Celtic v AC Milan: Goals expected as champions host reshaped Rossoneri in pre-season test

Celtic and AC Milan meet in a high-profile pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on Saturday, with both sides heading into the Glasgow match on the back of leaky defences but consistently potent attacks.

The game is scheduled for Saturday 25 July 2026 at 14:00 GMT, offering Celtic a chance to close out their summer preparations in front of their own fans, while Milan step onto the pitch for the first time under new head coach Ruben Amorim.

Celtic seek defensive reset before new campaign

This will be Celtic’s fourth outing of pre-season, but their early summer form has been unconvincing. Martin O’Neill’s side have drawn twice against modest British opposition and suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat by Sporting Portugal.

Despite that, the Scottish champions view the visit of the Italian giants as an opportunity to properly launch their 2026-27 campaign. The major concern remains at the back: stretching back to the end of last season, Celtic have conceded at least once in each of their last 10 matches in all competitions.

That vulnerability did not stop them completing a domestic double in May, lifting both the Scottish Premiership and the Scottish Cup, even though they shipped 41 league goals and finished with only the third-best defensive record in the division.

Celtic have compensated for their fragility with sustained attacking threat. The Glasgow club have scored in each of their last 12 competitive fixtures, and, even after the departure of influential Japanese winger Daizen Maeda, the expectation is that they will continue to create chances.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his team-mates are aiming to sign off pre-season “in style” at Celtic Park before competitive action starts in early August.

Amorim era begins as Milan rebuild

For AC Milan, whose Serie A season does not resume until the end of August, the Celtic Park fixture marks the start of their summer schedule and the first match since players reported back two weeks ago.

It is also the first game under Amorim, appointed to lead a club in transition after a fifth-place finish in Serie A last term. Milan narrowly missed out on a return to the Champions League and must instead settle for the Europa League.

The changes in Lombardy go beyond the dugout. The club have added Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos and are preparing for the likely departure of Rafael Leao. In defence, further upheaval is expected, with Fikayo Tomori deemed surplus to requirements and Sporting CP defender Goncalo Inacio poised to arrive.

Those alterations make it hard to draw firm conclusions from the end of last season, but a recent behind-closed-doors training match against the club’s reserve side, which finished in a 7-0 win, has been taken as an early sign of the attacking potential in Amorim’s reshaped squad, led by Christopher Nkunku and his fellow forwards.

Nkunku under pressure to deliver

The coming season is described within the club as make-or-break for Nkunku. The 28-year-old French forward is entering his second year at Milan and is determined to build on last season’s consistency while significantly improving his output in front of goal.

Nkunku scored seven goals and provided three assists in 32 Serie A appearances last season, a return viewed as underwhelming for a player of his profile. That modest tally is considered one of the reasons he missed out on selection for the World Cup with France, where competition in attacking positions is intense.

With Zinedine Zidane now in charge of the national team, Nkunku is targeting a return to the international set-up. To achieve that, he is seen as needing a full, productive and reliable club campaign – and he is keen to demonstrate his intent from this first outing of pre-season, even if it is only a friendly.

Milan’s dominant record over Celtic

Historically, the head-to-head record between these clubs is heavily weighted in Milan’s favour. The Rossoneri have won the last four meetings with Celtic, although those contests came several years ago.

Their most recent clashes were in the 2020-21 Europa League, when Milan won two high-scoring encounters, 3-1 and 4-2. The previous meetings, in the 2013 Champions League, also went Milan’s way, with 2-0 and 3-0 victories home and away.

Across 10 Champions League matches between the sides, Celtic have managed just one win, compared with six for Milan and three draws.

Goals market in focus

Given both teams’ profiles – strong going forward, less convincing at the back – the expectation is for a match with chances at both ends.

Analyst Nasser Eddy, consultant for NCI Sport and presenter of the European Champions League on radio Nostalgie, anticipates a tight contest on paper and highlights a draw, priced at 3.62, as a “highly likely” outcome.

With Celtic and Milan both scoring frequently but also “systematically conceding”, Eddy points to a “YES” bet on both teams to score as an option to consider, offered at odds of 1.42.

He also notes that a total goals tally of more than three in the match, rated at 1.76, “should also be a reality”.

Celtic FC v AC Milan takes place at Celtic Park in Glasgow on Saturday 25 July 2026, kicking off at 14:00 GMT.

Odds are subject to change.