It was a dream debut game for new AC Milan manager Sergio Conceição in Saudi Arabia, as his team won 2-1 against Juventus in the semifinal and booked a showdown against rivals Inter for a chance at lifting the Supercoppa Italiana — the first trophy of the Italian season — on Monday (2 p.m. ET | Paramount+).
Conceição made few changes in his first game in charge following the dismissal of Paulo Fonseca after a 1-1 home draw to AS Roma of last Sunday. He had to deal with the absence of winger Rafael Leao, who was sidelined due to a minor injury, while Christian Pulisic finally made his comeback after missing the previous four games (26 days) due to a calf injury.
The first half wasn’t easy at all as Milan were exposed to all of the issues they had to deal with thus far this season, with some defensive lapses and only a few chances created. It wasn’t a coincidence that Thiago Motta’s Juve scored the opening goal of the night with the sweet strike of Yildiz.
Sure enough, it was the Americans who helped spark a second-half comeback for the Rossoneri. It wasn’t until former Rossoneri midfielder Manuel Locatelli tackled Pulisic in the box in the 70th minute that the game began to turn on its head. The United States star converted the spot kick, beating the glove of Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio up the middle with a powerful shot.
Three minutes after the two sides were on level terms, U.S. midfielder Yunus Musah made a run down the right wing and appeared to have tried to whip a strong cross to Tammy Abraham before it was deflected by Juve defender Federico Gatti. The deflection left Di Gregorio out of position and in despair. All he could do was watch the ball swerve around him out of his reach and trickle into the back of the net.
AC Milan managed to secure a 2-1 result that seemed to underline all the issues shown so far this season, but the two unexpected goals completely changed the perception of the semifinal and put more pressure on Juventus manager Thiago Motta. Conceição can smile a bit, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done in the coming weeks, starting from the final that will see in action the first Derby della Madonnina of the year.
After the game, the Portuguese coach said to Mediaset: “I can tell you that after the first 45 minutes in the locker room I didn’t give kisses to the players. I got a little angry. They weren’t doing what we prepared and that makes me a little angry. I’m not a very nice person, I don’t like giving hugs. I get angry more often than the opposite. The important thing for them is to work well and have a lot of positive energy.” AC Milan fans will appreciate these words. The work to do is still a lot, but the start wasn’t bad at all at least for the result, waiting for the final against the city rivals that will take place on Monday, Jan. 6 on Paramount+.
