Inter implosion leaves party planners stewing
Monday 05 May 2008 16:02
AC Milan did what Inter should have done in the Milan derby: played like champions.
That’s the general opinion of the Italian media after the Rossoneri spoilt their city rival’s title party on Sunday.
A victory would have given the ever-increasingly moody and snappy, if that’s possible, Roberto Mancini and his merry men their 16th scudetto.
Instead, not only was there no dancing in the street but the 2-1 scoreline in no way reflected how dominant Milan were throughout the 90 minutes.
Turin-based Tuttosport couldn’t wait to twist the knife.
“A day of fear,” warned their headline. “Inter blow the title wide open and the ghosts of 2002 are back.”
This was, of course, a reference to how the Nerazzurri imploded in the final three games of the 2001-02 season and handed the title to Juventus in a 4-2 defeat at Lazio on the last day, which just happened to be May 5.
However, this time around a home win against Siena, who have already secured their top-flight survival, next week will finally put the title beyond doubt no matter what AS Roma do as Inter’s head-to-head record between the sides is superior.
Kaka slots home to leave Nerazzurri feeling blue
While one half of Milan stews for another Sunday, it’s all happiness and light in the Rossoneri camp.
Both La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport led with “Derby triumph” headlines but also give plenty of space over to Mathieu Flamini's arrival at Milan.
The Arsenal midfielder arrived in town late on Sunday evening for a spot of dinner at the club’s favourite restaurant before signing a four-year deal when he completes a medical on Monday afternoon.
La Gazzetta believes that Rino Gattuso will be on his way to Bayern Munich as the German club’s transfer chief Paul Breitner was spotted at the San Siro on Sunday.
With the negotiations to bring Ronaldinho to Italy coming to a dead-end, Silvio Berlusconi took the opportunity to claim that he never really wanted to buy the Brazilian anyway and it was all a smokescreen to enable the club to get on with signing Didier Drogba.
Speaking to the press scrum after the game, the country’s returning prime minister said: “I was never sure about this whole thing and after seeing the way Kaka played today I am certain we don’t need Ronaldinho.”
After the debacle surrounding Ronaldo, maybe Milan are finally seeing sense in the transfer market.
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About Richard Whittle
Despite the name,
Richard Whittle is so at home in Italy that some call him Riccardo Rossi. He has lived and worked in Italy for the last 15 years as a football journalist and works as Italian soccer commentator for the English-speaking world covering Serie A, Champions League, Europa League and Italian Cup matches as well as Italy internationals. With Paul Visca, Richard concocts the regular
Calcio & Coffee podcast.