Supercoppa Italiana | Final

Jan 6, 2025 at 7pm UK

Kingdom Arena

Inter Milan vs AC Milan

Match preview

Even though both clubs have long and successful histories, Monday's match will be only the fourth final between the two Milan giants, after the Coppa Italia in 1977 and two more recent Supercoppas.

The first Milan derby in Italy's super-cup competition was back in August 2011, when the Rossoneri won 2-1; then, two years ago, their Nerazzurri rivals cruised to a 3-0 victory in Saudi Arabia.

Now, the two clubs are back in Riyadh, with holders Inter having made it into the four-team format — first introduced last year — by being crowned Serie A champions ahead of Milan last season.

On Thursday, they beat their local rivals Atalanta BC 3-0 in the first semi-final, with Denzel Dumfries scoring twice in the second half. This keeps their dominance over La Dea, who they trail by a point in the league but with one game in hand.

Now, the Nerazzurri are just 90 minutes away from clinching some silverware against their city rivals, which would be the perfect way to kick off a year that's looking pretty promising.

The plan for 2025 is to win the quadruple, which would be a first. Inter are through to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, doing well in the Champions League and they've also got a good chance of keeping the Scudetto.

Simone Inzaghi's team are on a high after bagging five league wins in a row, scoring an average of over three goals a game, and they'll be looking to make it six when they face Cagliari on Monday.

If he wins, it'll be his 10th trophy as a manager. He's already won four Supercoppa Italias - two with Lazio and two with his current team. If he wins on Monday, he'll beat coaching legends Marcello Lippi and Fabio Capello and be the coach with the most wins in the competition.

The stats are on his side, too: in 36 previous editions of the Supercoppa Italiana, over two-thirds have been won by the Serie A champions.

Since their 2-1 league victory in September (when Matteo Gabbia was their unlikely hero with the late winner that ended a long losing streak against Inter), Milan have fallen far behind their fierce rivals in the standings.

Since that success at San Siro, the Rossoneri have gradually slipped 13 points adrift. With Champions League qualification at stake, they sacked struggling Paulo Fonseca just after Christmas.

Fonseca's fellow Portuguese coach, Sergio Conceicao, who had a successful spell at Porto but left in a bit of a sour mood, had some luck on his first game in charge as his new team beat Juventus in Friday's second semi-final.

After a pretty poor first-half display, Milan equalised when Christian Pulisic scored and then converted a penalty, before a wicked deflection led to their second goal less than five minutes later.

That was enough to give Conceicao the victory over a Juve side that should have had his son Francisco on it, who had to pull out injured just before kickoff.

There'll be another reunion on Monday evening, as the ex-Inter player leads out Milan at Al-Awwal Park, aiming to get the better of his former club.

Not many coaches can say they've won a trophy for their club within a week of being appointed, but success for the red-and-black half of Italy's second city would make that a reality for Conceicao senior.

Recent Performance

Inter Milan Supercoppa Italiana form:W

Inter Milan form (all competitions):LWWWWW

AC Milan Supercoppa Italiana form:W

AC Milan form (all competitions):LWDWDW

Team News

After being subbed off at half-time in the semi-final win over Atalanta, Inter's top scorer Marcus Thuram might not play in the Supercoppa decider, as a thigh injury has made it unclear if he'll be able to take part.

Mehdi Taremi replaced Thuram on Thursday night, and in the France forward's absence he would compete with Joaquin Correa and Marko Arnautovic to partner captain Lautaro Martinez up front.

Simone Inzaghi is also missing the defensive duo Benjamin Pavard and Francesco Acerbi, who have been left at home, but should have the rest of his squad to choose from.

Meanwhile, in Milan, Sergio Conceicao's first starting XI as head coach featured three changes from Paulo Fonseca's final selection, and that trio might be kept for Monday's match.

Fikayo Tomori was recalled from the wilderness and started at centre-back; Ismael Bennacer made his first start following a four-month layoff; and Christian Pulisic also returned from injury and scored the equaliser.

Goalie Mike Maignan was named captain, and he'll start again behind a back four, but the rest of the Rossoneri's lineup is less clear.

Rafael Leao might be back in time for the final, and there could be changes in attack: Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata were paired during the second half against Juventus, and Conceicao has suggested that might happen again, but he may be more cautious against Inter.

Noah Okafor, Samuel Chukwueze, Alessandro Florenzi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are all injured and unavailable.

Possible starting lineup

Inter Milan possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Bisseck, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Correa, Martinez

AC Milan possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Emerson, Tomori, Thiaw, Hernandez; Fofana, Bennacer; Pulisic, Reijnders, Jimenez; Morata