only manage 7 games. If they sign Illicic at 33 then at best they’re scaling the dizzy heights of mediocrity.
This club will never return to the glory days without a Billionaire backer. It’s over.
We’re good in defense, but need more quality in attack.
I’m not comfortable with Ibra and Giroud as our strikers. Why we allowed Florian Thauvin move to Mexico remains a puzzle. If Milan can get Isco or Ziyech, and a quality right winger, we are good to go.
LOL VOGEL THATS JUST A STUPID AND EMBARRESING STATEMENT. EVERYTHING IS WRONG.
MILAN ARE BACK ALLREADY EVEN THOUGH YOU HATE IT.
By what subjective standard is it “Over”? Inter have gotten rid of Conte, Lukaku, Hakimi and potentially Martinez. Juve can’t afford to invest in the squad due to a staggering wage bill and the CR7 paradox. Napoli haven’t invested. Lazio haven’t invested and will most likely have to sell one of their key players. Roma have Mou but haven’t invested in established players. Milan are in no worse position than any of these, if anything Milan will have more consistency than any of the above.