Juventus completed their pre-season preparations in style, beating AC Milan 3-2 to lift the Berlusconi trophy in San Siro.
Although this was considered a friendly match, both sides went into the game knowing that the victors from this game would receive a huge psychological boost before the start of the Serie A season.
Milan started the game strongly and put the Serie A champions on the back foot early on but were unable to make their early domination count although they almost took the lead, with Kevin-Prince Boateng rising highest to meet Ricardo Montolivo’s cross in the 7th minute but just flashing his header wide of Marco Storari’s goal.
The hosts were not to be denied however, and they soon took the lead through former Manchester City forward Robinho, who was on hand to fire in the rebound from close range after Mathieu Flamini’s initial effort hit the upright.
Milan’s joy was short-lived however as Juventus equalised barely five minutes later through Claudio Marchisio. Marchisio, a product of Juventus’ youth academy, made one of his trademark runs into the box to meet De Ceglie’s low cross into the box and made no mistake from five yards out, poking the ball past the despairing dive of Christian Abbiati.
This spurred Juventus on and they almost took the lead soon after when Mirko Vucinic’s long range effort rattled the woodwork with Abbiati beaten.
The Turin club were not to be denied however, and they took the lead three minutes before the break through Arturo Vidal, who ran onto Luca Marrone’s delightful through ball and made calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Both sides made a number of changes after the interval and one of the Bianconeri new introductions, Alessandro Matri made an immediate impact, testing Abbiati with a rasping shot which the veteran keeper had to stretch to keep out.
Matri, the top scorer for Juventus last season, was a lively presence upfront and eventually got his reward in the 64th minute, heading in Emanuele Giaccherini’s cross to give Juventus a two goal advantage over the hosts.
Milan was handed a lifeline after Alberto Masi bundled down Robinho in the penalty box which earned the hosts a penalty. Robinho stepped up confidently and dispatched the penalty with aplomb and set the stage up for an intriguing finale.
However, it was too little, too late for Milan as Juventus hung on to claim their 10th Berlusconi trophy and more importantly, go into the new Serie A season with renewed confidence.
