Soccer Betting – Bayern, AC Milan Set for Friendly

Bayern Munich (-159) vs AC Milan (+409), Draw (+295)

Two of the most storied European clubs will meet at Soldier Field in Chicago on Wednesday (9:00 PM Eastern) as German power Bayern Munich face Serie A’s AC Milan as part of the International Champions Cup.

Bayern Munich have already played three friendlies in the build-up to the 2016-17 season and are a perfect 3-0, beating Lippstadt (4-3 away), Manchester City (1-0 home), and Landshut (3-0 away).

New manager Carlo Ancelotti is already putting his stamp on this team, transitioning from Pep Guardiola’s possession-style to his own uptempo attack. Bayern had performed well for Guardiola, domestically, dominating the Bundesliga for three straight years under the Spaniard, but they could never reach the next level in the Champions League, which spurred the change at the top. (The team was eliminated by Spanish sides in the semifinals of the last three editions of the Champions League.)

Ancelotti’s UCL pedigree is unrivaled. In six seasons with AC Milan, he won the UCL title twice and reached three finals, in total. His success at Bayern will be measured, not on delivering more Bundesliga trophies, but on the team’s performance in Europe. Anything less than a Champions League final will be seen as a disappointment, in all likelihood.

Though tomorrow’s game is a friendly, it will have some increased importance for Ancelotti, as he faces that very same AC Milan team he led to so much success.

Milan are seven-time European champions, but are a team in flux at the moment. They recently signed manager Vincenzo Montella, who will be their fifth coach over the last three seasons. They limped to a fourth-place finish in Serie A last year and haven’t added any talent to a squad that is very limited.

The team didn’t even bring striker Carlos Bacca to the US, looking to keep him healthy and sell him to the highest bidder. Bacca scored 18 goals last season, and he was the third-best striker in Serie A.

Milan are a club steeped in tradition, but they just don’t have the talent to compete with the likes of Bayern these days. The last time these two teams locked horns – in the Audi Cup – the Germans emerged with a 3-0 win. Something similar will happen tomorrow.

Pick: Bayern Munich (-159).

(Photo Credit: Tommaso Fornoni (Own work) CC BY 3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.)