Inter AC Milan Derby
The Italian Serie A has been unpredictable this season except for champions Juventus dominating the league, as they lie a five points clear of surprise package Roma. This weekend sees the fierce Milan derby between Inter Milan and AC Milan contested with the ‘Italian giants’ sitting fifth and 10th respectively.
AC Milan, Italy’s last survivors in the Champions League, dropped to an uncharacteristic 10th in the table after drawing 2-2 at the San Siro with Roma last weekend. The visitors led twice on the night but Massimiliano Allegri’s side displayed admirable character to salvage a point. Sulley Muntari was Milan’s hero as he struck a 77th-minute equaliser to snatch the draw. Roma had opened the scoring for the visitors early in the first half, but Cristian Zapata levelled just before the break.
Roma thought they sealed the points with a penalty early in the second period, only for Muntari’s late strike to earn the hosts a share of the spoils. Both sides had chances to take all three points in a dramatic finish, with Balotelli spurning the best opportunity when he fired wide in stoppage time. Allegri made four changes from Milan’s 2-2 draw at Livorno, with Christian Abbiati, Mattia De Sciglio, Daniele Bonera and Muntari all returning to the starting line-up. A blow for the Rossoneri is the loss of captain Riccardo Montolivo is set to miss the derby after picking up another yellow card. With the season inching near its halfway point, time is running out for Milan to claw their way back into relevance.
If they wait much longer, hopes and dreams of getting into the Champions League will soon evade them. Heading into their 17th game of the season, Milan have all of 19 points to show. Torino, Genoa and Hellas Verona are just a few of the clubs ahead of them at this point as they trail leaders Juventus by 23 points. There certainly is no shortage of talent in Milan, but an attacking line of Mario Balotelli and Kaka has seemingly not come to life as much as was expected. On a slightly positive note Milan are now unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions, although five of those results have been draws.
Inter Milan have not won in their last four games and went down 4-2 to Napoli last weekend at the Stadio San Paolo. They played some impressive possession football but Napoli were excellent on the counter-attack. Esteban Cambiasso and Yuto Nagatomo got Inter’s goals. Coach Walter Mazzarri blamed the referee for the sending off of Ricardo Alvarez in the 71st minute but the truth is that his Inter side were simply outclassed by Napoli in what was one of the most exciting games of the Serie A season so far. Inter have struggled to find a cutting edge in recent weeks with some of their attackers lacking creativity in the final third. The Nerazzurri have conceded only four goals less than AC Milan but have been the much better side in attack as they have scored 11 more goals. However, most of those goals are due to their early season form.
These sides share the San Siro Stadium and there will be no advantage for Inter as the home team as each side are allocated 50% of the stadium for their fans in what is dubbed as the Derby della Madonnina in Italian. AC Milan have been the more solid team in recent weeks and should retain their unbeaten streak against a blunt Inter attack. They possess a more potent attack and the likes of Kaka and Mario Balotelli should come to the fore on this big occasion to get AC Milan maximum points.
