Juve Win Tim Trophy For The First Time

The final match of the Tim Trophy was contested by Milan and Juventus, who needed to win to win this last match to win the tournament for the first time in their history.

Both sides played in a 4-3-1-2 formation, the Rossoneri with Ronaldinho behind Alexandre Pato and Klaas Jan Huntelaar in attack, while the Bianconeri with Iago behind Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta up front.

Milan tried to take control of the match at the start, but as in the match against Inter, they looked toothless in attack.

On their first real chance in the 13th minute, Juve took the lead after a quick counterattack, as Amauri took a shot from the edge of the area that squirmed under the body of new Milan goalkeeper Flavio Roma, who just joined from AS Monaco.

It took a while to see another chance for either side, and once again it fell to Juve, as a cross into the area found Amauri at the far post in the 26th minute, but his shot from a difficult position was saved by Roma.

The Bianconeri made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, after taking advantage of sloppy play by Milan in midfield. Ronaldinho lost the ball and the ball was played forward quickly to Amauri, who played it to Iaquinta, who in turn slotted the ball past an unconvincing Roma. However, the replays showed the striker was just offside.

Milan finally threatened a little five minutes later, when youngster Ignazio Abate made a run and played in a dangerous cross toward the near post that was deflected away by goalkeeper Alex Manninger.

In the 41st minute, Massimo Oddo tried his luck from a free kick for Milan, and it was not a bad effort but it went just wide of the goal.

That was the last real chance of the match, so Juventus were able to lift the Tim Trophy for the first time ever. They end the tournament with 5 points, while Inter have 4, and Milan finish bottom with 0.




Starting Line Ups:
Milan (4-3-1-2): Roma; Oddo, Nesta, Favalli, Antonini; Abate, Gattuso, Flamini; Ronaldinho; Pato, Huntelaar. Coach: Leonardo.
Juventus (4-3-1-2): Manninger; Caceres, Chiellini, Le Grottaglie, Marrone; Salihamidzic, Poulsen, Melo; Iago; Amauri, Iaquinta. Coach: Ferrara.


Player of the tournament: Amauri

He scored decisive goals against both Inter and Milan, although in both cases he took advantage of some help from respectively defender Nelson Rivas and goalkeeper Flavio Roma. Overall, though, he was definitely Juve’s most dangerous player on the night and probably the best performer of this edition of the Tim Trophy. Honorable mention goes to Inter's Mario Balotelli, who scored against Milan and also hit the crossbar against the Rossoneri with a terrific free kick.