AC Milan got Sergio Conceicao’s reign off to a great start by coming from behind to beat Juventus to secure a place in the Supercoppa Italiana final.

When Kenan Yildiz gave Juventus the lead just before the halfway point of the first half and Milan struggled to even get a shot on target, it looked like a long evening for the new coach in Riyadh. But within four minutes of the second half, the game turned around.

First, Christian Pulisic was brought down in the penalty area by Manuel Locatelli and converted the penalty to equalize, then a cross from substitute Yunus Musah was deflected into the Juve net by Federico Gatti.

With a spirited performance towards the end, the Rossoneri got through the final stages of the game and secured a place in Monday’s final, a derby against Inter.

Conceicao’s first starting lineup as Milan head coach contained three changes His predecessor Paulo Fonseca was mentioned on the last page. Fikayo Tomori replaced Matteo Gabbia, Ismael Bennacer came into midfield and Christian Pulisic was back from injury.

Milan certainly started the game quite aggressively, pushing Juventus high up the pitch and trying to force mistakes in the game. However, the best they achieved in the first 10 minutes was a saved corner from Youssouf Fofana, which was briefly saved by Tijjani Reijnders but cleared.

In the 21st minute, Juventus took the lead with what was actually the first big chance of the game. The Bianconeri broke through Milan’s midfield line and Mbangula spotted the run of Yildiz on the right, who had slotted in behind Theo Hernandez and fired past Mike Maignan at the near post.

It was a worrying case of defensive inattention that Conceicao has certainly thought about. What made the injury worse was the fact that Yildiz was added late to the lineup because his son Francisco was injured during warm-ups.

In many ways, the first half mirrored the 0-0 draw at San Siro in the league in October. The Rossoneri pushed and tested without ever really managing to get past or behind the compact and resilient Juventus defense and the problem was that this time they had to chase the game after conceding an early goal.

Bennacer was certainly at war in his first start since August, receiving some rough tackles including a slide from McKennie and a kick in the face from Koopmeiners, although the second was completely unintentional.

Milan’s only real shot in the first half came from Fofana, who was served about 25 meters in front of Bennacer and took a great shot in the first period that never really bothered Di Gregorio in the Juventus goal. At the other end, Yildiz tried to double his tally with an attempt from a similar distance, but this time Maignan saved.

At the start of the second half there was even more danger from Yildiz, who almost gave Juve a 2-0 lead. Once again they played through Milan’s high press and led a three-on-two break, with the Turkish international firing from the right corner of the box and firing narrowly wide.

The first change of the game came in the 53rd minute when Bennacer made way for Yunus Musah. Given that it was his first start in over four months, this seemed like an obvious ploy to manage his recovery.

A few moments after the substitution, Milan should have equalized through Theo Hernandez. A corner landed at the near post and was passed straight to the Frenchman, who seemed to have an easy time shooting the ball in from a few meters away, but he aimed it at the roof of the net and, along with his teammates, sent it over the crossbar.

After an hour, the decision was made to withdraw Alex Jimenez for Tammy Abraham. The Spaniard showed clever footwork but struggled to get physical into the game and it seemed to herald a move to a more direct 4-4-2.

Three quarters into the game, Milan finally tested Di Gregorio with a shot on goal, and it was no surprise that it came from Reijnders. Pulisic passed the ball to the Dutchman, who fired the first shot from distance, which the goalkeeper was able to reach and hold on to.

Locatelli would help his former club by gifting Milan a penalty with 20 minutes left. Pulisic chased a loose ball away from a dangerous area, but the midfielder hacked it to the ground, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. The American took responsibility and converted from 12 meters, although Di Gregorio almost missed it.

Although there was a risk that the game would then go to penalties (without extra time), Milan took the lead just four minutes after the equalizer. It required a huge stroke of luck as Musah hit a cross intended for the runners into the middle, but the ball took a big deflection off Gatti and Di Gregorio was wrong-footed.

With eight minutes left, Conceicao made a double substitution: Filippo Terracciano and Matteo Gabbia came on for Morata and Emerson Royal.

Gabbia had the last meaningful contribution of the game, making a heroic save at the very end to parry Gatti’s volley at the far post, after which the three-pointer whistle signaled the end of the game.