Del Cielo e della Notte - AC Milan vs. Inter across 12 derbies | OneFootball

To understand what a derby really means, and why the Derby di Milano is so special, we point you to episode ten of this podcast, Voci a San Siro. Christian Pulisic’s deflected goal didn’t change our view of a match that continues to dominate the thoughts of a large part of the city. It may not define a season the way it does elsewhere, but it always takes over the entire week. The cup competitions can take care of themselves.

An away derby, however, is always a little more exciting, especially because the stadium is not divided exactly in half but still marked by uneven bands of colour beyond the two stands. Sometimes the atmosphere, intense, almost Balkan in its heat, like Red Star vs. Partizan in Belgrade, works as a deterrent for the home side and fuel for the visitors. So bear with us: comparisons between Federico Dimarco and a certain German full-back, what we learned from Como vs. Inter, and the three key takeaways from Inter vs. Genoa (we’ll get to those next week).

In this special episode, we look back at twelve AC Milan vs. Inter derbies that deserve to be remembered and passed down through time.

THE LEAP OF AN ANGEL

Season 1988–89: Sacchi’s AC Milan were the defending champions, but competing on multiple fronts began to take its toll as fatigue set in. By the early December derby, they trailed Inter by five points, and Inter, somewhat unexpectedly, were pulling clear of the rest. Their momentum came from a summer pact forged after an early Coppa Italia exit. In Europe, things unfolded differently. After a historic victory away at Bayern Munich, highlighted by stunning goals from Berti and Serena, Trapattoni’s side collapsed in the return leg at San Siro, conceding three goals in six minutes and throwing away qualification. They approached the derby with a clear plan: stay compact and avoid conceding. Ramón Díaz started on the bench, with Fanna preferred in the lineup. For the first 25 minutes, AC Milan dominated possession and territory but failed to beat Zenga, who at the time was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Then Inter needed just one moment. A long ball from Matteoli, a perfect cross from Bergomi, and a diving header from Aldo Serena changed everything. Ten thousand Inter fans erupted in celebration, while 75,000 followers of Sacchi’s AC Milan watched in disbelief. The scoreline did not change again. AC Milan effectively surrendered their title defence in Italy, though they would find consolation in Europe, while Inter set course for one of the most exciting Scudetto runs in their history.

BERTI'S MILANO

There are players who are made for derbies because they score in them. Because they fully embody the spirit of the fans. And because they sometimes come out with lines worthy of a tattoo for those same supporters. Nicola Berti? Three out of three. “Did we finish second in the league again? Well, better second than AC Milan,” he once said, and in the 1990s, saying something like that required real courage. Berti had it. He opened the derby in November 1990 at a San Siro pitch full of holes! Referee D’Elia suffered the consequences, limping visibly across the field. With six minutes left, a throw-in led to a cross from Klinsmann and a goal from Berti. The celebration was unforgettable. The best part? He had been saying it all week. “Guys, I’m going to score on Sunday.” He even repeated it to his opponents during the match.

ANTONIOLI'S MOVIE

Early 1990s. Berlusconi’s AC Milan were financially untouchable, able to sign the best players in Europe with ease. Needed a backup for Van Basten? Jean-Pierre Papin arrived from Marseille, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner. Required an alternative to Donadoni? Gianluigi Lentini came from Torino for tens of billions of lire. In terms of wages, AC Milan were spending more than double what Inter were - 67 billion lire compared to 32. In the derby at home, AC Milan took the lead through Lentini, who scored a stunning goal. Inter’s key player that season was Ruben Sosa, but he picked up an injury almost straight away.The game appeared to be heading toward an AC Milan win when Gigi De Agostini, the left-back for Inter you probably don’t remember from that season, tried his luck from 25 metres. It looked more like a clearance than a shot. But the ball bounced on the muddy surface inside the box, looped over the shoulder of the AC Milan goalkeeper and rolled into the net. 1-1. Inter fans mockingly chanted, “Antonioli for Italy!” Antonioli would take years to move past that error, though he later became the goalkeeper for Roma’s 2001 Scudetto-winning side. What was a nightmare for him became one of the most satisfying draws in Inter history.

LEARNING TO FLY

AC Milan and Inter in 1997–98 experienced two completely different seasons, or rather, Inter and every other team on the planet seemed to fall into two separate categories. The first group consisted of those who had Luis Nazario da Lima in their squad. The second group included everyone else. There were players who were more consistent, more complete, more marketable, taller, stronger, or any other quality. But based on what we saw, only one No. 10 in football history, the one to whom Napoli’s stadium is dedicated, could truly compare with Ronaldo in 1997–98. The derby was no exception. Simeone scored early, and Inter pushed for a second goal but failed to find it, until Moriero had a brilliant idea: a through ball played in stride to the fastest and most dangerous player anyone had ever seen. No one could catch him. Only the unfortunate Ibrahim Ba managed to run alongside him for a brief moment, just long enough to appear in the photo as a memory. The running chip finish and the celebration with fingers raised remain etched in memory far more deeply than any tattoo ever could. The third goal, again from Simeone, was merely for the record and it highlighted how the proud Argentine denied Ronaldo what looked like the simplest of tap-ins with an unlikely run and a diagonal finish from an impossible angle. It hardly mattered. 3-0. Milano belonged to Inter.

DEDICATED TO PRISCO

The first one without Peppino. We have already talked about Giuseppe Prisco on this podcast, and a quick online search is enough to find his most famous quotes. Or, if you prefer, just ask an older Inter fan, they will repeat them with the same confidence as someone quoting The Art of War by Sun Tzu without really needing to explain it. The last match Prisco saw in his lifetime was Brescia vs. Inter, when Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet after two years sidelined by injuries. The first derby he did not live to see was AC Milan vs. Inter in March 2002, a match Inter had to win, with AC Milan fighting to hold on. At one point, the ball went in almost by instinct: a flick from Vieri, a shot from Ventola, Abbiati made the save, and then Bobone, like a true predator, reacted quickest, got to the rebound and somehow turned it into a goal. A goal off his thigh, ten minutes from full time, in front of the Curva Nord. It would have been the kind of derby win the most famous lawyer in Inter history would have loved.

MATRIX RESURRECTION

Dida - Cafu, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski - Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini - Seedorf, Kakà - Inzaghi. Maldini, Oliveira, Gilardino off the bench. Coach Ancelotti.

Julio Cesar - Maicon, Cordoba, Materazzi, Grosso - Vieira, Dacourt, Zanetti - Stankovic - Ibrahimovic, Crespo. Burdisso, Figo, Samuel off the bench. Coach Mancini.

The 3-4 on 28 October 2006 was one of the highest-quality editions of the Derby della Madonnina in terms of both individual talent and spectacle. One team would go on to win the Champions League, the other would set the record for the most points in Serie A history, later broken by Juventus a few years after. A derby in October is always a statement, and this one had everything.

Crespo opened the scoring after just a few minutes. Stankovic made it 2-0 with a right-footed strike into the top corner, we’ll come back to the Serbian later. Ibrahimovic then finished off a brilliant counterattack. Seedorf pulled one back, and then came Materazzi's time to shine.

Marco Materazzi felt like a player from another era. He spent entire seasons in Serie D, Serie C and Serie B before reaching Serie A at 26. He even played in the Premier League with Everton before joining Inter in 2001 at 28 years old. He had seen it all - a rugged defender in the classic mould, unbeatable in aerial duels, the kind of player who, to borrow a line from Gue made even more famous by Paolo Sorrentino in his film La grazia, asks for forgiveness after, not permission before. He is the kind of player who today would be described as polarising: if he’s on your team, you love him; if he’s not, you hate him. The Milan Curva always targeted him, and Matrix never backed down. Scoring in a derby is worth taking your shirt off for, in moments like that, no one stops to think too much. The only problem was that Materazzi had already been booked. He lifted his shirt just slightly, enough to show birthday wishes for his son Davide, who was celebrating that very evening. It didn’t matter. He was sent off. The chant that followed him as he left the pitch was hardly a lullaby, and Matrix responded by pointing to his number toward the opposing supporters. “Look, it’s the number 23 who scored against you.” That goal decided the match. Gilardino and Kakà scored two stunning goals to pull AC Milan back into it. Inter held on with nine men, Mancini had used all his substitutions and Vieira could barely run, but they won the game with a goal from Marco Materazzi.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Sarebbe stato un grande western all’italiana, magari di Segio Leone. Di quelli in cui si all’inizio ci si guarda e ci si studia e poi si parla e si spara.

It could have been a great Italian-style western, perhaps directed by Sergio Leone. One of those films where, at the beginning, the characters stare at each other, study one another carefully, then start talking then shoot.

Inter came into that season after a complicated summer. The transfer market brought in Eto’o and a lot of money in exchange for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And without Ibra, people said, Inter could no longer win. At least that was the narrative in the newspapers and what seemed to be happening on the pitch: a Super Cup lost in China against Lazio in dramatic fashion, and a home opener against Bari that was, to say the least, contradictory. A 1-1 draw that could easily have turned into an away win for the visitors in the final minutes. Something was missing from this team. And in the final days of the transfer window, someone arrived. His name was Wesley Sneijder, the former No. 10 of Real Madrid, who were desperate to offload him. He joined Inter just two days before the derby and managed only one training session with his new teammates. Mourinho surprisingly named him in the starting lineup, and within five minutes the Dutchman made it clear he meant business, a curling missile that forced a good save from Storari. Milan, however, were holding their ground as well. In defence they had Nesta and new signing Thiago Silva, and getting past them seemed almost impossible. The wall lasted for half an hour and then the match came to life. The actors began to speak. The first word was said by Thiago Motta. It was “Toma”, Portuguese for “take it.” He shouted it after finishing one of the most beautiful team moves in derby history: Eto’o–Zanetti–Motta–Eto’o–Milito–Thiago Motta. Precise and coordinated like the astronomical clock in Prague’s old town square. 1-0. AC Milan pushed forward and left space behind. Maicon launched a long ball toward Eto’o. The Cameroonian sprinted, entered the box and was brought down by Gattuso. To general surprise, the referee showed only a yellow card instead of red. Inexplicable. Milito stepped up to take the penalty and converted it the way Milito usually converted penalties in derbies: a thunderous strike under the crossbar.

And Gattuso? The red card came anyway a few minutes later, when the midfielder from Calabria clattered into Sneijder in midfield. He had asked to be substituted, but Seedorf delayed entering the pitch reportedly to put his boots on. The second word was shouted by Gattuso toward his coach Leonardo, but we can’t repeat it here, even if the lip-reading is crystal clear. Maicon then sealed the result one minute before half-time with a third goal scored under the Curva Sud. In the second half, Dejan Stankovic put the finishing touch on the 4-0 with a 30-metre strike into the top corner. The Serbian showed everyone how it’s done, his fourth derby goal in Milan, not bad for a midfielder.

THE MASKED FIGURE

January 2012, and as it sometimes happens, AC Milan were arguably stronger on paper, but Inter won the derby. To be honest, it was a derby without many new storylines, not Zanetti’s first run, not Abate’s first mistake, not Milito’s first decisive goal. Those moments had already happened before. So what was new? We finally answer the question raised in episode ten of this podcast, Voci a San Siro: who was the man celebrating alongside the Prince, completely masked? It was Stefano Rapetti, now Inter’s fitness coach, who was already part of the club’s staff back then.

EL TORO'S FIRST

March 2019: Inter looked like the underdogs, while Gattuso’s AC Milan were in better form and had Krzysztof Piatek up front, scoring goals consistently. Inter’s usual derby hero would have been Mauro Icardi, who had scored five times in the previous three derbies. But he was unavailable. In his place was a young Argentine teammate, Lautaro Martinez, just 21 years old and suddenly handed the responsibility of leading the attack. Inter went ahead through Vecino and doubled their lead with De Vrij. Bakayoko pulled one back for Milan, but as the Rossoneri pushed forward, Inter earned a penalty after Politano was brought down. Lautaro Martinez stepped up and powered the penalty past Gigio Donnarumma. Musacchio’s late goal only reduced the deficit. The result did not change again. For Lautaro Martinez, it would not be the last time he made his mark in a derby.

EL TORO STRIKES AGAIN

He didn't have to wait long. The only AC Milan vs. Inter derby ever played behind closed doors because of Covid-19 turned into an Inter showcase, with the number ten leading the way. He first scored by finishing off an assist from Lukaku early on, then added his second by completing a brilliant team move, a goal that capped off fluid, instinctive play from a side that fully deserved the Scudetto it would lift a few months later.

PERFECT SILENCE.

It was a test of volume, like a sound check. The AC Milan vs. Inter derby that, twenty years on, still carried the weight of a Champions League semi-final. San Siro, in Rossoneri colours, , was already electric before kick-off. During the warm-up, a roar for Pioli’s eleven shook the stadium, followed by a wave of whistles that engulfed the Inter players. Then the game began.

After eight minutes, Inter struck. Dzeko beat Calabria and positioned himself perfectly to convert from a corner. 1-0.

Poco dopo l’Inter raddoppia, apertura di Barella, cross di Dimarco, si quel Dimarco, Theo Hernandez scivola, arriva Mkhytarian che impallina Maignan. Zero a due. Il cronometro dice dieci minuti e diciotto secondi.

Not long after, Inter doubled their lead. Barella started the move, Dimarco delivered the cross, Theo Hernandez slipped, and Mkhitaryan arrived to fire past Maignan. 2-0. Ten minutes and eighteen seconds in.

At 15:02, Mkhitaryan again set up Calhanoglu, who unleashed a powerful shot from 30 metres. It hit the inside of the post, but stayed out.

At 30:04, Lautaro turned past both Tomori and Kjaer, flicked the ball toward the penalty spot with his heel, felt contact, and went down. The referee pointed to the spot.

In that moment, San Siro, which just half an hour earlier had been roaring, fell silent. AC Milan fans were silent, watching what looked like an historic collapse unfold in front of them.

Inter fans were silent too, fearful that a 3–0 lead would be too much to process, too big to manage emotionally. It was overwhelming. Joy, like any strong emotion, is best experienced in small doses.

The referee went to the VAR monitor and overturned the penalty. The match ended like that. So did the Euroderby. he second leg would become nothing more than a long stepping stone toward the final.

22:43

AC Milan vs. Inter arrived on matchday 33. Inter were comfortably ahead at the top of the table, far ahead. A win would have crowned them champions of Italy. They started strongly. Dimarco took the corner, Pavard won the header at the near post, and Acerbi finished it off. 1-0.

In the second half, under the second green tier, Marcus Thuram collected a long ball from Bastoni and went one-on-one with Tomori. He first tried to square it but the defender blocked the pass. Thuram adjusted, cut inside, and unleashed a right-footed shot that caught Maignan off guard. For once, the French striker lost his usual composure and celebrated in a way players are told not to, making it clear to everyone watching that he believed in himself.

AC Milan were stunned but refused to accept defeat. Not that night. Not at home. Tomori pulled one back nine minutes from full-time, grabbing the ball from the net and urging the crowd on - it was not over yet.

Theo Hernandez and Dumfries then clashed and were both sent off.

Calabria threw a punch at Frattesi inside the area and was shown red as well.

AC Milan pushed for one last chance. In the final seconds of stoppage time, they won a corner. Mike Maignan even came forward. The corner was taken low and short, and Mkhitaryan cleared it at the near post. Then came the final whistle followed. Francesco Repice of Radio Rai, who had been narrating football matches on the radio for more than thirty years, had the insight of a lifetime. It was not just a moment. It was a time. 22:43.