Journey from Dimarco’s Milan to Nedved’s Turin: it is the favorite route of the Italian title, which he traveled 74 times
The scudetto is a commuter of the Milan-Turin. In the history of Serie A, it has traveled the A4 motorway 74 times: 36 to reach Juve, 19 to end up on Inter’s shirts and 19 on those of Milan. Between the titles of Roma 2001 and that of Napoli 2023, the tricolor remained trapped from toll booth to toll booth: triumphs only for the three striped teams. Tomorrow Juve-Inter, the very match between the two teams in command. We go up the Mi-To highway, hunting for history.
Novara
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Boniperti, where is Virdis? Inzaghi’s sweet life Imagine the emotion of 18-year-old Sandro Mazzola on 10 June 1961, when he took the Milan-Turin route. The Nerazzurri managers picked him up from school, where he sat three tests and are now taking him to Turin. Valentino’s son will face Charles and Sivori’s Juve. Inter, in protest against the FIGC, led by the president of Juventus, Umberto Agnelli, fielded the De Martino team. Sandrino scores the flag penalty (9-1) and receives compliments from Boniperti. Federico Dimarco, like Mazzola, also grew up in the Nerazzurri youth team and tomorrow, traveling to Turin, his heart will be no less emotional. He is 26 years old, he is already a pillar of the national team, but he is the son of Milan, the only Nerazzurri player, a boy from Calvairate born under the sign of Ronaldo-Iuliano and he experienced many Inter-Juve games shouting from the North, next to his uncle, greengrocer of Porta Romana. Tomorrow he will vibrate like Sandrino. We pass through Fausto Pizzi’s Rho, an elegant Nerazzurri meteor of the early 90s, and soon arrive in the Novara area. Francesco Platini left Agrate Conturbia in search of work. He targeted the mines from Lorraine. His son Aldo, a mathematics teacher, footballer and then manager of a sports bar, was born in France. And from Aldo: His Majesty Michel. Who often returned to the Novara town as a child. He was very close to his cousin Stefania. Stefanina, as he called her. She trained by discarding her cousin’s dog and, when she succeeded, she rejoiced: “Pelèatini!” O Rei was his idol and, by imitating him, he became Le Roi. Platini made history on the road to Mi-To. Among all the pearls, we find the right-footed volley in a Juve-Inter 2-0 in 83-84. Giampiero Boniperti made history as a player and legendary president. Mystically devoted to the paniscia alla Novarese, Boni, in ’77, bought Pietro Paolo Virdis from Cagliari, after painful negotiations and hid him for two days in a hotel in Novara, La Meridiana, the only one which could be accessed directly from the motorway, without leaving the toll booth. Journalists went crazy to find him. Boniperti won. In Novara, ’96-97, Simone Inzaghi, a 20-year-old center forward, played. Season troubled by injuries. He only scored 4 goals. The frequent trips to Milan, after dark, to reach the Milanese clubs, did not help his back pain. His brother Goofy had a different obsession with glory. For Novara it was an excellent season: promotion to C1. This is what Inzaghi wants to do again, starting tomorrow, when he returns to Novara: win the championship. Now he has the obsession. The stadiums of Novara and Vercelli are dedicated to Silvio Piola, the undisputed and unforgettable king of Serie A strikers (274 goals), protagonist in the Italian derby for two years: Juve, ’45-47. A goal at the Arena in the 2-2 draw in November 1945. Piola did not move to Turin. He remained in his Vercelli. He said: “Due to the damage from the war, it took me 4-5 hours to cover 80 km. I left at 11 in the morning to go to training and returned in the middle of the night.”
Vercelli
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Moise Kean was born in Vercelli, who then moved to Asti at the age of 5, and, about twenty km away, to Tronzano, Domenico Marocchino. In addition to creativity, they also have an idiosyncrasy for alarm clocks. Kean punished several times for being late to technical meetings; one day Marocchino arrived at the stadium all out of breath, but the team had already left. Meco chased him by car and caught up with the bus on the motorway. The companions from the windows mimed numbers with their hands: 3, 4, 7… They tried to guess how many million fines he would get. Whoever showed an open hand won: 5 million fine. In Verona, Boniperti, inimitable, did not make a scene. He simply noted: “Domenico, you haven’t shaved.” Virgilio Rosetta was also born in Vercelli, who with Umberto Caligaris and Gianpiero Combi, formed the most famous nursery rhyme in Juventus history: Combi, Rosetta, Caligaris, comparable only to Zoff, Gentile and Cabrini. For many, the best Italian defense of all time. They secured 4 championships and the ’34 World title. Unbeaten for 934′, a record improved only by the BBC of Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini (974′). Combi born in Turin, Rosetta in Vercelli, Caligaris in Casale: a trench assembled close to the MI-TO motorway. It’s easy for Allegri to have their photo on his bedside table. They called them the Three Accountants, due to their qualifications which also portray Max’s Juventus well.
Turin
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We pass Chivasso, where four years ago Gianfranco Leoncini passed away, a fighting full-back-halfback who, in 12 years with Juve (1958-70) won 3 championships, and we arrive in Turin. Marcus Thuram will be seen again in the arms of his Juventus father, at the Delle Alpi, during a championship celebration (2001-03). Darmian will get excited considering that in the last derby lost by Juve, 8 years ago, he, as a grenade, scored a goal. We take the Venaria exit and we are at the Allianz Stadium, the scene of the big match, not far from the former residence of Nedved, the fierce protagonist of the Derby d’Italia. Even now. A couple of years ago he sent word: «My son was in middle school and now he is at university. In recent years, the scudetto has always belonged to Juventus.” Materazzi replied: «Pavel, we wish your son that he can also see a Champions League, before he graduates». This is the average temperature of the asphalt on the MI-TO road.
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