Friendly | Chelsea 3-0 Milan: Palestra shows quality as Diavolo crumble

Friendly | Chelsea 3-0 Milan: Palestra shows quality as Diavolo crumble A much-changed Milan crumbled 3-0 to Chelsea, as Joao Pedro scored twice before a Moises Caicedo volley and Italy international Marco Palestra impressed on the left. Following the 1-1 draw with Inter , the Rossoneri made changes with Rafael Leao and Luka Modric making their first starts of the summer , as Mario Gila, Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez were injured. Chelsea lost 1-0 to Juventus , but surprised by shifting Italy international Palestra over to left-back in Jakarta. Koni De Winter’s early error allowed Joao Pedro to go clear on a long ball, forcing Lorenzo Torriani into a tricky save, then Danny Welbeck thumped the upright from a Palestra assist. NAPLES, ITALY – JANUARY 28: Joao Pedro of Chelsea celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD8 match between SSC Napoli and Chelsea FC at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on January 28, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images) Christian Comotto’s volley was charged down and Pedro Neto tested Torriani before ballooning over from another Palestra pass. Chelsea took the lead in first half stoppages when a Moses Caicedo corner found Joao Pedro unmarked to nod in at the back post. Ruben Amorim made eight changes at half-time and within 38 seconds Chelsea had scored a second, Joao Pedro bundling over from point-blank range on the Pedro Neto cross floated to the back post, with Filippo Terracciano seemingly unaware he was right behind him. Milan took a very long time to get back into shape after so many changes at half-time, and were punished on another corner routine, as Moses Caicedo fired in with an audacious volley off the outside of the right boot from the edge of the area. Geovany Quenda had one effort charged down by Sankhoun Diawara, then smashed another onto the upright, with Nicolas Jackson also clipping the woodwork after shrugging off Vladimirov. Chelsea 3-0 Milan Joao Pedro 45, 46 (C), Caicedo 50 (C) Milan: Torriani; Terracciano (Vladimirov 59), De Winter (Gabbia 46), Pavlovic (Diawara 46); Chukwueze (Saelemaekers 46), Modric (Musah 46), Comotto (Jashari 46), Estupinan (Bartesaghi 46); Loftus-Cheek (Ricci 59), Leao (Nkunku 46); Camarda (Ramos 46) Chelsea:  Sanchez; Palestra, Fofana (Sarr 90), Acheampong, Hato (Anselmino 79); Caicedo (Watson 85), Lavia; Pedro Neto (Quenda 58), Palmer (Estevao 85), Joao Pedro (Mudryk 85); Welbeck (Jackson 58)