Barcelona vs AC Milan

M&T Bank Stadium sets the stage for a mouth-watering summer friendly between Barcelona and AC Milan.

After failing to defend their La Liga title in 2023/24 and suffering a disappointing quarter-final exit in the Champions League, Barcelona parted ways with Xavi Hernandez. Former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick has filled the void and got his managerial tenure off to a flying start. Barcelona squeezed past lower-league Olot 1-0 in their opening pre-season friendly before traveling across the ocean for the United States tour. Los Blaugranas got the better of Manchester City on penalties following a goal-glutted 2-2 draw before beating fierce rivals Real Madrid 2-1 last time out. Delivering action from the get-go, Barcelona opened the scoring in the first half in both matches. They also scored inside the final few first-half minutes on each occasion.

In the meantime, AC Milan kicked off their US tour with a come-from-behind 3-2 win against Manchester City, with both teams getting on the scoresheet on either side of halftime. Milan’s second match against Real Madrid wasn’t as inspiring, with Samuel Chukwueze’s goal at the start of the second half propelling ‘I Rossoneri’ to a narrow 1-0 win. New manager Paulo Fonseca can be pleased with his team’s performances across the Atlantic after Milan lost 5-2 to Roma and drew 1-1 with Rapid Vienna in their opening two summer friendlies. The Italians can draw confidence from beating Barcelona 1-0 in a pre-season match in 2018, though it’s their only triumph in the last five H2Hs (W1, D1, L3).