Uruguayan Federico Valverde scored twice in two minutes, and Brazilian Vinicius added another as Real Madrid rallied from a 2-0 first-half deficit to beat Milan 3-2 on Sunday night at the Rose Bowl Soccer Champions Tour in front of 70,814 fans in Pasadena.
In their first pre-season game this summer, Real Madrid showed defensive problems, but the reaction in the second half was enough to score three goals and save the day at the historic stadium in the Los Angeles area, which started very well, although it was not full.
The clash was the first of four that Real Madrid will play on the Soccer Champions Tour before the start of La Liga in August.
Milan took the lead thanks to a cross from the debuting American Christian Pulisic, and in the 25th minute from a corner from the left, the Englishman Fikayo Tomori headed into the net.
It was a strong punishment for the problems with the Real Madrid defense, although the reaction would have followed in the same way, punishing the Italian defense for every serious mistake. Chief among them was the goal given by his goalkeeper Marco Sportiello.
Valverde, who was already warning with shots from outside the penalty area in the first half, fell without much direction into the hands of Sportiello, who could not stop the ball, and he slipped into the net in the 57th minute. Two minutes later, Valverde got off to a bad start from the Rosoneri defense and sealed the end of the frame, making it 2-2 in two minutes.
Then Vinicius, who entered the second half, received an accurate pass from Luka Modric and made it 3-2 with a cross.
Englishman Jude Bellingham, a member of Real Madrid, has seen the action from the start as the summer’s most important transfer era begins.
Milan manager Stefano Pioli did not initially meet Rafael Leao, Mike Meignan, Theo Hernandez, Pierre Kalulu, Olivier Giroud and Charles de Ketelaret as they had just returned from vacation. Pulisic saw the action and was in the rhythm, making his first assist in the red and black jersey.
Both teams have had several disappointing seasons, with Real Madrid failing to beat Barcelona for the La Liga title and then losing to Manchester City in the Champions League trophy race. Milan saw Napoli win the Serie A trophy.
The match was a good opportunity for both teams to test their new contracts and prepare their squad for a possible comeback campaign. Madrid achieved their first pre-season victory in their first game, while Milan lost after beating Lumezzane 6-0.
AC Milan will face Juventus on Thursday 27 July at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson. Real Madrid will play Manchester United on Wednesday 26 July at the NGR in Houston.