IT’S BEEN A while since a Milan derby has thrilled and excited. Sometimes, you don’t need goals for a game to be a good one but it usually helps. And you have to go back to May 2012 since we’ve had more than two in a league clash between the bitter rivals.
A quick glimpse at the teams that day says quite a bit.
Inter still had the bulk of the side that won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho two years before and the likes of Javier Zanetti, Maicon, Lucio, Wesley Sneijder and Esteban Cambiasso all featured while Diego Milito, who scored a brace in that 2010 final, racked up a hat-trick against Milan that day.
The Rossoneri meanwhile had Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front though his two-goal performance wasn’t enough as Inter won out 4-2.
Tonight, there’s a genuine expectation that the clash will reignite, helped by the fact that the respective managers – Sinisa Mihajlovic and Roberto Mancini – are such good friends while both sides have picked up some new faces in the summer transfer window.
Inter have started well, winning their first two Serie A games while Milan’s opening day defeat to Fiorentina was followed by a win over Empoli.
It’s set to be a record-breaking derby too.
All 77,500 tickets have been sold and that means a gate receipt of around €3.8 million
It promises to be an electric atmosphere. Here’s hoping the players deliver as much as the fans.
