Breaking Down AC Milan's Pre-Season Friendly Opponents

This pre-season is more important to AC Milan than usual. The club have already made several new signings, the most expensive being Carlos Bacca from Sevilla at €30 million, per transfermarkt.com. This is the new beginning of a new environment.  

Milan are already looking a lot more serious under coach Sinisa Mihajlovic. He is putting his players through rigorous training, including two sessions a day.

"The coaching staff are very well-drilled,” defender Luca Antonelli told Milan Channel (h/t Football Italia). “The training sessions are very intense, but we need them to be well-prepared for the season that awaits us.”

Before that, Milan will face four tough opponents along their pre-season tour. First is Lyon in France, then Real Madrid and Inter in China, and finally Bayern Munich in Germany.

Here is what the Rossoneri can expect.

Olympique Lyonnais

David Vincent/Associated Press

• Date: Saturday, July 18
• Venue: Stade Gerland

Lyon finished runners-up in Ligue 1 last season, and they pushed Paris Saint-Germain the entire 38 weeks.

They also qualified for the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2011, but they are looking ripe for the picking in the market. 

Forward Alexandre Lacazette was Ligue 1's top scorer with 27 goals, but he could be the next big player to leave France this off-season following the departures of Giannelli Imbula and Andre-Pierre Gignac from Marseille, as well as Geoffrey Kondogbia from AS Monaco. The 24-year-old Lacazette is attracting interest from the Premier League, per the Daily Express.

Milan could showcase some of their new signings in this game, while Lyon try to keep a hold of their own.

Correction: An earlier version of this slide mistook Giannelli Imbula's former French club. It is Marseille, not Lyon.

Inter

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

• Date: Saturday, July 25
• Venue: Longgang Stadium, Shenzhen

There is a derby in this transfer market as well as Inter and Milan both try to improve their squads for the upcoming season.

In fact, Inter were the ones who stole one of Milan’s early targets, the midfielder Kondogbia.

Inter have since signed Miranda from Atletico Madrid, Martin Montoya from Barcelona and Jeison Murillo from Granda, per transfermarkt.com.

Add that to the re-signing of Mauro Icardi, their top striker, and Inter suddenly look like a real contender in Serie A.

The pre-season game in China between Inter and Milan may reignite what has been a dour derby in recent years, with the two clubs producing only seven goals in their past six encounters. The Milan club last contested in China for the Supercoppa Italiana in 2011.

Real Madrid

Francois Nel/Getty Images

• Date: Thursday, July 30
• Venue: Shanghai Stadium

Milan actually beat Real Madrid 4-2 in a mid-season friendly in Dubai in December, with Stephan El Shaarawy scoring twice. It broke Madrid’s 22-game unbeaten streak and sent them on a miserable start to the new year. 

Games between Real Madrid and Milan almost always give us goals, and this one should be no different. Madrid look as powerful as ever even without Carlo Ancelotti, and this match will give Milan their first chance to test themselves against a true Champions League contender.

Bayern Munich

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

• Date: Tuesday, August 4
• Venue: Allianz Arena

Following their tour of Asia, Milan will go to Germany for the Audi Cup and will face Bayern Munich first.

Here may be the best opportunity for some of the younger players to get a shot at some playing time, as this is, unlike China, not so much of a promotional tour as a pit stop on the way back home. Forwards like Simone Verdi, M’Baye Niang and Suso should start, along with other players who are not necessarily guaranteed a starting position under Mihajlovic. 

Bayern Munich could see the return of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery in this pre-season tournament. Ribery has battled ankle problems, while Robben struggled with muscular injuries throughout the 2014-15 season. 

But Douglas Costa will most likely be playing and starting for Bayern by then, following a €30 million transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk.