Milan opened Ruben Amorim's pre-season with a 2-2 draw at Celtic, recovering from two goals down thanks to Francesco Camarda and Samuel Chukwueze.
Pre-season friendlies rarely tell you much, but the first game under a new manager is the exception. This was the first real look at how Amorim wants Milan to play, and the early signs were rough at the back, with the two goals Milan conceded both stemming from individual errors in possession rather than anything structural. The system asks centre-backs to build from deep, and on this evidence, some of them are not comfortable with it yet. What saved the night were the players who came off the bench.
The defence set the tone in the worst way. Pavlović (4) was the biggest culprit, gifting Celtic the opener with a dreadful pass and looking uneasy every time he was asked to play out, forcing Torriani off his line to clean up. In a back three that demands ball-playing, that is a real concern. Ricci (4) matched him for the second, threading a pass straight between two Milan bodies, and never got the midfield ticking. Gabbia (5) dwelled on the ball under pressure and Tomori (5.5) had a mixed evening in his duels with Celtic's left-winger.
Torriani (5) stayed rooted to his line for the second goal and looked shaky with his feet. Athekame (5.5) got forward as the system demands but was timid on the ball, while Comotto (5), Bartesaghi (5) and Ossola (5) barely registered. Loftus-Cheek (5) had a couple of runs but it is hard to see where he fits in the number ten role if this is the shape Milan settle on. Kostić (5) saw too little of the ball as the reference striker.
Then the substitutes changed the game. Camarda (7.5, man of the match) won the penalty by getting a touch on the cross, buried it into the top corner, then headed home Chukwueze's cross for the equaliser. Two finishes, two top corners, and the movement to go with them. For a 17-year-old carrying real expectation this season, it was exactly the start he needed. Chukwueze (7.5) was the other spark, a constant menace down the flank whose cross for the second goal was the best ball anyone played all night.
There were other bright spots off the bench. Odogu (6.5) impressed with his aggression and comfort stepping up, offering a first glimpse of why Milan signed him last summer. Terracciano (6) was solid across both sides of the defence, Fofana (6) distributed well without fully controlling the middle, and Guernier (6) delivered the cross that won the penalty, even if he looked his age at times.
The one worry was Gila (N/A), the new signing, who started brightly with the aggression Milan paid for before limping off injured. He walked off under his own power, which is something.
Amorim (6) gets a pass. Hard to judge a manager over one friendly, but the half-time tweaks worked and the goals came from errors, not his tactics.
For a first hit-out, the takeaway is simple: the front end already has bite through Camarda and Chukwueze, but the back three has plenty of work to do before it can build the way Amorim wants.