Napoli defeated Milan 2-0 to advance to the Coppa Italia final; Højlund scored, while Milan’s Premier League strike duo appeared absent-minded.

At 3 a.m. on December 19th Beijing time, the Italian Super Cup semifinal between Napoli and AC Milan was held at the King Saud University Stadium in Saudi Arabia.

During the first half, Çik and Salemakers each threatened the goal, Elmas and Nkunku both failed to capitalize on chances, and Neres opened the scoring, putting Napoli ahead 1-0 at the break; in the second half, Spinazzola set up Højlund who scored from a narrow angle to increase the advantage.

In the end, Napoli won 2-0 against AC Milan, successfully reaching the Italian Super Cup final, where they will face the winner of Inter Milan vs Bologna.

Note: The Super Cup winner receives a prize of 9.5 million euros, while Milan, having missed the final, only earned 2.4 million euros.

Napoli lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Højlund leading the attack, supported by Neres and Elmas behind him; Politano, Lobotka, McTominay, and Spinazzola formed the midfield four; Di Lorenzo, Rahmani, and Juan made up the three defenders, with Ospina in goal. The starting lineup’s market value was 219 million euros. Allegri deployed a 3-5-2 formation for Milan, with Pulisic and Nkunku upfront; Estupiñán, Rabiot, Yazari, Çik, and Salemakers formed the five midfielders; Pavlović, Djidji, and Tomori were the three defenders, and Maignan guarded the net. Milan’s starting lineup was valued at 284 million euros.

The match was actually evenly contested, with Milan slightly dominant. So where did Napoli win and Milan lose? Serie A has become somewhat of a haven for underperforming Premier League stars, but Napoli’s former Premier League signings are of higher quality than Milan’s. Højlund’s goal from a tight angle was decisive, while Milan’s Premier League strike duo, Pulisic and Nkunku, appeared disengaged throughout the match — Pulisic had zero shots, Nkunku had two but none on target, with ratings of 6.2 and 6.3 respectively, reflecting the team’s overall low performance.

As one of Serie A’s top clubs, Milan now symbolizes the decline of the league, with minor transfer activity that doesn’t even match the investment of some Premier League relegation teams, resulting in a squad lacking competitiveness and Serie A’s top-four finish looking like the ceiling.

Throughout the entire match,Napoli held 41% possession, took 11 shots with 5 on target; AC Milan had 14 shots with 3 on target.