Milan-Inter, the Champions League to you: favourites, players, derby tactics

Here we are.Ghe shem. It will take Milan seven days from today to create a Champions League finalist, then it will rest. Milan or Inter? The city boils with passion, the canals ferment like must. The temple of San Siro, hieratic, packed (record takings of 10 million) tonight will be a luminous peephole: the whole of Europe will rest its eye on it to peek inside.

It is the destiny of the city, engraved in the name, Mediolanum: it is in the middle of the plain, but also in the middle of Europe. Milan is more European than Italian, forged by the different continental cultures that have crossed it, from the Spanish to Napoleon and the Austrians. Milan was the first European city to acquire electricity, long before the light of Suarez and Pirlo. Milan is the cradle of thought, from futurism to socialism. The Edict of Constantine which gave freedom of worship to Christians, totem of tolerance, was issued in Milan. Milan runs fast and often arrives first, dictates fashion, attracts geniuses, from Leonardo to Einstein who from 1894 to 1900, in the years in which Milan was born (1899), lived in via Bigli. Like Moratti and Galliani, at the time of the 2003 Euroderby. Today the formula of relativity, E=mc2, reads: Europa=2ClubMilanesi.

European vocation

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Milanese football has always adapted to the pro-European, enthralling and innovative vocation of the city. If we look at the turnover, there is no comparison between the two semi-finals: Real Madrid 731 million, Manchester City 713, first in the European ranking; Inter 308, Milan 264. But if we compare the Champions Cups won, the gap closes: Real (14) plus City (0) equals 14, Milan (7) plus Inter (3) equals 10. The Milanese, 60 years after Golden triennium, 1963-65, in which they managed the continental throne, drawing strength from history. Guardiola, who leads an almost virgin club of international glory, knows this and has repeated it several times. Pep passes for the most brilliant innovator on the square, but football has been rewritten by a Milan coach, Arrigo Sacchi. And an Inter coach, Helenio Herrera, gave European football a figure that didn’t exist before, the goalscoring full-back, Giacinto Facchetti, progenitor of all possible Theo Hernandez. Milanese football has always respected the destiny of the city: European, dominant, innovative. For this reason, even if Ancelotti and Guardiola are respectively in the ninth and tenth semi-finals of the Champions League, the presence of Pioli and Inzaghi, debutants in the G4, should not be considered an anomaly. Milan and Inter are where they belong, by historical constitution.

Pioli and Inzaghi

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A derby is predictable like a roll of the dice. Objectively, Inter get there better, on the wave of 4 victories in a row in the league, at the rate of 14 goals scored and only one conceded. Legs and ball have never turned at this speed. Milan, less equipped for rotations, get there more out of breath. But the victory over Lazio is very significant. After two bad draws (Roma, Cremonese) and after Leao’s flash injury, Milan, in reaction, pulled off a great performance. The ethical strength of this group, thanks also to Ibra’s Siberian education, and the supportive empathy between players and coaches, which were the secrets of the Scudetto, are values ​​that still work. Milan is ready to overturn another prediction, as they did with Napoli, strengthened by a unique confidence with the Champions League. Spalletti feared the Rossoneri’s historic lead, just as Guardiola fears it now. The quality of the collective maneuver and the lines of play, on the other hand, are no longer a clear point in favor of the Devil. Reading Inter-players against Milan-game no longer holds up. Inzaghi has recovered with the revival of Brozovic, with the growth of Mkhitaryan and Calhanoglu and with the good work done in Appiano. The goal scored last Saturday by Dimarco against Roma, who arrived at the end of 50 consecutive passes, the stuff of first Guardiola, certifies Darwinian evolution: Inter no longer lives on counter-attacks alone, they have evolved and know how to displace by shifting functions into points different from the field. Brozo or Calha? It is Inzaghi’s great doubt. The Croatian has been more brilliant in recent outings, but how much does it cost to give up the pride of the Turkish derby, who hasn’t forgotten Ibrahimovic’s messages?

Leao and Lautaro

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Milan have more men capable of solving with a technical play (Theo, Diaz, Leao), a precious resource in a double confrontation that promises to be blocked, like the one in 2003. Obviously the presence or absence of Leao transfigures the scenario, without however forgetting the “Lazio reaction”: all willing to give more to compensate for the absence of the technical leader. Inter, last in Serie A for dribbling, don’t have as many key players to play, but respond with the power of an attack that Pioli cannot afford. Lautaro, Lukaku and Dzeko, in the last 4 of the championship, have amassed 9 goals against Leao’s 2. Giroud, in fact the only first striker, hasn’t scored in 5 matches. Tonali and Barella embody the Milanese work ethic. Two solid defenses and two goalkeepers on fire, who could decide, like Abbiati in 2003. To the greater historical confidence of Milan, Inter counters with a superior physicality to spend even on set pieces. Summing up: balance. Ghe shem: play. Let’s hope for entertainment and healthy behavior: Europe is watching us. Given the trend of the times, we remember what Einstein said, who lived in via Bigli: “I belong to the only race I know: the human one”.