Celtic vs AC Milan Preview: Everything You Need to Know
Celtic vs AC Milan Preview: Everything You Need to KnowCeltic wrap up their pre-season schedule with a genuine heavyweight test on Saturday, hosting AC Milan at Celtic Park with kickoff set for 3pm BST. It’s Milan’s first friendly of the summer under new head coach Ruben Amorim, while Celtic look to end an underwhelming run of summer results on a high note just over a week before the Scottish Premiership gets underway.The Young Players Set Up to Dominate World Cup 2030
The Situation
Pre-season hasn’t gone to plan for Celtic. Martin O’Neill’s side remain winless through three friendlies, drawing 1-1 with Shelbourne, suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat to Sporting Lisbon, and drawing again 1-1 with Middlesbrough. With the league opener now bearing down, this represents Celtic’s last chance to head into the competitive season with some momentum, and O’Neill is expected to prioritize sharpness and a positive result over further squad rotation.
Milan arrive in the middle of a genuine reset. Massimiliano Allegri departed for Napoli in the off-season, with Ruben Amorim — most recently of Manchester United — brought in to try to restore the club’s old standards. This is Amorim’s first look at his squad in a live match beyond an intra-squad friendly against Milan Futuro, which his side won comfortably. A number of Milan’s biggest names remain unavailable, either on extended World Cup breaks or carrying injuries, meaning this will be a mixed, experimental Rossoneri lineup rather than a first-choice XI.
Expected Lineups
Celtic will have most of their squad available, with Cameron Carter-Vickers the only notable absentee through injury. Several Celtic players who exited the World Cup at the group stage — Kieran Tierney, Anthony Ralston, Sebastian Tounekti and Yang Hyun-jun — have returned to training and are available for selection, while Alistair Johnston, Benjamin Nygren and Auston Trusty, who progressed further in the tournament, are also in contention. Expect something close to: Sinisalo in goal; Johnston, Trusty, Scales and Tierney across the back; McGregor and Engels controlling midfield; with Forrest, Nygren and summer signing Camilo Duran leading the attack. Daizen Maeda, who’s been strongly linked with a move away from the club, isn’t expected to start.
Milan’s lineup will look considerably weaker than their strongest available XI. Christian Pulisic is a confirmed absentee after suffering a tibia microfracture during the USA’s World Cup exit to Belgium, and he’ll be joined on the sidelines by Mike Maignan, Rafael Leão, Christopher Nkunku, Adrien Rabiot, Ardon Jashari, Luka Modrić, Pervis Estupiñán, Alexis Saelemaekers and Santiago Giménez — the bulk of Milan’s World Cup contingent. Amorim is instead expected to lean on a young and fringe group, likely including Torriani in goal, a back three of Tomori, Gabbia and Pavlović, with Athekame, Fofana, Ricci and Bartesaghi in midfield, and Chukwueze supporting a front line completed by whichever of Loftus-Cheek, Kostić or the club’s returning youngsters get the nod.
Head-to-Head
Celtic and AC Milan don’t have any significant recent history to speak of — this is a rare meeting between two clubs from different footballing cultures who cross paths only occasionally in pre-season or continental draws, rather than a fixture with a settled head-to-head narrative. That novelty is a large part of the appeal for supporters on both sides.
Stars to Watch
Benjamin Nygren and Kieran Tierney are the two names Celtic fans will be most eager to see given real minutes, with O’Neill keen to see both make an attacking and defensive impact respectively as the club fine-tunes its shape before the league opener. New arrival Camilo Duran is another to watch — his early involvement in a high-profile friendly like this will tell supporters plenty about where he sits in Celtic’s attacking pecking order.
For Milan, Fikayo Tomori offers the clearest link to the club’s recent past amid an otherwise youthful lineup, and his experience will be leaned on heavily at the back. Further forward, Samuel Chukwueze is the closest thing to an established attacking outlet in Amorim’s likely XI, making him the Rossoneri player most capable of creating something out of nothing against a sharper, better-prepared Celtic side.
The Bottom Line
Celtic’s superior match sharpness heading into their league opener, combined with Milan fielding a considerably weakened lineup, points toward home advantage mattering more than usual in this one. But with Amorim using the occasion to run the rule over fringe players and Celtic still searching for their first win of the summer, don’t be surprised if this glamour friendly ends up tighter than the respective club profiles might suggest.
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