AC Milan vs Chelsea announcement set to impact Leeds United pre-season friendly
Leeds United’s pre-season meeting with the Serie A side comes one week before their 2025/26 Premier League season kicks off.
Leeds United’s highly anticipated pre-season friendly against AC Milan could be impacted amid reports the Serie A side will face Chelsea just 24 hours later.
Leeds confirmed last month they will meet Milan in Dublin on Saturday, August 9, almost 25 years since the last fixture between the two in a pair of Champions League group stage games. The 51,700-capacity Aviva Stadium will host the occasion and ticket sales are already well over 40,000, with Whites fans set to make up the large majority.
In a statement confirming the fixture, managing director Robbie Evans said that meeting with a ‘prestigious opponent’ should prepare Leeds for ‘re-entry into the challenge of Premier League football.’ But now reports from Italy suggest Milan could have commitments elsewhere in the immediate aftermath.
National newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport (via Milan Press) report Milan are expected to confirm their fifth pre-season friendly soon, with the Serie A giants due to face Leeds’ 2025/26 Premier League rivals, Chelsea. But interestingly for Whites supporters, that meeting is expected to take place on Sunday, August 10 - just 24 hours after their 2000/01 Champions League re-run.
Milan kick off their own pre-season with a tour of Asia during which they will face Arsenal and Liverpool, before a trip to Australia where they meet Perth Glory at the end of July. The Rossoneri then face Leeds in Dublin but appear keen to squeeze in one more friendly against a fourth Premier League team.
It has become relatively common for teams to have pre-season friendly meetings so close to each other, but it does usually mean one line-up is weakened. Milan’s domestic campaign kicks off a week after their meeting with Leeds and so would have been expected to go full strength, but a fixture against Champions League outfit Chelsea could change things.
What does Leeds United’s pre-season look like?
Leeds will look to prepare themselves for the challenge of Premier League football by facing top-tier opposition through the summer, with that August 9 game against Milan their final friendly before the 2025/26 season kicks off the following weekend. The club’s first scheduled match will be against Manchester United in Stockholm on July 19.
They will also host La Liga outfit Villarreal at Elland Road on August 2 before that trip to Dublin. Leeds will also return to manager Daniel Farke’s homeland, Germany, for a summer camp, as they did last year. During that trip, the Whites faced local opposition in Hannover 96 and Schalke.
Leeds are only a few days away from being able to map out their full 2025/26 campaign, with the Premier League fixtures due to be released at 9am on Wednesday morning. That first game will take place the weekend after AC Milan and fans will no doubt be hoping for a big home game to get the ball rolling.