Overview
- The friendly finished 1-1 on Wednesday in Perth with Federico Dimarco scoring in the 53rd minute and Christopher Nkunku levelling from the penalty spot in the 84th minute.
- About 52,000 fans attended Optus Stadium and players observed tributes to late AC Milan captain Franco Baresi before kick-off.
- Both teams used the game mainly for conditioning and squad checks with several World Cup returnees rested and Luka Modrić introduced as a substitute for Milan.
- Christian Pulisic did not travel to Australia as Milan manages his recovery from a reported bone bruise and small fracture to the right lower leg, a setback described in reports as requiring weeks rather than months of rehab.
- The fixture underlined Serie A’s strategy of staging marquee friendlies overseas to grow revenue and engagement while raising questions about travel, player workload and near-term transfer moves such as reported contract talks for Federico Dimarco.