Chelsea Faces AC Milan: A Crucial Test in Jakarta

Chelsea, still rubbing the bruise from Hong Kong, now walk into Jakarta with a point to prove and a team sheet under scrutiny.

Xabi Alonso’s side face AC Milan on Saturday in the first leg of a demanding weekend double-header on their Asian tour, with Johor Darul Ta'zim waiting in Malaysia less than 24 hours later. Pre-season is supposed to be about rhythm and fitness. For Chelsea, it has also become a test of nerve.

Alonso seeks a reset after stuttering week

Three straight wins over Crawley, Bromley and Western Sydney Wanderers had offered a calm, almost gentle start to Alonso’s reign. That mood has gone.

A last-gasp collapse against 10-man Tottenham in Australia was followed by a flat 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Hong Kong, sealed by a brilliant second-half strike from Edon Zhegrova at Kai Tak Stadium. Two defeats on the spin, two weeks until the Premier League kicks off. No crisis, not yet, but the margin for drift is shrinking.

Alonso knows it. Jakarta, against heavyweight opposition, becomes the moment to reassert control.

Stronger squad, stronger selections

The World Cup hangover has largely cleared. The bulk of Chelsea’s first-team squad is now back in the fold, and this meeting with Milan is expected to bring something close to a full-strength XI.

The manager must juggle intensity with common sense. With Milan in Indonesia on Saturday and Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia on Sunday, he cannot run his core players into the ground. The balance is obvious: go heavy against Milan, then spread minutes in Johor.

Saturday’s predicted lineup underlines that intent:

Penders; Palestra, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; Lavia, Caicedo; Estevao, Palmer, Mudryk; Joao Pedro.

Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer are listed as doubts, but only just. Both missed the Juventus game on a treacherous surface, with the club insisting those absences were purely precautionary. Alonso will want them involved, even if only for a controlled spell.

Colwill’s return carries particular weight. Chelsea have looked fragile at the back in pre-season, their uncertainty amplified by constant changes in personnel. The defender, who missed most of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, is central to Alonso’s plans to finally settle that back line.

No1 battle and a shop window on the wing

Robert Sanchez made his comeback from injury against Juventus, but his status as automatic first choice is under direct threat. Mike Penders, the young Belgian, has been pushing hard and is now a realistic contender for the No1 shirt. Jakarta may offer the clearest indication yet of Alonso’s early-season thinking in goal.

On the wing, the spotlight falls on Mykhailo Mudryk for very different reasons. His return against Juventus, after resolving anti-doping disciplinary proceedings with the FA, dominated the night in Hong Kong. Now he is firmly in the shop window, with several clubs circling for a loan move.

Milan could see his first Chelsea start since November 2024. For the Ukrainian, it is both an audition and a reminder that his story at Stamford Bridge is not necessarily over, even as others eye his signature.

Teenagers forcing their way into the conversation

Pre-season always throws up a surprise. For Chelsea, that surprise has a name: Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli.

The 16-year-old midfielder, Sydney-born and an England youth international, earned his first senior start against Juventus and did not look out of place. Alonso trusted him ahead of Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo, pairing him with Moises Caicedo in the heart of midfield. That choice said as much about the manager’s faith in Cobham as it did about Nicoll-Jazuli’s talent.

Geovany Quenda is another who refused to let a poor team display drag him down. The 19-year-old winger, a £40million arrival from Sporting, was one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise subdued outing, offering direct running and a hint that he is ready to make an immediate impact rather than wait his turn.

These are the pre-season positives Alonso will cling to. Amid the noise around results, young players are staking serious claims.

A test of edge, not just fitness

Chelsea’s defending has wobbled, the results have dipped, and the schedule is unforgiving. Yet pre-season remains a distorted mirror; it exaggerates flaws and hides context. Alonso will argue that his inability to name a consistent defence has fed into the shakiness at the back. He will also know that, excuses aside, habits form quickly in August.

Jakarta offers a different kind of stage. A vast Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium, a marquee opponent in AC Milan, and a fanbase eager to see signs that this new Chelsea can carry threat and control in equal measure.

Kick-off comes at 1pm BST on Saturday August 8, 2026. By the time they leave Asia, Chelsea will be out of alibis and out of rehearsals.

The question is simple: does this team step into the season with a growing identity, or with doubts still clinging to every performance?