Gemellaggio: 10 unbelievable stories of friendship in Italian football

#2 Lazio and Inter Milan

The Boys of Inter and the Irriducibili of Lazio

If Milan is the fashionable face of Italian football, Rome is its violent underbelly; the villain. The visceral nature of football in the Eternal City is perfectly encapsulated in the Derby Della Capitale pitting Lazio and Roma. A club that takes pride in its fascist origins and beliefs, Lazio has arguably the most fearsome Ultra group in Italy – the Irrudicibili, the “Unbreakables”.

Gorgeous choreography, intense intimidation and unshakeable faith are the hallmarks of the Irrudicibili. And this is exactly why they loved the likes of Paul Gascoigne and their very own son Paolo Di Canio, football’s staunchest right-wing supporter. And in the “Boys-San” of Internazionale, the Ultras of Rome have among the strongest and most powerful friends in Italy.

Holding extremist sentiments themselves, the Ultras of the blue half of Milan, are capable of putting up a spectacle like no other. And when the Irrudicibili was founded in the 1980s, a long-lasting friendship was formed.

This was never more evident than in the 1998 UEFA Cup final, when the two teams met at the Parc-Des Princes in Paris. Both sets of fans rejoiced and celebrated together in a glorious advertisement for football, as a Ronaldo inspired Nerazzurri went on to win the title.