Inter will face AC Milan for the first Derby della Madonnina of the year in Riyadh where the Nerazzurri will try to win their fourth Supercoppa Italiana trophy in a row, while the side now coached by Sergio Conceicao last won it in 2016. Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is the manager with most Supercoppa titles (five) won in the history of the tournament. Let's take a look at the three keys ahead of Monday's final:
- Date: Monday, Jan. 6 | Time: 2 p.m. ET
- Location: Alawwal Park Stadium -- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- TV: CBS Sports Golazo | Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Inter +180; Draw: +360; AC Milan +475
Lautaro Martinez crisis
The Argentinian striker is not living his best season so far as he only scored one goal in the last 10 games played in all competitions. The 2024-25 season of Lautaro started off with the Argentinian striker coming back from his holidays beforehand due to some injuries that affected the Nerazzurri's preseason ahead of the start of the Italian Serie A. Lautaro, as captain of the team, decided to come back few days before but didn't have a proper pre-season with the rest of the team. Less than two weeks later, he played 86 minutes of the opening Serie A game against Genoa. All of this came after playing extensive minutes over the summer as Argentina won back-to-back Copa Americas, with Lautaro scoring the winning goal against Colombia in the final.
We had to wait until Sept. 28 to see Lautaro score his first goal of the season, a brace against Udinese, a few days before scoring his first and only goal so far in the UEFA Champions League's campaign against Crvena zvezda at San Siro. Up till now, Martinez only scored seven goals in all competitions. The game against AC Milan is a big chance for him to change the course of his season, in a game where he always delivers.
Conceicao's start
The Supercoppa final will be the second game since Conceicao took charge of the Rossoneri after the sacking of former AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca who was fired after the home draw against AS Roma last week. The debut game of Conceicao was the 2-1 semifinal win against Juventus where AC Milan showed all their struggles of this first part of the season but also a reaction in the second half that led the team to the quick comeback also thanks to USMNT star Christian Pulisic, who scored the 1-1 with a perfect penalty in the game that saw his comeback after injury.
Pulisic missed the whole month of December and his comeback is definitely some of the best news for the new AC Milan manager, who can count again on the best player of the Rossoneri in this first part of the 2024-25 campaign. A potential win in the derby and in the Supercoppa final can make things much easier for the former FC Porto head coach.
Taremi's big chance to shine
Talking about former FC Porto members, Mehdi Taremi will have his big chance as he will be starting alongside Martinez. Due to the injuries of Marcus Thuram and Joaquin Correa, Inzaghi will name the Iranian striker in the attack after a disappointing start of the season where Taremi only scored one goal in all competitions up to now. The derby against AC Milan can become a big chance for him to shine and show the Inter fans he's one of the best players n the roster. The Nerazzurri, and Inzaghi, need Taremi for the second part of the season as Inter are still in all the competitions they are playing, and they will fight to win both the Italian Serie A and possibly the UEFA Champions League as well.
