All eyes on dugout for Supercoppa's Milan derby
AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao will not let the Supercoppa Italiana clash with Inter Milan strain his friendship with Simone Inzaghi as two go head-to-head in the final.
Milan beat Juventus 2-1 to get Conceicao, who was only appointed last week, off to a winning start after replacing Paulo Fonseca.
The upcoming Milan derby will pair Conceicao up with his former Lazio team-mate Inzaghi.
The last time the two met in the dugout was during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 in the 2022-2023 season, when Conceicao's Porto lost 1-0 to Inter on aggregate.
The pair had arguments pitchside during that game, but Conceicao clarified that they were specific to the match and not directed at Inzaghi.
"I will definitely shake his hand. Back when I was at Porto, there were incidents that are part of [that] game. Of course, I respect him," the Portuguese coach said.
"We are men of football, we played together and love each other.
"He will be my friend before and after the match. During the game, though, we will be opponents."
While Conceicao is content over his relationship with Inzaghi, Inter's boss claimed he has not spoken to the new Milan coach since that previous meeting.
He said: "We have not seen or spoken to each other since, but nothing extraordinary happened.
"We were together for many years, and shared a dressing room.
"We had a great teacher in our former [Lazio] coach [Sven-Goran] Eriksson, who led many of us players into the coaching profession."
Milan may still be without winger Rafael Leao for Tuesday's (AEDT) clash. The Portugal forward has missed their last two games with a muscle injury.
"We will have to assess the situation. He is definitely not at 100 per cent to play 90 minutes. I’ll make a decision after training," Conceicao said of Leao.
Forward Marcus Thuram is doubtful for defending champion Inter, having sustained a thigh injury during last week's 2-0 semi-final win over Atalanta in Riyadh.
Conceicao is aiming to become the first coach to secure two victories in his first two matches in charge of the Rossoneri across all competitions since Filippo Inzaghi in August-September 2014, both of which came in Serie A.
With a win in the final, meanwhile, Inzaghi, who has six titles, would equal Helenio Herrera and Roberto Mancini among the most successful coaches in Inter's history since the establishment of the single-round Serie A in 1929-1930.
