The RSL stars who have featured in the Supercoppa Italiana | OneFootball

The Supercoppa Italiana final takes place at Al Nassr’s Al Awwal Park on Monday night, where arch-rivals Inter Milan and AC Milan do battle for the first piece of Italian silverware of the new year.

The link between the competition and the Roshn Saudi League runs deep, with a number of players having contested both in the past. Here, we cast our eye to some of the current RSL stars who have participated in the Supercoppa Italiana – sometimes in direct confrontation with one another, and at times with contrasting results.

Cristiano Ronaldo – who else should decide the very first Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia - this year marks the fifth time the Kingdom has hosted - than the Al Nassr superstar? Back in January 2019, when officially the 2018 edition, Ronaldo struck the winner for Juventus against AC Milan at a packed King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.

The Portuguese forward would appear again in the final later that year, this time at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, only for Juventus to lose 3-1 to Napoli. A little less than three years later, though, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner made the move to the RSL – and opened the floodgates for some of the very best in the game to follow.

Marcelo Brozovic – Ronaldo’s current teammate at Al Nassr can lay claim to a similar victory in the Supercoppa Italiana, even if he didn’t quite score the winner in the 2021 final for Inter Milan.

The Croatian midfielder, by then a staple at the heart of Simone Inzaghi’s side, did play the entire 120 minutes against Juventus at the San Siro, which was decided by Alexis Sanchez’s dramatic goal in injury-time of extra-time. Brozovic’s team triumphed 2-1 before he would go on to sign for Al Nassr in the summer of 2023.

Joao Cancelo – although he now competes on the other side of Riyadh’s fierce divide, there was a time when the Al Hilal full-back shared a dressing room with Ronaldo at Juventus. Thus, Cancelo was part of that winning team from the 2019 final, but having transferred to the RSL champions this summer, he is now focused fully on helping the capital club retain their league title – at the expense of even his former Juventus colleague.

Franck Kessie – while Cancelo and Ronaldo have fond memories of that night in Jeddah, the same cannot be said for the current Al Ahli star. It was there, while manning the midfield for AC Milan, that Kessie received a straight red card 16 minutes from time, an unfortunate incident that only exacerbated his side’s forlorn attempt to rally after Ronaldo’s opener.

Kessie, of course, has put all that behind him to now be an integral part of Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli side. The Cote d'Ivoire midfielder signed for the Jeddah club from Barcelona in the summer of 2023.

Merih Demiral – if he wanted, Kessie could share tales of Supercoppa Italiana woe with one of his Al Ahli teammates, with the Turkish defender part of the same Juventus side that included Ronaldo that lost to Lazio in Riyadh in late December 2019.

Demiral played the full 90 minutes but could do little to stop Simone Inzaghi getting his hands on the first of three Supercoppa Italiana titles. Like Kessie, Demiral has played the past season and a half at Al Ahli.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Luiz Felipe – In contrast, two present RSL stars were celebrating Lazio’s victory, where Milinkovic-Savic and Felipe got their hands on the trophy. Milinkovic-Savic would go on to become not only Lazio captain but one of Serie A’s very best midfielders before making the moving to Al Hilal in July 2023, from where he provided a hefty contribution to their 2023-24 RSL title-winning team.

Felipe, meanwhile, joined then-defending champions Al Ittihad around the same time, but could help the Jeddah club to only a fifth-placed finish last season. The Brazilian centre-back was also an unused substitute in the 2017 Supercoppa Italiana as Lazio defeated Juventus 3-2. Alongside him on the bench back then? Current Al Shabab defender Wesley Hoedt.

Giacomo Bonaventura – Maybe taking Supercoppa Italiana bragging rights over his Al Shabab teammate, the midfielder not only featured in the 2016 final but scored the goal that ultimately carried the tie to penalties.

Playing then for AC Milan, Bonventura struck shortly before half-time in Doha to cancel out Giorgio Chiellini’s opener for Juventus, before he went on to convert his spot-kick in the shootout as his side prevailed 4-3 on penalties. Bonventura was one of the marquee additions at Al Shabab last summer.

Kalidou Koulibaly – going back even further, in 2014, Al Hilal's star centre-back was part of the Napoli team who lifted the cup. A gripping clash with Juventus (played also in Doha) ended 1-1 in normal time, then 2-2 in extra-time. So, it came down to penalties, with Koulibaly scoring what turned out to be the decisive spot-kick.

Napoli triumped 6-5 in the shootout and Koulibaly was a Supercoppa Italiana champion. Now, he is an RSL title-holder, too, having proved a pivotal part of Jorge Jesus' undefeated Al Hilal side in the defender's debut season in the Kingdom.

Stefano Pioli – it’s not simply RSL players who have history with the Supercoppa Italiana, but managers also. In the 2022 edition, played in January 2023 and once more at King Fahd University Stadium in Riyadh, Pioli’s AC Milan were outdone 3-0 by neighbours Inter Milan – managed by, you guessed it, Simone Inzaghi.