AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao will not let Monday's Supercoppa Italiana clash with Inter strain his friendship with Simone Inzaghi.

Milan beat Juventus 2-1 on Friday to get Conceicao, who was only appointed last week, off to a winning start after replacing Paulo Fonseca.

The upcoming Milan derby will pair Conceicao up with his former Lazio team-mate Inzaghi.

The last time the two met in the dugout was during the Champions League last 16 in the 2022-23 season, when Conceicao's Porto lost 1-0 to Inter on aggregate.

The pair had arguments pitchside during that game, but Conceicao clarified that they were specific to the match and not directed at Inzaghi.

"I will definitely shake his hand. Back when I was at Porto, there were incidents that are part of [that] game. Of course, I respect him," the Portuguese coach said.

"We are men of football, we played together and love each other.

"He will be my friend before and after the match. During the game, though, we will be opponents."

While Conceicao is content over his relationship with Inzaghi, Inter's boss claimed he has not spoken to the new Milan coach since that previous meeting.

He said: "We have not seen or spoken to each other since, but nothing extraordinary happened.

"We were together for many years, and shared a dressing room.

"We had a great teacher in our former [Lazio] coach [Sven-Goran] Eriksson, who led many of us 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 clash. The Portugal forward has missed their last two games with a muscle injury.

"We will have to assess the situation. He is definitely not at 100% to play 90 minutes. I’ll make a decision after training," Conceicao said of Leao.

Forward Marcus Thuram is doubtful for holders Inter, having sustained a thigh injury during Thursday's 2-0 semi-final win over Atalanta in Riyadh.

Conceicao is aiming to become the first coach to secure two victories in his first two matches in charge of the Rossoneri across all competitions since Filippo Inzaghi in August/September 2014 (both in Serie A).

With a win on Monday, meanwhile, Inzaghi (six titles) would equal Helenio Herrera and Roberto Mancini among the most successful coaches in Inter's history (seven titles) since the establishment of the single-round Serie A (since 1929-30).