Massimiliano Allegri plans to treat the Serie A season as a marathon, instead of a sprint, but he knows that the qualification of the Champions League is the minimum requirement for AC Milan.
Allegri is back at the Rossoneri for a second stint that was in charge for 11 years after he was fired by the club, after he had led them to a scudetto and a supercoppa Italiana triumph for three and a half years at the helm the first time.
Milan will not participate in a continental competition after the eighth under Sergio Conukicao in 2024-25, the first time they have not qualified for Europe in a decade (excluding 2019-2020, when they would participate in the Europa League but were banned from financial exhibition institutions).
Speaking on the eve of the Serie A opener of the Rossoneri against newly promoted Cremonese in San Siro, Allegri outlined his expectations for the coming campaign.
“I always say that you have to continue in the competition as if you were on a cruise. You can't go too fast, but you have to stay stable,” he said.
“Next year we all know that Milan should return to the Champions League without putting limits for ourselves, and we can only achieve that by concentrating on desire, hard work and attention to detail in training.”
Milan defeated Bari 2-0 in a home Coppa Italia-equal game last Sunday, while Allegri supervised his first competitive competition as head coach of Rossoneri, but he knows that a competitive fight will be a different matter.
“Tomorrow we will start the season with an important competition. I am very curious, also because after a year I return to the touchline,” he said.
“It was great to see so many people in the Coppa Italia and tomorrow there will be 75,000 fans here.
“We have to work well and at least try to start the best possible condition. I am very happy with the players – this is a group that will be a real team.”
Allegri handed Luka Modric's debut in Milan from the bank in last week's game, with Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao on goal, although the latter ended with an injury.
That forward duo will get extra competition from Victor Boniface, which is expected to arrive from Bayer Leverkusen on loan with a purchase option, but Allegri would not discuss the upcoming movement of the Nigerian.
“At the moment he is not a Milan player, so out of respect for the other club I will not comment,” said Allegri about the striker.
Players to watch
AC Milan – Luka Modric
Modric is the only former Ballon d'Or winner who is currently playing in the Serie A and should make his first performance in the competition on Saturday.
At the age of 39 he remains a force to take into account.
In all competitions in 2024-25, Modric set its record for performances in a season with Real Madrid (57) and was involved in 13 goals (four goals, nine assists). Only in 2021-22 did he register more target involvement in a Madrid shirt, with 15.
Cremonese – Jari Vandeputte
In the past two seasons, Vandeputte has given 28 assists in the Series B, for former Club Catanzaro and during a first loan spell with Cremonese last season.
No player has given more in Europe's top five competitions and their respective second layers (including play-offs), where only Mohamed Salah corresponds to the 29-year-old, who made his move permanent during the low season.
Match -Forecast: AC Milan Win
Milan and Cremonese attracted their last two Series A matches, which were played in the 2022-23 season (0-0 in Cremonese on November 8, 2022 and 1-1 in San Siro on May 3, 2023).
Only against Atalanta (three between 1995 and 2022) and Udinese (four between 1989 and 1994), Cremonese have attracted more consecutive games in the top flight.
Cremonese, however, have lost seven of their eight way against Milan in the Serie A, with that draw the only time they have avoided the defeat.
Throwback to '84: Milan 2-1 Cremonese. Rossonero spirit @cFigroup_en pic.twitter.com/enyps28f2o
– AC Milan (@acmilan) August 22, 2025
Only against Juventus (eight in eight attempts) have Cremonese more removed defeats in the competition (also seven against Lazio and Napoli).
Milan has won four of their last five seasonal matches in the Serie A, although they pulled their most recent 2-2 against Torino last year.
The Rossoneri have not included any successive draws in their first league match of the season since 2004-05 and 2005-06 (in that case against Livorno and Ascoli).
Opta wins probability
Milan – 66.7%
Cremonese – 14.8%
Drawing – 18.5%