Over time, the Champions League final has become one of those terms used to indicate something very important in sport. There are the Champions League, the World Cup or the Olympics of whatever you want to mean. From today until next Wednesday, Inter and Milan, two teams that seemed to have no chance of reaching this far, will compete for a place in the Champions League final on Saturday 10 June in Istanbul, to meet Real Madrid or Manchester City.
They will do so through the most heartfelt match for both: the derby which for over a hundred years has divided the fans in Milan in two and which when played in the European cups becomes “theeuroDerby”. This will be the third, after the two that played each other around twenty years ago and which both ended in favor of Milan: in 2003 with an aggregate victory obtained thanks to two draws, in 2005 for refusing to lose on the pitch part of the Inter supporters, who interrupted the return match by throwing smoke bombs onto the pitch, thus conceding victory by default to Milan, who were already ahead anyway.
The first leg and then the second leg of this third Euroderby — the first today, the second next Wednesday, also at San Siro — will be respectively the fourth and fifth derby of the current season. The first was played in September and won 3-2 by Milan; the second was played in the Italian Super Cup in January, which was swept 3-0 by Inter, who a month later also won 1-0 in the second and last derby in the league, that of the second round.
Theo Hernandez and Nicolò Barella (Spada/LaPresse)
In the last three years, after a long period without league titles or other relevant victories, both teams have returned to being competitive, and their historic rivalry has therefore revived. In 2021 Inter returned to winning the Scudetto by unseating Milan, who had long been first in the standings, also thanks to the victory of un derby played behind closed doors due to the pandemic and finished 3-0.
In the following season Inter, considered to be even stronger and better equipped, seemed to be heading towards another victory in the championship, but they let it slip away in the last months of the championship and Milan was able to take advantage of it by returning to win the Scudetto after eleven years. Also in this case a derby was decisive in its own way: that of 5 February 2022, with Milan winning 2-1 comeback a game until then controlled by Inter.
The confrontation between the two teams is therefore open: in the league this year there was nothing to do, due to Napoli, but now, thanks to a series of rather favorable draws, they have moved on to the usually more popular round and fought in every tournament, the semi-finals, in addition to the Champions League. Whoever wins will take the “primacy” in the city, the elimination of rivals from the tournament, qualification for the final, a lot of money (at least 15 million euros more) and the possibility, until a very distant few months ago, of becoming champion of ‘Europe.
As if that weren’t enough, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter and Stefano Pioli’s Milan are also close in the league. One is fourth with 63 points, the other fifth with 61. It has been a fluctuating season for both, because they were aiming to win the Scudetto and not only have they not succeeded, but now they even risk not qualifying for the next Champions League, if not should remain in the top four in this last month of the season.
Sandro Tonali and Milan Skriniar (Spada/LaPresse)
Inter have already won a Super Cup this year and will play the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina on 24 May. After having had some difficulties in recent months, she went into this crucial stage of the season in great form and with a full squad. It comes from five consecutive victories, some quite significant: the 1-0 with which they eliminated Juventus in the Italian Cup, a 6-0 against Verona and two close victories against the Roman teams (3-1 against Lazio, 2-0 against Rome).
Milan have only one trophy they can win, the Champions League. It comes to these semi-finals in a period in which the team didn’t seem to be in great shape: after eliminating Napoli in the Champions League, they drew three games, including at home with Cremonese, but won the last one, clearly. against Lazio third in the standings. In addition to Ibrahimovic, who has played just four games this year and will not be in the derby, there is a doubt about the presence of Rafael Leao, the Portuguese full-back who is essential for the offensive phase, as well as the best player of last season. He suffered a muscle injury in the last game and it is not yet known if, how or for how long he will be able to play.
All things considered, the wait for the derby up to now in Milan has been contained, but as happened twenty years ago, it will be felt above all in the days between the two matches. The request for tickets received from the clubs has been enormous: tonight, in a match that Milan will play in homethere will be sold out with 70,000 spectators and 10 million euros in total takings, a new record for the Meazza stadium awaiting the return, in a week, in home dell’Inter.
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