Milan–Inter it is history, just as it is history scudetto and the second star of Simone Inzaghi’s team. The derby, the 91st won by the Nerazzurri, however, was not only and exclusively on the pitch but also and above all outside of it.
In fact, since yesterday the climate in Milan has been incandescent. If at Pinetina the Nerazzurri fans met their favorites to encourage them and push them towards the final step, a Milanello the climate was completely different: tight-lipped, no meeting with the fans – who had already called Leao and his teammates under the curve in the match against Roma in the Europa League – but, above all, a completely opposite state of mind. And this situation was nothing other than the calling card of the players’ mood before the match: at Inter, many posts on social media, photos, stories to thank the fans; on the other side of Milan absolute silence.
In the hours preceding the match, however, the film changes: the Nerazzurri fans, in spite of superstition, praise the tricolor but the Milan fans don’t agree and welcome their cousins with an invitation to “Cardboard star party”. The program drawn up by Milan Rossoneri is expressed in points and in great detail: at 10 am it starts with the “Meeting at Pinetina“, at 11 there is instead “Shareholders’ meeting, agenda: establish new strategies to continue the Juve style now undertaken and set objectives for next season with detailed report by Moggi and Marotta on how to steal the championships and lose the finals”. At 11.30 the AC Milan fans expect the “Projection of refereeing favors in the three-year period ’21-’24“, while at 6pm the “End of season lottery, with switched off Var monitors and DIY cardboard star kits up for grabs”. In the evening, however, scheduled in order: 9pm, “Procession of Zhang’s creditors under the company headquarters”, at 11pm “Departure of the lovers of Calhanoglu’s wife through the streets of Milan” to end with, at midnight sharp, the “Fireworks display under the Revenue Agency”.
In short, it’s raining and cold in Milan tonight but the cheering is hotter than ever. And the entry of the teams onto the pitch merely confirms it: the North Curve exhibits a choreography with the second star bearing the writing: “Our destiny, your nightmare”, while the South Curve he responds with mice who place stars next to the shield as if it were cheese, that is, in clear ultras style, stealing it. The atmosphere is heated and the match hasn’t started yet.
The program drawn up by the AC Milan team, however, is not a simple joke, but rather a clear stance. The “cardboard” shield is in reference to Calciopoli, when Inter, third in the standings on the pitch, were then awarded the tricolour. Just shortly before the goal of UnripeIn fact, the Rossoneri organized supporters display a second banner: “Mathematics is not an opinion: on the field there are nineteen!”. And, the sum not mathematically correct present on the programs, that “18+1=20” inside the star – deliberately one and not two – makes clear the clear allusion to what happened in 2006, as well as to the aforementioned help received, according to the Milan fans, from Simone Inzaghi’s team during the course of the season. In short, the so-called “Marotta League” – mentioned several times during the match – became reality for the AC Milan fans who wanted to shout their anger to the sky for some episodes, both distant and present.
The decibels rise as the minutes pass and when Acerbi scores, the Nerazzurri’s voice is clear: “We will win the tricolor”, and then continues with: “You will return to Serie B”, a clear reference to the fact that Inter is the only Italian team to have never been relegated to the second division. The Rossoneri Milan feel the pinch but don’t give up and even just talking to their neighbor becomes impossible. Around the 40th minute Calabria first and then Mkhitaryan come close to scoring but Summer and Maignan aren’t up for it, the scream remains strangled in their throats but both fans dream: the Inter fans want to celebrate the scudetto in the face of their cousins, the AC Milan fans want to ruin the party for them.
It’s the interval that calms things down but it’s simply a break to recharge the batteries in view of the last 45 minutes. Even before Colombo’s whistle the Curva Nord starts the scarp, the AC Milan fans raise the decibels and dominate, the time left to play promises to be incandescent. Just a few minutes pass and Thuram doubles, just below the North. It’s an apotheosis for the Nerazzurri who praise the Frenchman and shout about the tricolour. Even on the bench Inzaghi lets himself go, while silence falls in the South, with some faces hidden under scarves. Pioli throws himself into the fray Giroud, derby man in the year of the championship with the famous double. Hope is rekindled among the fans but now the goal of the fans, with a hint of malice, becomes Calhanoglunever forgiven for wearing the Nerazzurri.
Around game time the fog descends on “San Siro”, because the first smoke bombs arrive from the south in a festive atmosphere while the chorus chants: “The league leaders leave”. A scene that brings to mind the most famous photo of Materazzi And Rui Costa who, embracing each other, admire the show. Other times, other stories. The minutes pass and the Inter fans seem to push for the final whistle to the tune of “You never win“, above all because, in the last five matches, the Rossoneri have never won. The 79th minute arrives, after a miracle from Sommer he scores Tomori, the derby reignites again, almost unexpectedly. From the Curva Sud a cry of hope opens, the North is silent. Just 3′ later the Rossoneri are close to equalising, the score is broken: both on and off the pitch it’s just a question of Heart.
Time, however, passes inexorably. And, as he explained Seneca“In reality it is not true that we have little time, rather we waste a lot of it“. The Nerazzurri support comes back to life, because it’s time for the overhead projector indicating the 5′ of injury time. The dream is upon us. Despite the numerical inferiority in the stands, the decibels of the North are at maximum, the team keeps the ball away from Sommer’s area of expertise. And Milan, this evening, have wasted a lot of time available. There is time for a fight near the midfield, Colombo throws out Theo Hernandez And Dumfries who had come to blows, the North welcomes with the hello the match director’s decision and accompanies the former AC Milan player towards the changing rooms while praising the Dutch winger. The last offensive sortie of Pioli’s men – who ended up with nine men for the red card in Calabria – turns into a stalemate and “San Siro” lets out a liberating cry. It’s 10.43pm, it’s the final whistle, it’s the championship, it’s history.
In a surreal atmosphere that only Milan-Inter could offer.
Tags: Poisonous banners teasing Scudetto derby
