A season of great expectations for Milan commences on Saturday as perennial Serie A underachievers Torino touch down at San Siro. Runners-up from last term head into the new campaign under the guidance of former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca, seeking their 20th Scudetto.
Milan started last season brightly but fizzled out as the campaign progressed, letting arch-rivals Inter waltz away with their 20th Serie A triumph. The title race was never tight, with the Rossoneri finishing the season a whopping 19 points behind Simone Inzaghi’s high-flying side.
Despite leading Milan to the championships titles only two years earlier, former manager Stefano Pioli left the club immediately after 2023/24. Following the experienced coach through the San Siro exit door were veteran stalwarts Simon Kjaer and Olivier Giroud.
Though Milan stuttered in the transfer window, they’ve signed replacements for their departed stars. Strahinja Pavlovic and Alvaro Morata have joined the club from RB Salzburg and Atletico Madrid, respectively. Meanwhile, Emerson Royal shook hands with the Rossoneri on Tuesday.
Visiting Torino have been far more quiet over the summer. While they’ve kept ahold of Ivan Ilic, there’s not much going on in terms of incoming deals. Barring several low-profile additions, new manager Paolo Vanoli will coach almost the identical squad that sneaked into the upper half of the table last season.
An underwhelming haul of only 36 goals scored, accounting for the fourth-worst scoring record in the entire division, didn’t prevent Torino from grabbing a ninth-place finish. However, it did deter the club from continuing with Croatian tactician Ivan Juric. Keen to address their scoring woes, they signed Che Adams on a free transfer last month.
Match Preview
Milan
Fonseca did stellar work in pre-season, with Milan returning home from a mouth-watering United States tour unscathed. Dazzling performances against Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester City saw the Rossoneri win all three matches on US soil before dispatching Monza 3-1 in Tuesday’s Trofeo Berlusconi clash.
Milan will hope to continue in the same vein at the start of the new Serie A season. Another victory is a distinct possibility, considering they’ve started their last four league season on a winning note. They did even better in 2023/24, racking up an eye-catching seven wins in the opening eight rounds.
One of those seven triumphs was a 4-1 demolition of Torino at this venue on matchday two. However, Milan cannot afford to underestimate their visitors after slumping to a 3-1 defeat in the reverse fixture in May.
Those two matches perhaps best illustrate the high-scoring nature of Milan’s last league season. Their 38 top-flight games featured a league-high average of 3.29 goals per match, highlighting the potential for another goal-glutted contest.
Torino
Torino’s results under Juric were anything but goal-glutted. The Croatian’s conservative approach resulted in Torino’s Serie A matches last season producing a league-low average of only 1.89 goals per game, with the Granata scoring and conceding 36 apiece.
The aesthetics are the least of Vanoli’s problems going into his touchline debut. Torino notoriously struggled on the road last term, losing all eight away league encounters against teams that finished above them in the Serie A standings by an aggregate score of 19-3.
With that in mind, Vanoli would appreciate an unbeaten start to his managerial tenure or at least hope to avoid another catastrophe. That could prove easier said than done, considering Torino scooped up three points just once in ten away league games as pre-match outsiders last term (W1, D1, L8).
That’s not to mention they’re winless in 28 consecutive Serie A visits to Milan (D8, L20). All that paints a bleak picture for the new Torino boss. But he can take heart from beating Cosenza in the Coppa Italia 2-0 on his competitive debut last weekend.
Team News
Milan cannot count on veteran full-back Alessandro Florenzi, who picked up an injury in a pre-season match against Barcelona. But Fonseca will have the remainder of his squad fit and ready for his heavily awaited Serie A return, though there’s slight concern over Christian Pulisic’s fitness.
On the other hand, Ilic could regain his place in the starting XI against Milan, even though Olympique Marseille are hot on the Serbian’s heels. Dutch defender Perr Schuurs is the most notable absentee, as he’s still recovering from a long-term injury.
Milan vs Torino Potential Line-ups
Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Theo Hernandez, Malick Thiaw, Fikayo Tomori, Davide Calabria; Tijjani Reijnders, Ismael Bennacer; Rafael Leao, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alexis Saelemaekers; Alvaro Morata.
Torino (3-5-2): Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; Mergim Vojvoda, Saul Coco, Adam Masina; Valentino Lazaro, Ivan Ilic, Adrien Tameze, Samuele Ricci, Raoul Bellanova; Antonio Sanabria, Duvan Zapata.
Milan vs Torino Prediction
Returning home from San Siro empty-handed has become a tradition for Torino, and we don’t see that trend stop this weekend. Milan looked impressive in pre-season, plus Fonseca is determined to silence his doubters on his touchline debut.
Prediction: Milan to Win
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