Bournemouth – Milan

The match in England will be remembered for goals from both teams.

If, just over twenty years ago, the stars of that great team of the 2000s who shone in Milan—Andriy Shevchenko, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi and others—had learned that in the mid-2020s their club would be playing Bournemouth as the underdog, while the total market value of the English side’s starting lineup would be considerably higher than Milan’s, they would have bitterly mourned this tragedy. At that time, Bournemouth were playing in England’s third-tier division and, until their rise under Eddie Howe, were a “yo-yo club” moving between leagues. The Cherries are now enjoying their second renaissance in recent decades—or perhaps have already had it; time will tell. Over the last three seasons under Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth have risen from being a mid-table Premier League side to challenging for a place in the Champions League positions, and last season they finished just three points short of the cutoff. Iraola moved to Liverpool to coach, and Marco Rose took charge of the team. It is probably too early to draw conclusions about the German’s work after just ten competitive matches, but Bournemouth’s fifteenth-place position in the Premier League speaks for itself. Bournemouth won their first league match last Sunday, overcoming Sunderland at home after the visitors had been reduced to ten men in the seventeenth minute. The Cherries’ other victories this season came in the League Cup against Lincoln and in the Europa League against Real Sociedad and Sturm. Last season, Milan set themselves the task of finishing in the Champions League places in Serie A, but failed to do so. The failure to achieve their objectives led to a change in the managerial position, with Ruben Amorim appointed as the new head coach. Changes also took place in Milan’s squad, which lost Rafael Leão, Álex Jiménez, Christopher Nkunku and several other less significant players. They were replaced by Gonçalo Ramos, Mario Gila and Diego Moreira, for whom a total of €154 million was paid. On Sunday, Milan secured their second consecutive victory. A week earlier, the Rossoneri defeated Salzburg in the Europa League, after which they comfortably beat Atalanta at home. Their opponents conceded seven goals to Milan in total. Most likely, the teams will exchange goals in Bournemouth.