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AC Milan’s Paolo Maldini (L) with Inter’s Javier ZanettiOn Sunday night, two teams who have fallen from grace will battle each other in a quest to reclaim some of their lost honour. The Milan derby is the battle of the forgotten or the battle of two teams who went from being European Champions to strugglers in their league.Both clubs have seen several managerial changes in recent years. AC Milan appointed former player Filippo Inzaghi as their manager prior to the start of the season while Inter sacked Walter Mazzarri a few days back and brought back Roberto Mancini at the helm.Milan are currently 7th in the table with 17 points – 4 points way from Champions League qualification. Meanwhile, Inter are one point and two places behind their arch rivals. Dropping points is not an option for both teams as it could severely hamper their progress.We take a look at the six best Milan derbies from the history books.
#1 Milan 2-1 Inter: October 1984
We go back to a match that happened over three decades back. But before we dive into the game, here is a sneak peek into the background of the match.
Milan were in a very bad situation in the early ‘80s. They were relegated to the Serie B in 1980 following a betting scandal, and even though they gained promotion the very next season, they went down again in 1982. They returned to the top flight later on, but they had not beaten Inter in nine attempts prior to this game.
It was the first derby of the 1984-85 season and Inter took the lead in the game through Alessandro Altobelli. But Milan equalized through Agostino Di Bartolomei, before former Portsmouth striker Mark Hateley headed the ball in to give Milan the victory.
#2 Inter 0-6 Milan: May 2001
Although both teams play their home games at the San Siro, the officiating body assigns home and away criterion for the two teams. And for this game in 2001, Inter were given the home status and their fans were in larger number. But the result of the game went into the history books for being the biggest margin of victory in the Derby della Madonnina, and it was in favour of AC Milan.
Before the game both teams were on the same points, but the there was no equality in the performance on the pitch as Milan took apart a very poor Inter side. Gianno Commandini scored twice for Milan in the opening half, before Federico Giunti scored early in the second period.
Andriy Shevchenko then scored a brace before Serginho put a lid on proceedings to give Inter an embarrassing defeat.
#3 Inter 0-3 Milan: April 2005
This encounter was in the quarter-final of the Champions League and the last encounter between these two teams in the competition till date. The Rossoneri came into the second leg with a 1-0 lead and then Shevchenko scored in the return leg to double their lead on aggregate.
Crowd trouble brewed when Esteban Cambiasso’s goal was disallowed in the second half and they started hurling objects on to the pitch. As a result, Milan keeper Dida was struck by a flare. The referee was forced to stop the game when the crowd was not settling down and Milan were awarded a 3-0 win.
The Nerazzurri were fined in the aftermath of the game and Milan would go on to reach the final in Istanbul, where they lost to Liverpool.
#4 Milan 0-4 Inter: August 2009
It was just the very second game of the season and Milan had a chance of going 5 points clear of Inter after just two games. But things were about to go horribly wrong for the Rossoneri while the Nerazzuri were about to start their best season ever.
Inter took the lead at the half hour mark through Thiago Motta before Diego Milito converted from the spot after Gattuso was sent off for a second bookable offence. Maicon and Dejan Stankovic scored one each to complete the rout.
Inter would go on to win the treble that season under the guidance of Jose Mourinho.
#5 Inter 0-1 Milan: November 2010
The game is remembered for one reason or to be more accurate, it is remembered because of one man – Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede is one of the very few players to have played for both clubs. Ibrahimovic had spent three successful seasons with Inter before spending one season at Barcelona and then returning to the San Siro on loan, but this time in the red and black of AC Milan.
Ibrahimovic was in fine form coming into the game and he scored from the spot in just the 4th minute after he was fouled by Marco Materazzi. The Swedish striker then celebrated his goal against his former club by raising his arms.
Inter were given an opportunity to turn the match around after Ignazio Abate was shown a second yellow for shoving Goran Pandev. But Milan did well to hold on as Ibrahimovic’s goal proved to be decisive in his first Milan derby in the Milan stripes.
#6 Inter 4-2 Milan: May 2012
Inter were already out of the running for the Scudetto, while Milan had to win the game to retain any chance of winning the league title. But a hat-trick my Milito had put an end to Milan’s hopes of clinching the league title and sent the Scudetto to Turin.
Milito fired the Nerazzuri ahead in the first half, before a controversial penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic minutes before the halftime leveled the game. The Swede then put the Rossoneri ahead in the second half, but two penalties to Inter which were successfully converted by Milito swung the game Inter’s way.
Milan were also forced to take off their first choice keeper Abiatti in the 35th minute and an injury to Bonera forced them to replace him with young De Sciglio. Maicon then rounded off the game with a spectacular effort from long range.
