Juventus edges AC Milan on penalty kicks

CARSON » Juventus and AC Milan brought the Derby of Champions to the United States and the Soccer Champions Tour on Thursday.

The matchup featured two of the teams in Italy’s Serie A with the most titles.

The rivalry lived up to the hype with the teams playing to a 2-2 draw at Dignity Health Sports Park in front of 18,746, forcing the game into a penalty kick shootout, where Juventus prevailed.

Juventus had a chance to win in the fifth round of the shootout, but Filip Kostic’s attempt was saved, sending the teams into a sudden-death round. In the sixth round, Juventus had another chance to win and

Matías Soulé converted the final kick for a 4-3 shootout win.

Just moments after halftime, Juventus’ Daniele Rugani scored off of a free kick to tie the game at 2-2.

Both teams had their U.S. men’s national team members in their respective starting lineups. AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic was subbed off in the 58th minute as Stefano Pioli brought on a new 11. Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie went off in the 59th minute for Juventus.

AC Milan finished fourth in last season’s Serie A standings and Juventus was seventh, narrowly making a European spot, settling for Europa League qualifying.

The game was the first for Juventus on the Soccer Champions Tour. The first game was originally scheduled for July 22 against Barcelona in Santa Clara, but the game was cancelled after several members of Barcelona contracted viral gastroenteritis.

Malick Thiaw had a role in both of AC Milan’s firsthalf goals. On the first, he connected on Pulisic’s cross, heading the ball into the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.

Juventus’ Danilo tied the game 1-1 with an extra effort of work in the 33rd minute. Off of a free kick, initially Federico Gatti had a couple of chances on the goal line, but each was blocked by an AC Milan defender. The third attempt fell right into Danilo’s path and he knocked it home.

Olivier Giroud followed in the 39th minute to give AC Milan a 2-1 halftime lead.