Celtic and AC Milan meet at Celtic Park on Saturday in a high-profile pre-season friendly, with both sides carrying clear attacking threats but notable defensive flaws as they build towards the 2026-27 campaign.
The match in Glasgow is scheduled for Saturday 25 July 2026 at 14:00 GMT and forms part of Celtic’s fourth and final pre-season outing, while it will be Milan’s first fixture under new head coach Ruben Amorim following their return to training two weeks ago.
Celtic come into the game on the back of an unconvincing warm-up schedule. Martin O’Neill’s side have drawn twice against modest British opposition and suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat by Sporting CP, underlining concerns that linger from the end of last season.
Despite winning both the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup in May, Celtic conceded 41 league goals and finished with only the third-best defensive record in the division. They have now gone 10 matches in all competitions without keeping a clean sheet, conceding at least once in each of those games.
However, the Scottish champions have consistently compensated at the other end of the pitch. They have scored in each of their last 12 fixtures in all competitions, a run they will be keen to extend in front of their own fans as they round off pre-season before competitive action starts in early August.
Their attack has been reshaped by the departure of Japanese winger Daizen Maeda, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his team-mates are still targeting a positive send-off to their summer preparations in the “chaude ambiance” of Celtic Park.
Milan begin Amorim era amid major rebuild
For AC Milan, the trip to Glasgow marks the start of a new cycle after missing out on the Champions League and finishing fifth in Serie A last season, a position that booked them a place in the Europa League rather than Europe’s elite competition.
The club have appointed Ruben Amorim as head coach and embarked on significant changes to the squad. Up front, Milan have moved to sign Portugal forward Goncalo Ramos, while Rafael Leao is widely expected to leave, with his departure described as “probable” by those around the club.
Defensively, a major overhaul is also under way. Centre-back Fikayo Tomori is now viewed as surplus to requirements and is expected to depart, while the arrival of Goncalo Inacio from Sporting CP is said to be imminent as Milan look to strengthen at the back.
Given the scale of these changes, recent results from the end of last season offer little guidance on what to expect from Milan in Glasgow. The clearest hint has come from an internal training match against the club’s reserve side in recent days, which ended in a resounding 7-0 victory and showcased the attacking firepower available to Christopher Nkunku and his colleagues.
Nkunku facing pivotal season
This campaign is being framed as a make-or-break year for Nkunku. The 28-year-old French forward is entering his second season in Milan colours and is determined to improve on last term’s Serie A return of seven goals and three assists in 32 appearances.
Those figures contributed to his omission from France’s World Cup squad, where attacking competition underlined the need for stronger individual numbers. With Zinedine Zidane now in charge of Les Bleus, Nkunku knows a sustained, prolific club season is essential if he is to force his way back into the national team picture.
He is eager to signal his intentions from the very first outing of the new campaign, even if Saturday’s match is only a friendly.
Historic edge for Milan
Milan have dominated recent meetings with Celtic, winning the last four encounters between the clubs, although those games go back several years.
The most recent clashes came in the 2020-21 Europa League group stage, when the Rossoneri claimed two high-scoring victories, 3-1 and 4-2. Earlier, in the 2013-14 Champions League, Milan again proved ruthless, winning 2-0 at San Siro and 3-0 in Glasgow.
Across 10 Champions League meetings between the sides, Celtic have managed just one victory, compared with six wins for Milan and three draws.
Goals on the cards
Given both teams’ current profiles – strong going forward but vulnerable defensively – analysts expect an open contest at Celtic Park.
The match is viewed as finely balanced on paper, with a draw seen as a “strongly probable” outcome and priced at 3.62 by bookmakers at the time of writing. With Celtic and Milan both scoring frequently but also “systematiquement” conceding, a bet on both teams to score is described as worth considering at odds of 1.42.
A goal-filled game is also anticipated, with a total of more than three goals in the match rated as “should also be a reality” at odds of 1.76.
Celtic v AC Milan takes place at Celtic Park, Glasgow, on Saturday 25 July 2026, kicking off at 14:00 GMT.
Odds are subject to change.
