The five key battles that could win or lose the game for Milan against Juventus | OneFootball

AC Milan will take on fierce rivals Juventus tonight for a place in the Supercoppa Italiana final, and it will be Sergio Conceicao’s first game in charge.

After the 1-1 draw against Roma, Milan made the call to sack Paulo Fonseca after just 24 games in charge following a 1-1 defeat to Roma. Just a few hours after that statement, Conceicao was named as his replacement, signing a deal until 2026.

His first game will not be at San Siro or even in Italy, but in Saudi Arabia and in the semi-final of the Supercoppa against Juve. In his pre-match press conference he certainly seemed up for the challenge, albeit battling a fever himself.

The five key battles

Looking into where this game might be won and lost, there are a number of individual duals which could be decisive. What is interesting is that Conceicao is apparently expected to name a 4-3-3 system.

Juventus’ danger man remains Dusan Vlahovic, who has 12 goals and two assists this season across all competitions and is expected to lead the line in a 4-2-3-1 for Thiago Motta’s side. He has scored just twice in eight games against Milan though, both of which came in a 4-3 win for Fiorentina.

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Given the physical presence that he has, it is likely that his opponent will be Malick Thiaw. The German was one of the positive notes of Fonseca’s short tenure as he had a resurgence in form, and he is expected to partner Tomori with Matteo Gabbia dropping to the bench.

At the other end, Alvaro Morata would no doubt love to score against his former club, having represented Juve across two different spells. He has five goals to his name since joining Milan and many hoped that number would be higher after scoring over 20 last season with Atletico Madrid.

Federico Gatti is expected to be the man who the Spaniard will be up against. Given the centre-back injury crisis the 26-year-old Italian has been able to hold down a place in the starting XI, partnering Kalulu who we will come onto.

Teun Koopmeiners has been involved in four goals in his last four games against Milan (three goals and one assist). Against no Italian opponent has he scored more goals in all competitions (three also against Hellas Verona, Mona and Torino).

The Dutchman though has not exactly hit the ground running at Juve given they paid over €50m to sign him from Atalanta. Youssouf Fofana is tipped for an anchoring midfield role in the trio which means he will be tasked with limiting him, but also creating chances as he has with his six assists this season.

Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images

The return of Christian Pulisic will be crucial for Milan given that he has eight goals and five assists across all competitions this season, making him the leading offensive contributor. Having come back from injury, Conceicao will hope that he can be the supplier and the attacking spark in transition.

Given that Pulisic likes to play in off the right, it is likely that he will come up against Pierre Kalulu, his former team-mate. Kalulu has a chance to impress against his parent club having fared much better in terms of opportunities since leaving in the summer, and therefore an opportunity to increase any feeling of regret.

Finally, we end with another midfield battle: the one between Manuel Locatelli and Tijjani Reijnders. In many ways, Milan’s past will face off against the present and future, given Locatelli – a Rossoneri youth academy graduate – departed for pastures new and ended up at a rival following a spell at Sassuolo.

Reijnders meanwhile has undoubtedly been the best midfielder in Italy so far this season, with nine goals to his name. This explosion in scoring form came under Fonseca, so it will be fascinating to see if he can even further develop under the new coach and – crucially – a possible new system.