Italian powerhouse AC Milan turned on the style in Perth on Thursday night, cruising to a 9-0 win over Perth Glory at HBF Park.

The friendly fixture attracted a crowd of 19,226 to the Perth venue, as the Serie A club concluded its Asia-Pacific tour with an emphatic victory over their Isuzu UTE A-League opponents.

Milan superstar Rafael Leão scored twice in the second half, after an opening stanza dominated by the Rossoneri, who piled on five goals before the break.

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Thursday’s friendly came just four days after Glory’s gruelling loss to Wellington Phoenix in the Hahn Australia Cup Round of 32, in which the Phoenix eclipsed Glory via a penalty shootout after 120 minutes in the wet at Kingsway Reserve.

Speaking after his side’s loss to Milan, Glory head coach David Zdrilic said both he and his players will benefit from the lessons learned against one of Europe’s elite clubs.

“It’s a great learning experience,” he said.

“We analysed (Milan’s) game against Liverpool, where they scored four goals and could have had a lot more. It’s just unbelievable, the physical profile of them compared to anyone in the A-League, really is just very impressive. 

“I thought (after) the cup game, 120 minutes, for a lot of the guys, that was a very tough slog for them… the boys (were) just saying how slick everything was. Everything they did was basically perfect.”

Zdrilic handed new signings Brian Kaltak and Mark Birighitti their starting debuts for the club on a night that began with an onslaught of early Milan attacks, with the visitors claiming a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the contest through Filippo Terracciano.

Down the other end, Arion Sulemani and Adam Taggart threatened Milan’s defence with some promising link-up play but, despite Perth managing to batten down the hatches until the midway point of the first half, the Isuzu UTE A-League side soon found themselves trailing by a hefty margin as Milan’s class began to shine through.

Noah Okafor’s four-minute brace sent Milan three goals clear at HBF Park, before a penalty converted by Christian Comotto and a thunderous strike from Samuel Chukwueze at the end of a driving run put an exclamation mark on Milan’s emphatic, five-goal display in the first half.

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Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri replaced all 11 of his starters at half-time, as Portugal international Rafael Leão entered the fray.

Leão took just 13 seconds to put his name on the scoresheet as Milan began the second half just as they started the first to go six goals clear.

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Fellow Milan substitute Samuele Ricci then fired Milan’s seventh goal into the top-right corner with a powerful strike.

Glory had chances late to pull one back, but both Joel Anasmo and Nathanael Blair failed to beat Pietro Terracciano in goal for Milan as the visitors piled on two late goals through Yunus Musah and Leão to extend the full-time margin to nine goals.