Cologne vs AC Milan

Defending Serie A champions AC Milan head to the RheinEnergieStadion to take on Bundesliga side Cologne in their pre-season curtain-raiser.

Cologne kicked off pre-season preparations with an overwhelming 12-1 win over non-league outfit Mondorf and went on to beat Austrian minnows Austria Lustenau 4-0. However, they come into proceedings off the back of a frustrating 1-1 draw with Swiss outfit Grasshoppers that saw them haul back a 1-0 halftime deficit. Despite figuring for a long-awaited top-four Bundesliga finish for most of last season, ‘Die Geißböcke’ eventually had to settle for seventh place in the final standings. Indeed, back-to-back single-goal margin defeats to Wolfsburg and Stuttgart down the final stretch of last season sent Cologne into the Europa Conference League playoffs. After losing just once in their five previous home outings (W2, D2), Steffen Baumgart’s side will feel confident about upsetting their famous visitors.

In the meantime, AC Milan snapped a decade-long wait for the Serie A title last season as they defeated fierce rivals Inter Milan for their 19th Scudetto by a thin margin. Much of the credit for Milan’s sensational domestic success in 2021/22 goes to their phenomenal form down the tail-end of the season. Stefano Pioli’s men won each of their final five Serie A fixtures last term by an aggregate score of 11-2, including an all-important 3-0 victory away to Sassuolo on the ultimate matchday. Milan’s upcoming trip to Germany could hand former Liverpool cult hero Divock Origi a chance to put on the ‘Rossoneri’ jersey for the first time.

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