Milan 0-0 Juventus: Bianconeri Win Trofeo Berlusconi After Penalty Shootout Victory
Luigi Del Neri came out on top in the battle of the new coaches as Juventus won 5-4 on penalties to lift the Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi - a competition named in the honour of Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi's late father. However, neither side particularly impressed and the coach who takes most encouragement from this match could well be Inter Milan's Rafael Benitez.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock over a keenly-contested 90 minutes meaning, for the second time in two years, the destination of the cup was decided on penalties.
Substitute Marco Motta slammed home the winning penalty after Thiago Silva had skied over the crossbar with Milan's second kick.
Ronaldinho, Daniele Bonera and Filippo Inzaghi all netted for the home side, while Pepe, Leonardo Bonucci, Davide Lanzafame and Diego all converted before Motta stepped up.
The Rossoneri dominated the opening 45 minutes and came close to scoring on three occasions. In the 24th minute, Clarence Seedorf sent a drive fizzing past Alex Manninger's right-hand post. Then, three minutes before the interval, Massimo Ambrosini had a drive blocked by Manninger before Seedorf fired a 30-yard volley inches wide after Andrea Pirlo had picked him out with a pin-point corner.
For their part, the Old Lady struggled to make an impact in the Milan half of the field. Their only real chance fell to David Trezeguet on the half hour, but the former France internationalist's diving header was well saved by Christian Abbiati.
The second half failed to deliver on the promise of the first and neither side looked remotely like breaking the deadlock. Ronaldinho and Alessandro Del Piero both had free-kicks saved, while substitute Diego was off target with a couple of ambitious efforts and with that the match, rather inevitably, headed to penalties.
Contrary to the pre-season cliché, this fixture is never meaningless and will serve as solid preparation for the Serie A season which commences next week when Juventus make the long journey south to face Bari in the San Nicola, while Milan welcome newly promoted Lecce to the Giuseppe Meazza. But it remaims to be seen whether either side have enough in their respective lockers to break the Nerazzuri's stranglehold on the Serie A title.
source - Goal.Com
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