Xabi Alonso Seeks First Chelsea Victory Against Milan in Jakarta
Xabi Alonso has not come to Chelsea to collect pre-season excuses. Two games, two defeats, and now AC Milan in Jakarta on Saturday morning: the new manager’s first weeks in charge have been a sharp reminder that reputations mean nothing once the whistle goes.
The backdrop is exotic, the stakes are not. It is still only August, still only a friendly. But for a club trying to reset under a new head coach, the optics of a third straight loss would sting.
Alonso under early scrutiny
Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Wednesday was tight on the scoreboard but worrying in tone. The patterns Alonso is trying to install were only visible in flashes, the pressing came in waves rather than in sync, and the cutting edge up front never truly appeared.
That is why this meeting with Milan matters. Not for the result alone, but for signs that Alonso’s ideas are starting to bite.
He will have to do it without the headline act. Morgan Rogers, the $155 million signing and the summer’s big attacking gamble, will not feature as he completes an extended post-World Cup break. The club has invested a fortune in the England forward; his absence delays the first real glimpse of how Alonso plans to build around him.
So others must carry the load.
Danny Welbeck, whose arrival at Stamford Bridge raised more than a few eyebrows, is expected to get more minutes after making his debut off the bench against Juventus. At 35, he is not a signing for the next decade, but for the next few months: experience, movement, dressing-room presence. If he can still stretch defences and finish chances, the “shock signing” label will fade quickly.
Mudryk’s second chance
Then there is Mykhailo Mudryk, a story all of his own.
The winger’s eight-minute cameo against Juventus was his first Chelsea appearance in almost two years, a brief but symbolic return after a career-threatening spell on the sidelines. Mudryk tested positive for the banned substance meldonium in 2024, a case that dragged on before he was ultimately cleared of the remaining ban on appeal.
Jakarta could be the night his reboot truly begins.
Alonso knows what a fully firing Mudryk offers: raw pace, direct running, a winger who can turn a cautious back line into a panicked one with a single burst. If the Ukrainian is to re-establish himself, these pre-season minutes are gold dust. Every touch now feels like part of a wider redemption arc.
Milan’s clean slate under Amorim
On the opposite bench, Ruben Amorim is also writing a new chapter.
The former Manchester United boss has guided Milan through pre-season without defeat so far, and he brings an air of renewal to a club desperate to modernise its football without losing its identity. His side’s last outing, a 1-1 draw with bitter rivals Inter, carried a derby edge even in friendly clothing.
Jakarta is Milan’s final warm-up before the real thing begins. This is where Amorim will want to see his structure hold, his rotations click, and his players show they are ready to carry his ideas into Serie A.
A win over Chelsea would not just round off an unbeaten pre-season; it would send Milan home with momentum and a sense that the Amorim project is gathering early speed.
Heavyweights far from home
The setting adds a layer of intrigue. Two European giants meeting on Indonesian soil, far from the familiar noise of Stamford Bridge and San Siro, but in front of a fanbase that treats these tours like rare festivals.
For Chelsea, it is about more than marketing. It is about rhythm, identity, and the first real hints of what an Alonso Chelsea side will look and feel like once competitive football starts.
For Milan, it is the last rehearsal. The final chance to test combinations, to tighten the press, to see which players have truly absorbed Amorim’s demands.
Pre-season friendlies rarely define a season, but they can reveal its direction. After back-to-back defeats, Alonso needs to show that Chelsea’s path is bending upwards, not drifting sideways.
Milan, unbeaten and assured, will be eager to prove that their own reset is already a step ahead.
