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AC Milan will begin the defence of their Supercoppa Italiana crown on Thursday night when they face Napoli in Saudi Arabia.
Milan actually lifted the trophy earlier this year given that last season’s edition was held in January, and they will be hoping for a positive return to the Middle East with some silverware up for grabs in the ‘final four’ format.
Massimiliano Allegri spoke alongside Mike Maignan at a pre-match press conference earlier today, and he emphasised that he wants his team to do better in the moments where it matters, with the chance to improve as early as tomorrow.
Game date: Thursday, December 18
Kick-off time: 20:00 (CET)
Venue: Al-Awwal Park
Referee: Luca Zufferli (VAR: Aureliano)
Team news
Casting minds back to the beginning of 2025, Milan had a bit of a false dawn as they won their first two games under Sergio Conceicao to lift the Supercoppa. Not only that, but they beat Juventus in the semi-final and Inter in the final – both comeback wins – to hoist the trophy.
It was the 50th trophy in the club’s history too and in the season that they celebrated their 125th anniversary. It would all go downhill from there though, with the staff and the squad almost unrecognisable from those dressing room scenes of the cigar smoking.
In addition to wanting to give Allegri his first real success in his second stint, Milan have an added motivation to use the Super Cup as a launching pad. They dropped points against Sassuolo at the weekend and surrendered top spot in the process, so a response is needed against some direct rivals.
In terms of team news, Allegri will once again have a squad that is down to the bare bones to pick from. The most recent issue concerns Matteo Gabbia, who has not travelled with the squad after hyper-extending his knee in Sunday’s draw, though he could fly out if the Rossoneri make the final.
Santiago Gimenez also did not board the plane bound for Riyadh. The Mexican striker is not recovering from his ankle injury as hoped and has undergone a specialist examination, which points towards surgery being needed and therefore at least six weeks out.
Rafael Leao and Youssouf Fofana have both travelled with the squad which is good news. However, neither are expected to be fit enough to start the semi-final and at best they will be on the bench, ready to come on for a portion of the match is needed.
Leao being a substitute certainly evokes memories of January, when he missed the semi against Juventus but was then available for the final against Inter, when he was a game-changer in the comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
Several young players – including Maximilian Ibrahimovic – will be added to the Rossoneri squad given the lack of attacking options. Ibrahimovic is having a good season with Milan Futuro, and might get a chance to follow in his father’s footsteps with an iconic moment in the Super Cup.
In addition to Max, Antonio Vitiello reports that Matteo Dutu, Emanuele Sala, Emanuele Borsani, Matteo Pittarella and Valeri Vladimirov will be making the trip.
With Leao not likely to even feature on Thursday, Christopher Nkunku will remain the front man with Christian Pulisic. Elsewhere, Koni De Winter will return to the backline, this time alongside Fikayo Tomori. He will take the place of Matteo Gabbia.
Those are the only two areas of note, with Allegri looking to keep the team unchanged from the weekend’s draw.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Nkunku, Pulisic.
Bench: Terracciano, Pittarella, Torriani, Odogu, Vladimirov, Dutu, Estupiñán, Athekame, Jashari, Ricci, Sala, Fofana, Borsani, Leao.
Injuries & suspensions: Gabbia, Gimenez, Leao (?), Fofana (?).
The opponents
Milan have of course already played Napoli this season, a 2-1 league victory at San Siro. In the preview for that game we recapped all of the summer business that Napoli did, including some of the chaos that surrounded whether Antonio Conte would remain.
It remains a strange campaign for Napoli, who are defending the Scudetto. Since losing to Milan at the end of September, they have won six of their 10 Serie A games to stay in touching distance with the rest of the pack at the top.
However, they keep stuttering at different moments too. Their away form in particular seems to be problematic, as they were beaten by the Rossoneri, Torino, Bologna and Udinese away from the Stadio Maradona, scoring one goal across those four games.
Nonetheless, recent victories against Atalanta (3-1), Roma (0-1) and Juventus (2-1) have shown that Conte is still the man for the big games, and that is why they are still only two points off the summit of the table.
In the Champions League, the prospect of a top eight spot has already vanished. The Partenopei have won two of their first six league phase games, most recently losing 2-0 away against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica. They were also hammered 6-2 by PSV Eindhoven in round three.
There is one bit of good news for Conte on the injury front though: after four months out because of a serious muscle problem, Romelu Lukaku has recently resumed full training and is expected to be named as a substitute.
Despite this, the Italian coach still has a problem in the midfield department. Kevin De Bruyne, Frank Anguissa and Billy Gilmour remain long-term absentees, and then goalkeeper Alex Meret is also expected to miss out.
Lukaku is available for selection, but Conte reinforced the fact that he must be ready to return. So, the Italian will not rush to replace summer signing Rasmus Hojlund, but a cameo cannot be ruled out. At wing-back, Spinazzola is likely to be replaced by another summer addition in Gutierrez.
Predicted Napoli XI (3-4-3): Milinkovic-Savic; Beukema, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, McTominay, Gutierrez; Neres, Hojlund, Lang.
Predicted bench: Contini, Ferrante, Juan Jesus, Mazzocchi, Marianucci, Spinazzola, Olivera, Vergara, Lucca, Ambrosino, Politano, Lukaku.
Injuries & suspensions: De Bruyne, Anguissa, Gilmour, Meret.
Head to head
Milan and Napoli have faced each other 178 times previously in competitive games. In that span, the Rossoneri have 71 wins, 54 draws and 53 defeats, with a positive goal difference of 54 and a win rate of 39.9%.
In the league game at San Siro earlier this season, it was Allegri who prevailed over Conte in a dramatic encounter. Saelemaekers and Pulisic fired Milan into an early two-goal lead, then a red card and De Bruyne penalty looked to have sparked the comeback, but a heroic defensive effort ensured it remained 2-1.
It will be the first ever Supercoppa meeting between these two teams. The last time they met in a cup competition was the Coppa Italia quarter-finals in 2018-19, when Piatek’s brace fired the Diavolo through. Prior to that, it was a two-legged semi-final in 1989-90, which Milan again won, this time 3-1 on aggregate.
Ones to watch
Rasmus Hojlund would be a typical scorer here. The Dane was a leading target for Milan in the summer, but a different route was taken. So, it would be perfectly on brand for him to add to his season tally on Thursday night.
Elsewhere, it is impossible to overlook Scott McTominay. The Scotsman has been phenomenal for club and country recently, and in his first Supercoppa, he may look to add a first to his career.
For Milan, Christopher Nkunku again feels like a player to watch. Reports now suggest that this game is his final chance to impress, and ahead of the January mercato, it feels apt. The Frenchman needs to get firing; if he does not, someone else will be brought in to do so.
Koni De Winter also has a big point to prove. The Belgian has been a bit shaky in moments, and with the rock of the back three missing, he faces a big task. With the mercato so close, he may need to prove that he is the first reserve for Allegri.
Prediction
This feels like one of those horrible games to call, and it is. Anything can happen, we feel. Both teams have been slightly hit and miss recently, and both teams could really use a win here. So, it feels like it could be a scrappy one.
Napoli 1-1 (2-4 AP) Milan
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