Marseille (France), 31 August 2022 – The excellent pre-season march of the Milan who, awaiting the arrival of De Ketelaere, also snatches the success in the Velodrome luxury friendly by beating the hosts of Marseille with a dry 2-0. In front of 60,000 spectators who did not miss the opportunity to overwhelm the Rossoneri with boos due to ancient rusts between the two clubs, Pioli’s men dominated the contest by effectively closing the practice in the first 45 ‘with goals from Messias on 11 ‘and Giroud on 28’. In the second half the Rossoneri then touched the trio on several occasions, taking advantage of Traorè’s expulsion in the 79th minute (there was also a previous one for the newly arrived Nuno Tavares, canceled, however, for offside at the beginning of the action of Messias). One of the happiest notes of the Rossoneri evening is the return to the field after almost eight months of Simon Kjaer who even touched the net in the final.
The race
Despite Marseille’s promising start, Milan put in 11 first minutes for take the lead with Messias who, at the height of an excellent Rossoneri offensive transition, picked up the winning pass from Brahim Diaz and pierced Blanco with an unstoppable left from the edge. The goal gave great confidence to the Rossoneri who continued to press and push in the restart finding the to Giroud al 28′, able to bag the ball from the heart of the area with an assist from Messias. When the first half closed at 2-0, Pioli’s men never looked back, dominating the game with the plays of the newcomers Adli and Leao and repeatedly touching the trio in the final with the French and the Portuguese but also with Cage from the edge and with Kjaer, who, as mentioned, returned to the field after almost eight months from the knee injury.