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Nigel de Jong received criticism for a harsh foul on Tuesday. Reuters

After suffering losses on Tuesday, Tottenham and AC Milan meet on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena in Munich in the third-place match of the 2015 Audi Cup.

Real Madrid received goals from James Rodriguez and former Spurs star Gareth Bale to hold off Tottenham, 2-0, while home-team Bayern Munich received goals from Juan Bernat, Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski to defeat AC Milan, 3-0.

Both Tottenham and Milan would like to get their league seasons off to a hot start after failing to reach Champions League. AC Milan are coming off back-to-back lackluster Serie A seasons, finishing eighth in 2013-2014 and 10th in 2014-2015. Since placing fourth in the Premier League in 2011-2012, Tottenham have finished no better than fifth place.

The major talking points entering the match are the physical play of friendlies and fatigue before the start of meaningful matches. New AC Milan head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was caught defending himself for Nigel de Jong's tackle on Joshua Kimmich. Mihajlovic would later have a spat with Bayern manager Pep Guardiola about the physical play between the two clubs.

"Football isn't dancing and fouls are part of the sport. This is also why games like this cannot be called friendlies," Mihajlovic said after the match.

Meanwhile, there are some who are questioning whether Mauricio Pochettino's squad will be fit for the Premier League season opener on Saturday against titans Manchester United. The Argentine addressed the situation earlier this week.

"You need to accept to come to the tournament before the end of the last season and you never know (your fixtures).

"It is not a big problem. We are ready to compete tomorrow and Wednesday and after to compete on Saturday.

"We tried to change the (United) game to Sunday but it was impossible for the Premier League and we said we needed to manage (things) in a different way.

"It is important for us to share the time between all of the squad because it is true we play Saturday morning but I think that we will arrive nearly at 100 percent."

Time: 12:15 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Prediction: AC Milan over Tottenham, 2-1