Juventus vs. AC Milan: The Supercoppa Italiana Adds to Historic Serie A Rivalry

The 2002/03 campaign was a special one for fans of Serie A. For the second consecutive season, Juventus won the league title, re-establishing themselves as the peninsula’s dominant force after watching both AS Roma and SS Lazio pip them to the Scudetto in the years prior to Marcello Lippi’s return.

It was confirmation of the special bond the successful coach shared with the Bianconeri, and the catalyst for their triumphs had been the sales of Zinedine Zidane and Pippo Inzaghi. Joining Real Madrid and AC Milan, respectively, their lucrative departures funded moves for Pavel Nedved, Gigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram.

With a new core to the team, strikers Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet were given much more playing time together, going on to spend a decade as partners and delivering goals by the bucketful.

Yet Inzaghi also helped to inspire something of a revival at Milan too, his predatory instincts crucial in a team that created chances galore and relied on him and Andriy Shevchenko to finish them.

The Rossoneri finished third in Serie A and were 11 points behind Juventus, but the two sides met in that year’s UEFA Champions League final. Nedved—who would win the Ballon d’Or for his impact on the season—missed the clash through suspension, his absence robbing the Old Lady of her usual incisive edge.

Perhaps it was therefore no surprise that the game ended goalless, a penalty shootout needed to separate the two Italian giants after a 120-minute stalemate. Buffon and Dida were exceptional throughout, meaning the spot-kicks became even more pressured and the final score was 3-2.

For Juve, only Del Piero and Alessandro Birindelli converted their efforts, and Trezeguet, Marcelo Zalayeta and Paolo Montero all went missing. Milan only did marginally better; misses from Clarence Seedorf and Kakha Kaladze were negated by successful attempts from Serginho, Alessandro Nesta and Shevchenko.

It was enough for coach Carlo Ancelotti’s men to lift the famous old trophy, completing a double when they clinched the Coppa Italia—at a time when the final was played over two legs—thanks to a 6-3 aggregate victory over AS Roma.

That meant that on Aug. 3, 2003, just over two months after their Champions League meeting at Old Trafford, Juventus and Milan would once again go head-to-head in the Supercoppa Italiana.

It was a relatively new competition at the time, one which only began in 1988. Incredibly, the idea for it was conceived at a dinner where Sampdoria supporters were celebrating their 1988 Coppa Italia victory.  

Journalist Enzo D'Orsi proposed the idea to the Genoa-based club’s president Paolo Mantovani, suggesting the Italian game should look to replicate the English Charity Shield (now known as the The FA Community Shield).

They eventually were given the go-ahead, meaning Sampdoria would take on AC Milan in the inaugural edition, to be held in July 1989. The San Siro outfit defeated the Blucerchiati 3-1, with neighbours Inter Milan beating the same opponent in the following campaign before Napoli won in 1990.

As the years progressed, Juve and Milan dominated the trophy thanks to their sustained league success, meaning that by 2002 only three of the 15 editions were played without one of that duo present.

Yet they had never faced each other for the trophy, and the decision was taken to have their first meeting take place abroad. Both teams had already won the competition on foreign soil, the Rossoneri beating Torino at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington DC in 1993.

Meanwhile, just 12 months before they took on the Rossoneri, Juventus defeated Parma 2-1 in Libya, and eventually Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey was chosen as the 2003 venue.

''There is so much interest in this game that it will be televised in 153 countries around the world,'' ChampionsWorld's president and founder Charlie Stillitano told a press conference. ''It showcases two of the strongest clubs in the world in a game that means a lot.''

Clearly selling Serie A to the US audience was the reason for the playing the fixture there. ''We have this game here because we have the desire to promote Italian soccer outside our country,'' Juve’s marketing director said at the same media event.

Just as they had in Manchester, the two teams fielded a plethora of well-known household names, with their starting XIs from the match looking almost like something from an all-star game as the graphic below highlights.

Adam Digby via lineup11.com

Again, much like at Old Trafford, the two defences negated the opposition attacks and for the first time in the history of the Supercoppa, the tie went into extra time, finishing 0-0 after 90 minutes of play.

In the subsequent period, Milan took the lead through a penalty, awarded by referee Pierluigi Collina for defender Mark Iuliano wrestling with his man as a corner was taken. Andrea Pirlo duly despatched the spot-kick, beating Buffon with relative ease with what is now his trademark chipped effort.

Rossoneri celebrations were short-lived, however, when Nedved swung a dangerous ball into the box. Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati denied a superb header from Nicola Legrottaglie, only to see the rebound fall at the feet of Trezeguet, and the French striker made no mistake from close range.

Once more a shootout was needed to split the duo, and this time Juventus were perfect. All their first four takers slotted home, while Buffon made a save to deny Cristian Brocchi, setting the stage for Ciro Ferrara to convert the winning kick.

Captain that day, he did so with aplomb and then lifted the cup, just as Buffon will hope to do on Friday evening when Milan and Juve meet in Qatar. Doha’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium will host this year’s event, and Juventus seem ready to add another trophy to their growing collection.

However, having lost to the same opponent when the two sides met in Serie A back in October, Claudio Marchisio warned in an interview with La Stampa (h/t Football Italia) that they face a tough task:

"

It won’t be an easy match against Milan, they already beat us in the League. We’ll have to be careful, because they’re a team with a lot of youngsters who will want to put on a display and confirm what they’re doing.

We want to end this year as we started it though, and make it perfect.

"

They now have that chance, one they will hope to take in order to underline their domestic superiority and clinch the first silverware of the 2016/17 campaign as Allegri discussed last week.

“We’ll go there in good shape but there’s no notion of revenge because there’s a trophy up for grabs,” the coach said at a recent press conference. “It’s about focus and the right mindset to have a happy Christmas.”

A win will let them do just that, and supporters of the Bianconeri will hope Allegri and his team deliver against their old rivals.