Xabi Alonso's Chelsea Faces AC Milan in Jakarta Showdown
Xabi Alonso has not come to Chelsea for gentle introductions. Two pre-season games, two defeats, and now AC Milan in Jakarta on Saturday. The learning curve is already steep.
This is only a friendly on paper. In reality, it is a meeting of two European giants trying to rediscover themselves under new leadership, played out in the heat and noise of Indonesia’s capital.
Rúben Amorim brings Milan into this clash unbeaten in pre-season, the Rossoneri moving with the quiet confidence of a side that believes it has found its next long-term architect. Their last outing, a tense 1-1 draw with fierce rivals Inter, underlined both their organisation and their edge. Sunday’s match will close their summer schedule. Amorim would like to end it with a statement win before the real work at San Siro begins.
For Alonso, it is different. This is not about polishing; it is about building. Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Wednesday exposed familiar problems: sterile possession, blunt attacking, a side still trying to understand what its new manager wants. He needs rhythm, structure, and a hint of menace in the final third. He needs to see a team that looks like his.
He will have to do it without the club’s headline arrival. Morgan Rogers, the $155 million signing and symbol of Chelsea’s latest grand plan, will not feature as he continues an extended break after the World Cup. The wait for his debut goes on, and with it the curiosity about how Alonso will shape his attack around such a major investment.
Another new face should be more prominent. Danny Welbeck, the surprise signing of the summer, is expected to get more minutes after making his first appearance in blue against Juventus. At 35, he is not a project player. He is a bridge: experience, movement, a reference point for younger forwards still learning the trade. If he can knit together Chelsea’s attacks in Jakarta, Alonso might finally get a clearer picture of his front line.
Then there is Mykhailo Mudryk, a story in himself. The Ukrainian winger stepped onto the pitch for just eight minutes against Juve, his first appearance for Chelsea in almost two years. His career stalled in brutal fashion after a positive test for meldonium in 2024, a case that dragged on until he was eventually cleared of the remaining ban on appeal. Now he stands at the edge of a second chance.
Alonso knows players like Mudryk can change games and seasons. Raw pace, direct running, unpredictability – exactly the sort of chaos Chelsea have lacked. Jakarta might offer him more than a cameo, and with it the opportunity to remind everyone why the club chased him so hard in the first place.
Across the halfway line, Milan have fewer questions and more refinement to make. Amorim is not ripping up the script; he is editing it. The draw with Inter showed a team already comfortable in its structure, able to suffer without losing shape. This final friendly is about sharpening details, not discovering basics.
The setting adds its own intrigue. Jakarta is far from London and Milan, but the stands will be packed with fans wearing both shades of blue and red and black, desperate to see familiar stars up close. Pre-season tours are commercial by design, yet nights like this can shape mood and momentum.
For Chelsea, the stakes are simple. Another defeat, and the narrative around Alonso’s early tenure hardens. A convincing performance against a disciplined Milan side, even without the full cast available, and the tone shifts: from concern to curiosity, from doubt to anticipation.
Milan, unbeaten and assured, want to board the plane home with that feeling intact. Chelsea, bruised and searching, want to leave Jakarta with something more valuable than a result.
They want evidence that this project is starting to breathe.
