Inter Bests AC In Milan Derby

This evening’s 270th Milan derby gives me a tingle of excitement. Few cities can boast one, let alone two illustrious clubs who entrenched themselves consistently in the top flight of their domestic league.

Though AC Milan enjoy a better record in Europe with 7 Champions League titles and four world titles, it is Inter Milan who stand proud with their longevity in Serie A, having never been relegated since its birth in 1908.

On the other hand, AC Milan were relegated twice while winning 17 Scudettos, only one more than Inter. In recent times, results were evenly split between the arch rivals. Both sides claimed 4 wins each, from their last 8 Serie A encounters.

Tradition aside, I expect this derby to be filled with competitive fireworks. Jose Mourinho will be keen to seek revenge for the defeat by AC Milan in September. At the moment, the cosmos are aligned in his favor and he has few reasons to be envious of his neighbor.

Inter Milan enjoy an eight-point lead at the top of Serie A over third placed Milan, so even if they dropped points in this derby, the effect on the title race is not decisive. Conversely, AC Milan may be out of the reckoning if they do not grab full points, leaving Juventus and Inter to slug it out in a two horse race.


Inter: Crazy No More
AC Milan squad is also plagued with injuries, severely compounding manager Carlo Ancelotti’s misery. Aside from Kaka, Milan have Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Marco Borriello, Giuseppe Favalli and Emerson out injured, with Daniele Bonera suspended. Meanwhile, Inter Milan have a full squad to choose from, except the suspended Mario Balotelli and Douglas Maicon, who is a serious doubt, having picked up a knock in training.

Form-wise, Inter Milan are now unbeaten in 5 games since their capitulation to Atalanta in January. In those matches, their defense distinguished itself by conceding a miserly 2 goals. If Inter’s recent 3-0 demolition of Lecce was any indication, their key players are pulling their weight at the right time. Goals came from Luis Figo, remaining icon of Portugal’s “golden generation,” and the prolific Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

As for AC Milan, they are unbeaten in their last 7 Serie A outings, but such statistics are meaningless with regard to their lack of killer instinct against lesser opponents. Milan are paying for draws at Cagliari, Lecce and Torino as well as those at home to Genoa and Reggina. Conceding late equalisers, rather than not outscoring, were particularly hard to accept, given Milan’s pedigree in defense.

At least, one cannot fault AC Milan for ineptitude this season; the team played well, kept their shape and created sufficient chances. It is just that the Rossonieri need to improve on their consistency and keep their focus for the full ninety minutes.

Vice-president Adriano Galliani was blunt in his assessment of AC Milan’s predicament: “I’ve always said that the problem isn’t (playing against) Inter but the matches before and after the derby. That’s something the club, Ancelotti and the technical staff have to think about.”

Mourinho’s sarcastic statement about AC Milan also struck a chord with Galliani who said: “As for Mourinho I still think he’s a good guy and he simply says the truth: well done (David) Beckham, well done Pato, well done Milan but in the meantime Inter were six points ahead and now it’s eight.”

Jose Mourinho can also count on a lethal strikeforce to put Inter ahead in their age-old rivalries. Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the second top scorer with 14 Serie A goals, while Milan can only wring their hands at the white elephant, Ronaldinho. The Brazilian has scored only half the number of goals as Ibrahimovic and has struggled to feature in Ancelotti’s first XI.

Ronaldinho is a prime example of how Milan failed in their transfer policy by recruiting aging glamorous footballers who had retreated from the elite. However, Mourinho has no advantage over transfer strategy either.

Mourinho made several additions to the squad during the summer transfer window in the form of Mancini, Alessandro Faiolhe Amantino, Sulley Ali Muntari and Ricardo Quaresma. Mancini has started just eight times in Serie A and Quaresma has raised the ire of Inter fans for his erratic displays. The latter has been omitted from Inter Milan’s Champions League squad and was granted a season-long loan at Chelsea.

Mourinho may not be happy with the discipline in the Inter Milan squad too. Brazilian striker, Adriano, maintains his idiosyncratic approach to punctuality and penchant for late-night parties. Mario Balotelli responded badly to a series of penalties imposed by Mourinho for an immature attitude.

The Special One cannot help but feel slighted by these repeat offenders who pay little regard to his authority. Milan, by contrast, advertise how enchanted they are by the professionalism and good manners of their newest recruit, David Beckham.

Ancelotti can take heart that the addition of David Beckham has given his team a new dimension in attack. I am not even going to dwell on the commercial benefits which is almost a certainty once Beckham become a permanent fixture and the T-shirt printing machines are in full force as well as influx of endorsements.

When Milan beat Inter in September, they did so via a rare header from Ronaldinho. The threat from headers are likely to increase via David Beckham’s through-balls, and chips into the centres.

So far, Beckham’s long-range lobs have allowed lurking forwards like Kaka to surge into space from deep in midfield and have become a prominent part of Milan’s attacking strategy.

Beckham’s assists have led to two of Milan’s last four goals in Serie A and he has scored two of their last six, having started in every one of the last six games.

I am not surprised that David Beckham has adapted to the squad and done well. He is a top professional with ambitions and intelligence.Whether his loan spell at AC Milan from Los Angeles Galaxy plays out to a mutually beneficial conclusion for all parties remain to be seen.

I believe the crucial factor to neutraise Mourinho’s tactical and physical upper hand could be Kaka’s fitness; a fracture to his foot during last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Reggina seeming to have ruled him out. Even weaving a moment of magic as a substitute could be enough to turn the tables around.

Beckham and Ronaldinho should also be starting in this derby. If Ronaldinho has been AWOL for most of the season, he can redeem himself by recapturing his early form in this single match and scoring a goal or two, especially when Kaka is absent.

Actually, whether Inter Milan win this derby or not, I have little doubt Jose Mourinho will go on to win the Serie A title. Consistency has always been his hallmark and that has ensured his perpetual success in domestic leagues. It also helps that he has no urgent need to defeat Ancelotti, and that takes the pressure off his team.

However, even if he is backed to a corner and has to take full points, that should not be a problem given that winning is hard-wired into his system. Mourinho is also not one to take kindly to consecutive defeats.

The irony of the situation is that Mourinho could yet be sacked at the end of the season. He has to better his predecessor, Roberto Mancini, who clinched three Serie A titles from 2006-2008 but was still not deemed good enough to continue as manager.

The Champions League is the yardstick which will be used to measure Jose Mourinho’s achievement at Inter Milan. So winning the derby or even the Serie A may not matter or even guarantee his job. The shoe may be even harder to fill than at Chelsea and how will this situation affects their Champions League performance? Stay tuned for updates.