Liverpool cruised to a 4-1 friendly victory over Serie A champions Milan on Thursday, their final friendly before next week’s Carabao Cup clash with Manchester City, although subsequently lost a penalty shootout that was staged after the final whistle.
The Reds dominated throughout, pinning back Milan in the first half and cruising through the gears in the second, with Stefano Pioli’s side – comprised of fringe Rossoneri players – looking well off the pace on the club’s 123rd birthday.
After surviving an early Milan break where Marko Lazetic somehow fired wide when through on goal after two minutes, Liverpool drew first blood mere moments later. The Reds broke through Milan’s lines with stunning ease in a matter of passes and Mohamed Salah was able to slot past Antonio Mirante, who was already on the floor by the time the Egyptian was one on one.
A much changed Milan XI were clearly struggling to find a rhythm in the opening 20 minutes. Their shape was poor and their passing even worse, with Liverpool regularly able to turn over possession.
But, a drinks break seemed to work in Milan’s favour close to the half hour mark, with Liverpool caught sleeping. Shortly after play resumed, a diagonal ball went over Andy Robertson, who misjudged the header, and fell into the feet of Alexis Saelemakers who drove the ball inside towards goal and rifled it into the far corner for 1-1.
Sandro Tonali was being completely overrun in midfield, with his defenders unable to pick out high quality passes and nobody around him to help beat Liverpool’s incredibly aggressive press. Right-back James Milner essentially played the first half as a winger as Jurgen Klopp’s side did a tremendous job of keeping the tempo high and pinning their opponents back.
Their pressure paid dividends as Thiago deservedly restored their lead heading into the break, taking the ball down on the edge of the box unmarked and firing one beyond Mirante.
Liverpool remained in the driver’s seat after the break, with Milan’s best chances only ever coming on the break and the Reds doing a good job of nullifying those. Darwin Nunez tried his luck on goal moments after coming on around the hour mark, before young Stefan Bajcetic fired one over the crossbar from distance.
A rare venture forward for Milan after 69 minutes saw Yacine Adli sustain possession well on the edge of the box before slipping through substitute Mattia El Hilali, who thumped the crossbar with a curled effort that looked to have Adrian beaten.
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