AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao will not let Monday's Supercoppa Italiana clash with Inter put a strain on his friendship with Simone Inzaghi.
Milan beat Juventus 2-1 on Friday and ensured Conceicao, who was only appointed last week, made a winning start after replacing Paulo Fonseca.
The upcoming Milan derby will pair Conceicao with his former Lazio teammate Inzaghi.
The last time the two met in the dugout was during the last 16 of the Champions League in the 2022/23 season, when Porto from Conceicao lost 1-0 on aggregate to Inter.
The pair had an on-field argument during that match, but Conceicao clarified that it was specific to the match and not directed at Inzaghi.
“I will definitely shake his hand. When I was in Porto there were incidents that were part of that [that] game. Of course I respect him,” the Portuguese coach said.
“We are men of football, we played together and loved each other.
“He will be my friend before and after the match. However, during the match we will be opponents.”
Although Conceicao is happy with his relationship with Inzaghi, the Inter boss claims he has not spoken to the new Milan coach since that previous conversation.
He said: “We haven't seen or spoken to each other since but nothing major has happened.
“We were together for many years and shared a dressing room.
'We had a great teacher in our last one [Lazio] coach [Sven-Goran] Eriksson, who led many of us as players into the coaching profession.”
5 – #Inter have won five games in a row without conceding a goal in all competitions for the fourth time in their history (since 1929/30), the first since the period between November and December 2007 (six in that case). Ironclad.#InterAtalanta pic.twitter.com/UIMjkIfs20
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 2, 2025
Milan may still be without winger Rafael Leao for Monday's match. The Portuguese forward has missed the last two games due to a muscle injury.
“We will have to assess the situation. He is certainly not 100 percent ready to play 90 minutes. I will make a decision after training,” Conceicao said of Leao.
Striker Marcus Thuram is doubtful for Inter after suffering a thigh injury during Thursday's 2-0 semi-final win over Atalanta in Riyadh.
Conceicao is aiming to become the first coach to record two wins in his first two games in charge of the Rossoneri in all competitions since Filippo Inzaghi in August/September 2014 (both in Serie A).
With victory on Monday, Inzaghi (six titles) would equal Helenio Herrera and Roberto Mancini as one of the most successful coaches in Inter history (seven titles) since the creation of the single-round Serie A (since 1929-30).
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