AC Milan ready to welcome Cremonese

San Siro is set to stage AC Milan v Cremonese on the opening matchday of the Serie A Enilive season. The Rossoneri return to league action following an eighth-place finish last season, which, for the first time in a decade, meant starting their Coppa Italia Frecciarossa campaign from the first round (a 2-0 victory over Bari). Their aim is clear: to do better in the league in 2025/26. Cremonese, who were knocked out on penalties by Palermo in the cup, begin their ninth season in Italy’s top flight with the objective of retaining their Serie A Enilive status.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

In the 9 official matches played in Milan between the two Lombard teams, Milan has remained unbeaten: 7 Rossoneri wins and 2 draws, both 1-1, the last in the 2022/23 Serie A season. The matches have always seen Milan score, with a total of 25 goals: an average of almost 3 goals per game, confirming their home supremacy against this team.

DID YOU KNOW?

Cremonese is competing in their ninth Serie A season in a single-group format. The club was among the 18 “elected” teams to participate in the first edition of the single-group Serie A in 1929/30, later being relegated to Serie B. Cremonese had been absent from Serie A since the 2022/23 season.

COACHES

The coach’s last Serie A match as a manager dates back to May 12, 2024, Juventus-Salernitana 1-1. Last Sunday, he returned to the bench with Milan, in the 2-0 home win over Bari in the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa, 4,235 days after his dismissal in January 2014, after Sassuolo-Milan 4-3 in Serie A. It was since the 2016/17 season, when he was on the bench at Crotone, that Nicola had not started and finished a league campaign with a perfect record, as he did with Cagliari. In the five seasons in which he achieved this since the beginning of his coaching career, the milestones include: Survivals with Lumezzane (2010/11 and 2011/12) in Lega Pro; Promotion from Serie B to Serie A with Livorno (2013/14); Serie A survivals with Crotone (2016/17) and Cagliari (2024/25). So far, Nicola has achieved 7 top-flight survivals, coaching Crotone, Udinese, Genoa, Torino, Salernitana, Empoli, and Cagliari.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: Barbieri, Valoti, Vazquez (Cremonese) Cautioned: none

REFEREE

COLLU (DI GIOIA - MOKHTAR) IV: BONACINA, VAR: DOVERI, AVAR: GHERSINI

UPCOMING MATCHES IN SERIE A

Lecce-Milan (Friday 29 August, 20.45 CEST) Cremonese-Sassuolo (Friday 29 August, 18.30 CEST) (Photo Getty Images)