Celtic vs AC Milan: A Preseason Showdown

Celtic Park gets its first real jolt of the new season on Saturday. Not for points, not for trophies, but for something almost as valuable a week out from the Scottish Premiership opener: a proper examination.

AC Milan, seven-time kings of Europe, arrive in Glasgow for Celtic’s final preseason outing, a glamour friendly that doubles as Martin O’Neill’s last chance to tune his side before Dundee visit on August 3.

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. local time in Scotland and across the UK — 10 a.m. ET, 7 a.m. PT in the United States, and 4 p.m. CEST in Italy — but the match will live almost entirely online. There’s no traditional linear TV coverage; instead, CelticPlayer carries the game worldwide, including for American viewers, with beIN Sports Connect, DAZN and Sky Sport Calcio picking up rights in Australia, Belgium and Italy.

For Celtic, it’s a dress rehearsal. For Milan, it’s the opening act of a new era.

Pulisic Sidelined as Amorim Era Begins

Rúben Amorim’s first game in charge of Milan comes with a notable absentee. Christian Pulisic, one of the club’s marquee names and a central figure in their attacking plans, won’t set foot on the Celtic Park turf.

The American forward suffered a bone bruise and a microfracture to his tibia and fibula during the United States’ round-of-16 exit at the World Cup. The damage is serious enough to keep him out for several weeks, though not the months-long layoff many initially feared, according to CBS Sports.

Amorim has already made clear he sees Pulisic as a key piece of his rebuild once the winger returns.

“Pulisic is a highly talented player, but unfortunately, he got injured again,” Amorim said, as quoted by CBS Sports. “I have an idea of where I want to see him play — on the left as an inverted winger.”

That idea will have to wait. And Pulisic is far from alone on the Milan absentee list.

World Cup workloads and summer schedules have stripped Amorim of several regulars. Mike Maignan, Pervis Estupiñán, Koni De Winter, Adrien Rabiot, Ardon Jashari, Luka Modrić, Rafael Leão, Alexis Saelemaekers and Santiago Giménez are all expected to sit this one out.

New €84 million signing Gonçalo Ramos remains on holiday, easing into life as Milan’s big-money striker from a distance. The door opens instead for other fresh faces: Mario Gila and teenage forward Francesco Camarda could pull on the Rossoneri shirt for the first time.

This is not Milan at full tilt. It is Milan in transition, testing depth and ideas under a new coach, in one of Europe’s most intense football arenas.

Celtic Chasing a First Preseason Win – and a Spark

On the other side, Celtic arrive at their final warm-up game still looking for something basic: a win.

O’Neill’s side have yet to taste victory in preseason, drawing with Middlesbrough and Shelbourne and suffering a heavy defeat to Sporting CP. Results in July rarely define a season, but they do shape mood. Right now, the mood around Celtic is mixed.

The stands have told part of the story. Only around 5,000 supporters turned up for the draw with Middlesbrough, a figure that underlined ongoing frustration with the board’s transfer business as much as any summer holiday excuse.

O’Neill, though, pointed firmly at the cost of following the club.

“It’s pretty expensive to come to games now,” he said, as quoted by GlasgowWorld. “We’ve got a game against AC Milan next week, so if some people are coming to both games, that’s a lot of money.”

Saturday’s visit of Milan is exactly the kind of fixture that usually fills Celtic Park and tests the volume of the place. Whether the crowd matches the name on the opposition shirts will say plenty about where the support is right now.

On the pitch, there are at least some encouraging signs. Camilo Durán, Celtic’s lone permanent signing of the summer, scored the equaliser against Middlesbrough and looks set to lead the line again. The Colombian’s sharpness and movement have quickly made him a focal point in attack.

At the back, there was a major boost as Cameron Carter-Vickers returned from a ruptured ACL to play an hour in that same match. He is expected to feature again, a crucial step for a player whose presence so often dictates Celtic’s defensive stability.

World Cup returnees Alistair Johnston, Kieran Tierney, Auston Trusty and Yang Hyun-jun are all available, giving O’Neill more options and energy across the pitch. One notable omission, though, is Daizen Maeda. With the forward reportedly close to a move to Ipswich Town, he will not be involved.

Celtic, then, step into their final preseason test with a new striker leading the line, a key defender building minutes, and a fanbase still waiting to be convinced.

Old Foes, New Stories

The history between these two clubs is rich, if one-sided. Celtic and Milan have met 12 times, with the Italians winning eight of those encounters. Celtic have managed a single victory, with three draws rounding out the record.

Those numbers belong to European nights, group stages and knockout ties where the stakes were far higher than they are this weekend. Yet history lingers. When Milan walk out at Celtic Park, memories of past duels inevitably follow.

This time, the context is different. Milan use Glasgow as a launchpad before they head to Australia to face Inter Milan, then on to meetings with Chelsea and Manchester United. Their preseason tour builds towards a Serie A opener away to Torino on August 23, a date already circled in red after last season’s collapse down the table.

For Celtic, the horizon is closer. Dundee, August 3, the start of a domestic campaign in which patience will be thin and expectations heavy.

So Saturday becomes more than a friendly. It is a stress test of systems, a check on fitness, a measure of mentality. It is a chance for Durán to announce himself, for Carter-Vickers to prove his knee can withstand a heavyweight, for Amorim to see his ideas under pressure in a stadium that rarely does “quiet.”

Milan arrive with a reshaped squad and a missing star. Celtic arrive without a preseason win and with questions still swirling around recruitment and ambition.

When the whistle goes at Celtic Park, the scoreboard won’t define anyone’s season. But the performance might.