Xabi Alonso Aims for First Chelsea Victory Against AC Milan in Jakarta
Xabi Alonso has not come to Chelsea for gentle introductions. Two pre-season games, two defeats, and now AC Milan waiting under the Jakarta heat. The new manager needs a response, even if the stakes are officially low.
On Saturday, the Blues meet the Rossoneri in Indonesia, a clash that feels far bigger than a routine summer friendly. For Alonso, it is another early measure of how quickly he can bend this Chelsea squad to his ideas. For Milan and Ruben Amorim, it is a chance to put a confident full stop on an unbeaten pre-season.
Alonso searching for rhythm
Chelsea’s tour has stuttered so far. A 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Wednesday underlined the lack of fluency in the final third and the work still to be done in understanding Alonso’s patterns. The football has been tidy in spells, but blunt. The control he craves has flickered rather than burned.
The challenge now is to coax more personality out of a squad still learning his demands. Press with conviction. Move the ball quicker. Take risks in the right areas. Those are the themes Alonso will expect to see against higher-calibre opposition in Milan.
He will have to do it without the headline act of the summer. Morgan Rogers, the $155 million signing, will not feature as he continues an extended break following England duty at the World Cup. His absence removes one obvious focal point in attack and delays the first look at how he might reshape Chelsea’s front line.
Milan building quietly under Amorim
On the opposite bench, Ruben Amorim arrives with momentum. Milan are yet to lose in pre-season, and their last outing – a 1-1 draw with fierce rivals Inter – carried the kind of edge rarely seen in July and August. The intensity suited Amorim just fine.
This meeting with Chelsea is Milan’s final friendly before competitive action takes over. That alone sharpens the occasion. The Portuguese coach is trying to stamp his identity on San Siro, and an authoritative performance against Premier League opposition would strengthen the sense that something new is forming.
A positive result here would not define Amorim’s start, but it would send his players back to Italy with belief and a clear direction. One more step away from last season’s frustrations. One more step towards a different Milan.
New faces and second chances at Chelsea
If Rogers must wait, Danny Welbeck will not want to. The veteran forward, signed in one of the more surprising moves of Chelsea’s summer, made his debut in the loss to Juventus and should see more minutes in Jakarta. His role may be short-term, but his experience is not. Welbeck can offer structure, pressing intelligence, and a reference point for younger teammates trying to navigate Alonso’s system.
Then there is Mykhailo Mudryk, a story in its own right.
The Ukrainian winger finally returned to Chelsea colours against Juventus, stepping off the bench for an eight-minute cameo. It was his first appearance for the club in almost two years, his career stalled by a positive test for the banned substance meldonium in 2024 before he was eventually cleared of the remainder of his ban on appeal.
Now he is back, and Jakarta could be the first real glimpse of what comes next. Alonso needs width, direct running, and unpredictability in wide areas. Mudryk, at his best, offers all three. The question is how quickly he can rediscover rhythm and trust, both in himself and from those around him.
A friendly in name, an audition in reality
Strip away the labels and this is more than just another stop on a commercial tour. Chelsea are trying to halt a sequence of pre-season defeats. Milan are trying to protect an unbeaten run and close out their summer with authority.
For Alonso, it is about signs: better pressing triggers, cleaner build-up, sharper combinations in the final third. For Amorim, it is about confirmation: that his ideas translate against a team with Premier League pace and physicality.
Two European giants. A neutral stage in Jakarta. One manager at the start of a demanding rebuild, the other quietly assembling a new project at San Siro.
Pre-season or not, someone’s momentum is going to bend. The only question is whose.
