By DPA
Monte Carlo : Italian giants AC Milan came from behind to beat Spanish club Sevilla 3-1 in the European Supercup showcase match here.
Sevilla had taken an early lead through Renato but Milan hit back with second-half goals from Filippo Inzhagi, Marek Jankulovski and Kaka Friday.
The Spanish club looked tired mentally and physically, as a result of all the drama and sadness surrounding the death of left-back Antonio Puerta.
There was an emotive tribute to Puerta – who died Tuesday after suffering several heart attacks – before the match, and both teams carried his name on their shirts.
“This was always going to be a difficult game for us,” said Sevilla youngster Jesus Navas.
“We wanted to win in order to dedicate the victory to Antonio, but it wasn’t to be,” he added.
Milan took charge from the start and Kaka hit the Sevilla post after just four minutes. Ten minutes, against the run of play, Sevilla took the lead when Renato headed in a Duda corner, which the Milan defence had made a mess of.
Frederic Kanoute almost put Sevilla 2-0 ahead, on the break, but Alessandro Nesta cleared his shot off the line.
Milan seemed to have equalized just before halftime, only for Inzaghi to be ruled narrowly offside.
The Italian domination continued after the interval, with Sevilla looking tired. It came as no surprise when, in the 54th minute, Inzaghi levelled by heading in a perfect Gennaro Gattuso centre from the right.
Seven minutes later, Jankulovski made it 2-1 for Milan with a memorable goal. The Czech left back received a precise long ball from Andrea Palop and scored with a majestic left-foot volley from just outside the penalty area.
Sevilla pressed bravely for an equalizer at the end but lacked precision in attack.
In the 86th minute a quick Milan counter ended with Ivica Dragutinovc clumsily pulling down Kaka for a penalty. Sevilla keeper Andres Palop saved Kaka’s spot-kick but the rebound fell kindly to the Brazilian, who calmly made it 3-1 with his head.