Real Madrid ended their historic 2014 with a 4-2 friendly defeat to AC Milan on Tuesday at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema scored for Los Blancos, but the Italians proved to be more up for the challenge with a pair of goals in each half to hand Real their first defeat, albeit in just a friendly, since a league defeat versus Atlético Madrid back on September 13th.
It was a mixture of starters and reserves in manager Carlo Ancelotti’s starting XI with Keylor Navas getting the start in goal. The Costa Rican stopper was shielded by a back four of Álvaro Arbeloa, Raphael Varane, Nacho and Fabio Coentrão. In midfield Sami Khedira enjoyed a rare start along with Asier Illarramendi and Isco, while up front Ronaldo was joined by Chicharito and Jesé.
Milan used a high pressing line to start the match and it would end up paying dividends for the Rossoneri who tallied the game’s opening goal on 23 minutes. Nacho committed an atrocious error in defense, by playing a lazy back pass intended for Navas. However, with Milan playing up, Jérémy Ménez was able to swoop in and collect the ball and finish past Navas to make it 1-0 to the Italians.
More slack defending proved costly for Real as Milan went up 2-0 in the 31st minute through Stephen El Shaarawy. The 22-year-old striker collected a pass and having been given plenty of space and time by Arbeloa, El Shaarawy unleashed a bullet that whistled past Navas and into the net.
In the 35th minute, for the first time all night, the thousands of Real fans inside the stadium got a chance to cheer when Ronaldo halved the deficit with a stellar goal. Jesé played a ball out to the Portuguese on the right, and with maybe two yards of space between Milan goalkeeper Diego López and the near post, Ronaldo one-timed a shot that squeezed past a wrong-footed López.
As is common in friendlies, a slew of changes were made to begin the second half with Iker Casillas, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, James, Toni Kroos, Llorente, Dani Carvajal and Pepe all entering the match following the break.
The numerous substitutions looked to have unsettled Los Blancos and it did not take long for Milan to regain a two-goal advantage as El Shaaraway struck for his second of the night in the 48th minute to make it 3-1 to Pippo Inzaghi’s men.
Benzema, Jesé and Bale all had chances in the next 15 minutes to bring Real within a goal, but each were denied by either the woodwork or saves made from López and then later from Milan substitute goalkeeper Agazzi.
By the 65th minute every Real starter had left the pitch as Marcos Llorente came on for Isco and Raúl De Tomás replaced Jesé. However, Real lost their momentum and were unable to cut into the Milan lead and suddenly, it became 4-1 to Milan in the 73rd minute when M’Baye Niang picked out Giampaolo Pazzini at the back post and the Italian striker thumped a header past Casillas.
Real looked to stage a late comeback and made it 4-2 in the 84th minute as Benzema converted a penalty following a tackle on Nacho in the Milan area. However, in the end, the reigning European champions were unable to put Milan’s lead in peril as Ancelotti’s meeting against his former club ended in defeat.
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