Milan win Trofeo TIM

By: Francesco | July 29th, 2008

Today at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin the Trofeo TIM was held between Juventus, Inter, and Milan. It was a triangular tournament with each game lasting 45 minutes, and each match goes to penalties in case of a draw. 3 points for a win, 2 points for a win in penalties, and 1 point if you lose in penalties. The first match was Juventus-Milan with these starting formations:

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Grygera, Chiellini, Mellberg, Molinaro; Marchionni, Sissoko, Tiago, Nedved; Trezeguet, Iaquinta.

MILAN: Kalac; Zambrotta, Bonera, Kaladze, Jankulovski; Brocchi, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf, Kakà; Paloschi.

Milan went ahead with a laser beam from Clarence Seedorf. Seedorf took the ball from 25 yards out and just unleashed a screamer into the top corner that Buffon could not save. However immediately Juventus tied the game. A cross came in and an unmarked Trezeguet waltzed in between Kaladze and Bonera and tapped it in easily. Milan’s central defensive pairing looked very unorganized the whole game, while Jankulovski and Zambrotta did good. Juventus then went ahead. Grygera crossed the ball in from the right, and Marchionni, poorly marked by Bonera, headed it past Kalac. Juventus then controlled most of the game, but a few minutes before the final whistle Seedorf scored another beautiful goal. In the box he collected a corner kick, pushed the ball a little to the right, and then unleashed another bomb past Buffon. The game finished 2-2 and went to penalties. In penalty kicks, Trezeguet missed the first shot, and every other kicker scored to bring it to 3-2. Tiago missed as well, so Alberto Paloschi stepped up and scored his shot, allowing Milan to win 4-2 on penalties.

The next match was Inter-Juventus, and the starting formations were:

INTER: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Maxwell; Zanetti, Vieira, Cambiasso; Balotelli, Adriano, Mancini

JUVENTUS: Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Knezevic, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Ekdal, Sissoko, Rossi; Del Piero, Amauri

The tempo was rather low in this game and was very drab. Juventus’ two young players Albin Ekdal and Fausto Rossi were very impressive and played with lots of personality. Materazzi went off injured after 7 minutes and was replaced by Dejan Stankovic. Amauri also had to leave because of injury, and Iaquinta replaced him. On 27 minutes Iaquinta beat the defense and ran onto a long ball, and finished nicely past Julio Cesar to put Juventus ahead. Juventus were now playing better and Buffon made a fine save on an Adriano header. In stoppage time Del Piero almost made it 2-0 but his free kick hit both posts and fell to Julio Cesar. Juventus won, mathematically ending Inter’s chances of winning the Trofeo TIM. So the table stood at Juventus 4, Milan 2, Inter 0.

Next came the derby, Milan-Inter. Milan needed a win to beat Juventus and win the Trofeo TIM. The starting formations were:

MILAN: Abbiati; Oddo, Simic, Digao, Favalli; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Ambrosini; Kakà, Paloschi.

INTER: Toldo; Maicon, Burdisso, Cambiasso, Maxwell; Zanetti, Dacourt, Muntari; Mancini, Figo, Crespo.

The game was pretty dull but Inter had the best chances. However Christian Abbiati was in top form, making some great saves to keep Milan in the game. Both sides made some substitutions and the game lost tempo. The game went to penalty kicks, and Milan prevailed after Abbiati saved Muntari’s penalty shot. Milan tied Juventus on 4 points, but won the trophy because they beat Juventus. Seedorf was named player of the tournament.

So in the first “big” preseason tournament, Mourinho’s Inter fails to win anything, while Juventus played very well and Milan put in 2 good performances.