HONG KONG — Liverpool suffered a 4-2 defeat to Italian giants AC Milan on Saturday, July 26, in a high-profile pre-season friendly at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium, despite dominating possession throughout the match.
Former Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Swiss international Noah Okafor were standout performers for Milan, with the latter netting a second-half brace to seal the win in front of a sold-out crowd of 49,704 fans.
Florian Wirtz, Liverpool’s record $150 million signing from Bayer Leverkusen, made his much-anticipated debut and played 45 composed minutes, showing glimpses of his creative flair.
Match Highlights:
- Rafael Leao opened the scoring for Milan in the 10th minute and paid tribute to Diogo Jota—Liverpool’s forward who tragically passed away in a car crash earlier this month—by forming “20” with his fingers.
- Dominik Szoboszlai responded for Liverpool with a powerful long-range equalizer in the 26th minute.
- Loftus-Cheek restored Milan’s lead six minutes after the restart, before Okafor struck twice, in the 63rd and 81st minutes.
- Cody Gakpo pulled one back with a late header, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.
Despite the loss, the night held emotional significance for Liverpool fans. A touching tribute was paid to Diogo Jota, with a mosaic display spelling out “DJ20”, and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish laying flowers pitch-side in his memory.
New Signings on Display:
Liverpool also introduced new full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong in the second half. However, striker Hugo Ekitike, who recently joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for $92 million, was not included in the squad.
Notably, Liverpool started the match without a traditional striker. Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, both linked with summer moves, were left out entirely.
Liverpool will next travel to Japan to face Yokohama F-Marinos on Wednesday, continuing their pre-season tour in Asia.
Meanwhile, defender Joe Gomez returned to England due to an Achilles injury, the club confirmed.
