And with that, I’m off. Bye!
Updated
And up it goes! There is a disappointing lack of sparkle and firework as Chiellini hoists the Supercoppa skyward, but only because someone was a bit late pressing the button. Then suddenly the sky is full of gold and silver. Better late than never, eh?
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Chiellini steps up last, and as captain will lift the hefty trophy.
Now Juve are queueing up for their gold versions.
The Milan players are picking up their silver medals.
Pjanic’s pass to set up the goal just clipped the studs of a defender, aiding its path towards Ronaldo.
Handbags! There’s some post-match on-field fury, with Higuain at the heart of it. Presumably he’s unimpressed with the referee’s failure to award a penalty in the 87th minute. Or it’s something else. Whatever.
That was, really, pretty humdrum. Inevitably, Ronaldo rose above the rest to provide the one moment of true incision.
Final score: Juventus 1-0 Milan
90+5 mins: And that’s it! Juventus have won another trophy!
90+4 mins: Dybala is booked for clinging on to Higuain on the half-way line.
90+3 mins: Milan are trying to find an equaliser, but they can’t find a gap in the Juve rearguard, while at the other end it looks like Juventus could find another goal pretty easily if they really put their minds to it.
90+1 mins: Massive gaping chasms are opening up in Milan’s defence. Ronaldo has the ball with three team-mates available to his right, but he’s more interested in having an optimistic shot of his own. It’s saved.
90+1 mins: There will be five minutes of stoppage time, plenty long enough for Milan to change the course of this game (though they don’t look likely to do so).
90 mins: Khedira comes on for Douglas Costa, who is also limping a bit.
89 mins: Dybala’s shot from the edge of the area deflects behind. This, meanwhile, is an unfortunate habit:
AC Milan have received 4 red cards in their last 7 matches v Juventus in all competitions.
— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) January 16, 2019
Juve have had 0 red cards in these 7 encounters.#Supercoppa #JuventusMilan
87 mins: Rodriguez wrestles Douglas Costa to the ground, and is booked. Moments earlier Emre Can slid in from behind to challenge Conti for a low cross at the near post. It looked a penalty to me, but nothing is given and VAR doesn’t intervene.
86 mins: A thrilling surge from Cancelo takes him into the area, but eventually into a defender.
86 mins: Juve make a change, Bernardeschi replacing Bentancur, who is limping a bit.
84 mins: Juve, in no hurry at all, make triangles on the right, Ronaldo and Cancelo and Matuidi popping passes to each other.
82 mins: Calabria is booked for halting a Juve break by bringing down Douglas Costa.
81 mins: Milan’s fresh front two have done little, but they at least try to link up here. Borini has the ball on the left, but his attempt to find Higuain fails.
78 mins: A Juve cross from the left clips a defender and spins into the near post, with Donnarumma flummoxed.
77 mins: I instantly thought that was a probable red. He may just have been innocently planting his foot, but the way he did so made it look part stamp, part rake.
Red card! Milan go down to 10 men!
74 mins: The referee spends about five seconds in front of the monitor, sees a single replay, and immediately reaches for his pocket!
74 mins: The referee has been called over to have a closer look at that Kessie challenge on the VAR.
73 mins: Kessie is booked, for fouling Can. That was a bit nasty.
72 mins: Talking of Higuain, here’s our latest story on his future:
70 mins: Higuain is on! Borini is also on! Cutrone and Paqueta go off.
68 mins: Juventus have a goal disallowed! Dybala passes to Ronaldo, gets the ball back, passes to Matuidi, gets the ball back and passes into the net, but the last two passes in the move were clearly offside.
67 mins: Ronaldo goes down in the penalty area, but seemed overkeen to do so. No penalty.
66 mins: Cancelo’s cross from the right wing is just too strong for Ronaldo, who gets the top of his head to it.
65 mins: The assist was Pjanic’s final meaningful contribution, as he has just been replaced by Emre Can.
64 mins: VAR had a good look at the offside decision, but replays suggest that Ronaldo was perfectly level.
62 mins: Pjanic chipped the ball into the area from deep, and Ronaldo had timed his run brilliantly, was entirely alone as it reached him, and headed in from six yards!
GOAL! Juventus 1-0 Milan (Ronaldo, 61 mins)
I apologise, Milan fans, for cursing your side so efficiently there.
Updated
60 mins: Calhanoglu has a shot for Milan, which bounces a yard or so wide. The Rossoneri are probably edging this on points at the moment.
58 mins: Ronaldo cuts in from the left before whipping a vicious shot high towards the near post. It’s straight at Donnarumma, but there’s no way he could hold it. He flaps it blindly away and it’s cleared.
56 mins: Cutrone, who’s having a fine game, wins the ball in Juventus’s half but Paqueta then spanks a long-range shot into a defender.
54 mins: Douglas Costa’s lovely curling cross from the right bounces out of play. It did look nice on its way, though.
53 mins: Juventus have started the second half as if they’re determined not to let the game go to extra time, one way or the other.
50 mins: Another chance for Milan! Cutrone, on the right, plays the ball inside to Kessie, who has one defender to his left but two team-mates. The pass to the unmarked Calhanoglu appeared straightforward, but he gets it wrong and Juve come away with the ball.
48 mins: Milan hit the bar! Calhanoglu is tackled just outside the D but Pjanic accidentally pushes the ball to Cutrone, just inside the area. He spins and smacks the ball goalwards, but with the keeper beaten it cannons back into play off the woodwork!
47 mins: Ronaldo’s free kick is low, hard, and blasted into a defender.
46 mins: Bakayoko brings down Dybala, not far outside his area. Bakayoko what-me-guv head-in-hands reaction is a classic of its type.
46 mins: It’s back on! Juve get the second half started.
Higuain appears to be stripping off and getting ready for action.
Milan have indeed been solid, worked hard, and held Juventus at bay. The game, to be sure, needs a goal. The players are coming back out, more action soon.
Half time: Juventus 0-0 Milan
45+3 mins: That’s half time. There have been no great chances, but a bit of fouling and shooting, and very occasionally saving.
45+2 mins: Castillejo brings down Matuidi from behind, and is booked.
45+1 mins: There will be about two minutes of stoppage time.
45 mins: Save! Calhanoglu goes down the left then tries to work the ball inside to Paqueta. It rebounds back to him, though, and he hammers a low shot goalwards, which Szczesny holds!
44 mins: Pjanic is booked, for sliding in on Calhanoglu about two yards from the referee. Again, a free kick would probably have sufficed there, but maybe the referee thought doing that right in front of him was a bit cheeky.
42 mins: Finally, a chance! Well, a half-chance. Douglas Costa crosses from the left and picks out Ronaldo beyond the far post, whose scissor kick bounces over the bar!
40 mins: Castillejo fouls Alex Sandro, perhaps in retribution for the one the Brazilian was booked for. There’s no yellow card this time, but it’s a dangerous position on the left wing. The cross, though, is cleared.
37 mins: Juve push forward again, but the move ends with Costa laying off to Pjanic, who shoots high from 23 yards.
34 mins: Juventus have a goal disallowed! Douglas Costa cuts in from the right, then cuts further in, then picks out a lovely pass to Matuidi. He’s challenged, and the loose ball rolls into the net, but Milan are saved by the fact that Matuidi was three yards offside.
33 mins: Calhanoglu puts the ball through, and Cutrone is perhaps half a foot offside as he does so. Moments later he’s 25 yards clear, but the flag is up!
31 mins: Milan win another corner, and it’s another good one. This time it lands at the near post and falls to earth, but Juventus have the luck and the ball drops to a defender. Juventus clear, and suddenly have a three-on-two break, with Douglas Costa running down the middle, Ronaldo on the right and Dybala to the left. He picks the wrong option, or at least the wrong pass, and Ronaldo has to check back. His cross towards Dybala is cleared, and Chiellini runs onto the loose ball and pummels a shot over the bar!
30 mins: Douglas has had a couple of crossing opportunities in the last couple of minutes, one he overhit straight out of play and the other he underhit straight to the goalkeeper.
27 mins: Castillejo is facing his own goal, inside his own half and on the right flank when Alex Sandro rakes his studs down the back of his ankle, for little obvious purpose. Yellow card.
24 mins: Chaos from the corner! Szczesny comes for it but gets nothing on the ball, which drops to Bakayoko at the far post, but then refuses to land conveniently and he’s eventually forced to turn back.
24 mins: Milan win a free-kick on the left wing, and spend ages getting their players in position for it to be taken. Finally, Calhanoglu hits the one-man wall.
21 mins: Calhanoglu is the first player to be booked, though in truth he made little contact with Betancur.
20 mins: Dybala wins a free-kick on the left, landing on the ball as he fell, which certainly hurt more than the foul. The free kick is headed clear.
Updated
18 mins: Ronaldo and Alex Sandro link up well on the left, but then Kessie ruins it all by shoving the latter. Free kick.
16 mins: Juventus come close again! Joao Cancelo bursts into the area, but drags his low shot just wide of the same post Douglas Costa shot just wide of a while back.
13 mins: Ronaldo has barely touched the ball so far. He’s hardly stood near it.
12 mins: Calhanoglu attempts a shot from range, but it flies well wide.
9 mins: Bakayoko goes down after reaching the ball ahead of Betancur. I was pretty sure there had been no contact whatsoever, but he does look genuinely pained, and we haven’t been playing long enough for him just to be knackered.
8 mins: Milan rip down the left, but their cross is also a little firm, and Calhanoglu, well wide of the near post, heads even further wide of the near post.
7 mins: Douglas Costa whips in a cross so vicious it might actually have been a shot. It lands on Dybala’s head, but it would have been beyond miraculous had he done anything with it.
6 mins: Juventus, after a difficult first 60 seconds, have settled and are looking dangerous.
4 mins: Close! Juventus attack down their right, with Cancelo attracting three defenders before passing inside to Douglas Costa, who curls a shot across goal and just wide of the far post.
1 min: Milan keep the ball well and attack down the right, only for Kessie to curl his cross out of play. Then they come again, but Calhanoglu’s low cross is cleared.
1 min: They’re off! Milan get the game started.
OK, hands have been shaken, anthems played, coins tossed. Now for the football.
Juventus have a full team of mascots in little Juventus kits. Milan have a full team of mascots in little Milan kits. Slightly more remarkably, the referees have mascots in little referee kits.
And out they come! It’s not so much a tunnel as a cluster of corridors, but importantly they lead to the pitch.
Kick-off is just a few minutes away. The Supercoppa itself has just been brought out, with the players to follow shortly.
The subs’ benches, meanwhile, look like this:
Juventus: Perin, Pinsoglio, Del Favero, De Sciglio, Rugani, Spinazzola, Khedira, Emre Can, Bernardeschi, Kean.
Milan: Reina, Antonio Donnarumma, Mauri, Higuain, Borini, Conti, Bertolacci, Montolivo, Abate, Musacchio, Strinic, Laxalt.
Here's the starting XI for the #SuperCup final in Jeddah 🔴⚫
— AC Milan (@acmilan) January 16, 2019
🇸🇦 Gli 11 rossoneri scelti per la Finale di #Supercoppa 🔴⚫#JuveMilan@BioscalinITA pic.twitter.com/5jopQUYRqK
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Milan will apparently start like this: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Calabria, Zapata, Romagnoli, Rodriguez; Kessie, Bakayoko, Paqueta; Castillejo, Cutrone, Calhanoglu. Higuain is on the bench.
Updated
Here’s the Juventus team. For those who can’t see embedded tweets, it’s as follows: Szczesny; Joao Cancelo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Betancur, Pjanic, Matuidi; Douglas Costa, Dybala, Ronaldo.
Mezz'ora a #JuveMilan
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) January 16, 2019
La Juve scende in campo così.
⚪️⚫️ #Supercoppa pic.twitter.com/27Mlzw5GmN
This is a little unsettling. I think many Britons could come up with some creative uses for effigies of our political leaders at the moment, but brandishing them with pride at major sporting events would not, I’d warrant, be on the list.
Hello world!
Today’s Supercoppa will go ahead despite and soundtracked by raucous protest. Rai’s chapel of Italy’s journalists’ union said in a statement released a couple of days ago that the €7m Saudi Arabia are paying for the right to host each of the three Supercoppe they signed up for last year represented “the price of silence in the face of bombs which have been massacring civilians in Yemen for four years, in the face of the enlistment of child soldiers, in the face of the brutal murder ... of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in the face of the investigations which have singled out as direct instigator Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In the face of a stadium with ‘sectors reserved for men.’ In the face of a country where women’s rights are still crushed and many activists are in prison ...”
This is where we are. The price has been paid and the game will be played. “The Italian league made this contract and we have to go,” said the Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. “They told us to play there and we’re going.”
So let’s focus on the football. It is widely assumed that Juventus, 22 points ahead of Milan in Serie A, will win at a canter. Especially with Suso, who plays a crucial role for the Rossoneri bridging midfield and attack, suspended. But this will be Juve’s seventh successive Supercoppa, and they have lost three of the last four, to Lazio last year thanks to Alessandro Murgia’s stoppage-time winner, and on penalties to Milan in 2016 and Napoli in 2014. “During these years when they have eaten everything,” the Gazzetta dello Sport writes today, “only in the Supercoppa have Juventus shown signs of having a full stomach.”
Milan’s gameplan will presumably focus on solidity at all costs, on stopping Juventus, on staying in the game. Parcheggiando l’autobus, in other words. Let’s see how it goes.
Here’s something I wrote about this match for the Observer:
