Three questions and three answers from Real Madrid 0-1 AC Milan

Real Madrid started their pre-season campaign with a defeat as Italian giants Milan ran out the victors with a 1-0 win at Soldier Field in Chicago. The winning strike came from ex-Villarreal forward Samuel Chukwueze in the second half, after Carlo Ancelotti had already withdrawn most of his first team regulars, with the side made up primarily of youngsters from Castilla.

Three answers

1. How young would Real Madrid’s team be?

Given the number of Real Madrid players with only a few days of training under their belts after Euro 2024 and the Copa América, there was always a chance that Carlo Ancelotti could put out a much-weakened line-up. At the start, that wasn’t the case, as Mario Martín was the only youngster to be included alongside first team regulars and squad options. Those outfield players who weren’t on international duty this summer all played the full 90, with Lucas Vázquez, Fran García, Dani Ceballos and Brahim Díaz all completing the game. Their experience was crucial in the second period, when Vázquez and Ceballos were the only players over the age of 24 out on the pitch.

2. How would Endrick get on in his first Real Madrid appearance?

Endrick only joined the first team for training after his presentation last Saturday and was thrown right in at the deep end by starting his first match in a Real Madrid jersey only four days after his first training session. Speaking before the game, Ancelotti said, “he is very young, very powerful, very fast, I’m not going to ask too much of him because we have to bear in mind that it’s an exciting time for him.” It looked like he may have been a little overwhelmed on the field too. He did not shy away from the action but was involved in a very physical battle with the Milan defence, and only recorded one real highlight, finding space out of nowhere with a good technical ability to get a shot away inside the box. There’s plenty more to come from the young Brazilian.

3. Who would play in central defence, and what does it mean for Jesús Vallejo’s future?

Following confusion about Vallejo’s fitness leading up to the US tour, there were some doubts surrounding who would partner Antonio Rüdiger in defence, with the German being one of the first names on the team sheet despite only recently returning to training after his involvement with Germany at Euro 2024. It was Vallejo who got the nod, and he actually faired quite well with four recoveries and a 97% pass completion rate. In the first period Milan struggled to threaten the Real Madrid goal, but spaces did start to open up when younger defensive pairing Joan Martínez and Raúl Asencio were added in the second half.

Three questions

1. Will Arda Güler start regularly this season?

On paper, Arda Güler was depicted as start on the right of a front three, but in reality the Turkish teenager covered almost every blade of grass. With a strong work rate both in offence and defence, he looked to show moments of his technical ability and really took the game by the scruff of the neck. He would be the man to regularly dictate the tempo, dropping behind the front line on either flank to cross the ball or move quickly, sometimes cutting past Milan defenders with ease. Only Dani Ceballos completed more passes into the final third, and he played twice as many minutes, which reflected Arda’s crucial role in the build-up, almost operating as a number 10, which helped him to catch the eye.

2. Are any of the Castilla youngsters good enough for the first team?

This was a very tough test for a number of youngsters given a first chance in the senior team. Mario Martín was arguably the pick of the bunch. He worked tirelessly, winning more duels than any other player with nine, and won four fouls with his attempts to progress play. He may have been on the receiving end of a telling off from Luka Modrić for a failure to press, but he didn’t shy away even after that moment. What was a little more disappointing were the performances of the more experienced players from the fringes. Juanmi Latasa, expected to leave imminently after last season’s loan at Getafe, only had five passes and failed to win a single duel in attack, while Álvaro Rodríguez was taken off 37 minutes after coming on, also only winning two of five duels.

3. What has Samu Chukwueze got against Real Madrid?

Many Madridistas remain slightly scarred by the brace of goals that Samuel Chukwueze scored against Real Madrid last time the Nigerian faced them in a Villarreal shirt at the Bernabéu back in April 2023, and here he was again to inflict suffering on fans of Los Blancos. As shown above, his goal came in a rapid counter attack with Chukwueze exploiting space down Real Madrid’s left after an impressive pass from 17-year-old midfielder Mattia Liberali. It was only his third goal in 10 appearances against Real Madrid, following the two in his last game against Los Blancos, but it was enough to extend his personal unbeaten run to five games without defeat against Real Madrid.