Roma vs AC Milan

Though Roma and AC Milan just dropped the curtain on their 2023/24 Serie A campaigns, the Italian giants meet in a friendly at Perth’s Optus Stadium this week.

A 3-1 defeat at Milan in January was a season-defining moment for Roma, as they sacked Jose Mourinho in the aftermath and replaced him with Daniele De Rossi. The former midfielder inspired ‘I Giallorossi’ to a comprehensive revenge against the San Siro outfit, overcoming them in the Europa League quarter-finals, only to bow out to Bayer Leverkusen in the next knockout round. After failing to secure Champions League football for a sixth consecutive season, De Rossi’s charges are preparing for a massive squad overhaul, but first, they’ll be out to beat Milan in a third straight H2H for the first time since 2017. But that could be easier said than done, considering Roma’s dreadful seven-game form toward the end of the 2023/24 season (W1, D3, L3).

On the other hand, Milan had to settle for a runner-up finish behind new champions Inter, trailing their neighbors by a whopping 19 points. Another trophyless season was the end of the road for Scudetto-winning manager Stefano Pioli, who was relieved of his duties at the backend of the campaign. Pioli’s last game in charge saw Milan draw 3-3 with basement Serie A boys Salernitana, making it just one win in nine matches down the final stretch of his tenure (D4, L4). While awaiting Paulo Fonseca’s arrival, ‘I Rossoneri’ will take on Roma without a manager, but buoyed by the fact they had gone unbeaten in nine consecutive H2Hs (W6, D3) before the abovementioned Europa League catastrophe.