AC Milan defeats Juventus in the Italian Supercup Final

AC Milan won the Italian Supercup by defeating favorite Juventus in a penalty shootout. The 'rossoneri' won 4-3 after a 1-1 draw in regular time. Dybala, Mandzukic, and Lapadula missed their penalties.

AC Milan was crowned champion of the Italian Supercup after winning in a penalty shootout (4-3 after a 1-1 draw) against favored Juventus, on Friday in a match held in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Giorgio Chiellini opened the scoring for Juventus in the 18th minute, before Giacomo Bonaventura equalized in the 38th minute. The score didn't change afterward, although AC Milan came close to scoring the winning goal.

In the penalty shootout, Juventus was defeated due to the misses of two of its players, Croatian Mario Mandzukic and Argentine Paulo Dybala, who ended up crying. On AC Milan's side, Gianluca Lapadula missed his penalty.

38' Goal for AC Milan. Bonaventura scored the equalizer with a header.

17' Goal for Juventus. Chiellini scores the opener with a header.

Juventus and AC Milan will face each other in the Italian Supercup on Friday (11:30 am live on DirecTV) in Doha, in search of a trophy that would confirm Juventus as the absolute dominator of national football or, in case of a Milan victory, break a five-year title drought.

The 'bianconeri' come into the match as the reigning champions of Italy and the national cup, while Milan, who lost the final of the cup last May, participate as the runners-up.

The match will be played at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha for the second time in the history of the trophy, following the 2014 edition in which Rafa Benitez's Napoli, with Gonzalo Higuain, defeated Juventus in a penalty shootout.

The Supercup venue is the home of Al Sadd, a club in the Qatari championship captained by Spanish player Xavi Hernandez.

The former Barcelona midfielder has been in Doha for two seasons and visited the Juventus squad on Wednesday before their training session, speaking for a few minutes with Argentine Gonzalo Higuain, captain Gianluigi Buffon, and coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Both teams will have their final preparatory sessions today and will try to adapt to the climatic conditions in Doha, where it is around 20 degrees Celsius, almost fifteen degrees warmer than the temperature in Turin and Milan.

The clash tomorrow generates particular excitement because Juventus is the club that has won the most Supercups in the history of the competition (7), while Milan is second (6), so they have the chance to equal their historic rivals' record.

However, the Juventus-Milan match will also be a duel between two internationally renowned forward lines: the Argentine pair Higuain-Dybala in the Turin team and the Colombian Carlos Bacca and the Spaniard Suso in the "rossoneri".

Suso's changes of pace in the attacking midfielder position could be decisive in opening up spaces in Juventus' defensive line, which has been the least beaten in the Italian championship for five years.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri is expected to use a 4-3-1-2 formation, with Bosnian Miralem Pjanic as the attacking midfielder behind Higuain and Dybala, who has a slight advantage over Croatian Mario Mandzukic.

In Milan, coach Vincenzo Montella will field Bacca as the lone striker, supported by Suso and Italian international Giacomo Bonaventura on the wings.

The two clubs have already faced each other once in the Italian Supercup, in the 2003 edition when Juventus emerged as winners in the match held in East Rutherford (New York) after winning in a penalty shootout.

EFE