Serie Aaaaargh!… : Lucio

Preview: AC Milan look to reassert derby dominance over Inter

Richard Whittle — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:00:00 GMT

FIXTURES Sat 13 Nov Fiorentina v Cesena, Juventus v AS Roma Sun 14 Nov Lazio v Napoli, Bari v Parma, Bologna v Brescia, Cagliari v Genoa, Palermo v Catania, Sampdoria v Chievo Verona, Udinese v Lecce, Inter Milan v AC Milan

With the derby coming up this weekend, going top of the table for the first time in two years couldn't have come at a more timely moment for AC Milan.

The Rossoneri swept past Palermo in the midweek round, despite having to put up with the ever-so-fragile Alexandre Pato limping off again: just what is going on at the much-vaunted Milan Lab that they can't keep the Brazilian on the pitch for more than 20 minutes at a time?

NEWS: Milan go top

And just when Filippo Inzaghi was feeling on top of the world, damaging knee ligaments means the end of the veteran’s season – and possibly his career at the club, unless Adriano Galliani takes pity on him.

NEWS: Inzaghi to miss rest of season

Anyway, things could be worse: they could be Inter, who for once come into the Derby della Madonnina needing all the help they can from the Virgin Mary.

During Jose Mourinho’s time in charge there was only one team in town as the Nerazzurri lorded over their old rivals on three consecutive occasions – indeed, Milan haven't even scored in the last two encounters.

Those were the days when Inter fans strutted around with the air of mini-Mourinhos, checking their look in shop windows and generally feeling smug with life. Now that exuberance, that top-of-the-heap numero-uno aplomb seems lacking, replaced by something else.

Like the onset of winter, there is a chilling acknowledgement that the wildest, craziest affair they ever had will most likely never be repeated – never again will they hit the heights of ecstasy as they did not once but thrice in one season.

Just one tiny thrill would probably do before everyone hunkers down for another long Milanese winter – and if it doesn’t come on Sunday then it’s going to have to be the Club World Cup.

Rafa Benitez isn’t exactly titillating locals who are missing that bit of devilment - that wild, reckless streak Jose brought to every occasion and especially derby encounters.

After a draw at Lecce as pale as Wesley Sneijder with anaemia, all the Spaniard could muster was that his team were unlucky and that he expected more from his players.

January joy as Inter celebrate a derby win last season

Across town Massimiliano Allegri – in need of another haircut a mere two weeks after getting a neat back-and-sides – has been doing little to get the pulse racing either, claiming that the derby will not be decisive in determining the outcome of the title race.

Well, so what? Inter are there for the taking: at this stage of the campaign last season, they were top with eight points more and had scored double the amount of goals. Now even Napoli have overtaken them.

Of course, it matters little if the coaches fail to ratchet up a bit of tension in the manner Mou and Leonardo did last season and even Carlo Ancelotti before that. A derby is most often remembered by what the players do when they take centre stage.

It will be interesting to see how both sides react to what on paper seems a bit of a role-reversal where Milan are the mean and moody bullies, as witnessed by the way likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rino Gattuso and Mathieu Flamini have been snarling their way through games of late.

Inter seem almost retiring in comparison, even if they still have few tasty competitors in the side such as Douglas Maicon, Lucio and Ivan Cordoba.

However, beware the wounded beast, as they say and the club’s medical staff are confident that Esteban Cambiasso will be fit to start while a few days' rest will hopefully have brought a bit of colour back to Sneijder’s cheeks.

One man who knows what it takes to win a Milan derby, having appeared in 56 of them, is Paolo Maldini. He believes that his old club won't have a better opportunity that this to put one over their cousins and strike a psychological blow by opening up a six-point gap.

The legendary defender is of the opinion that Milan are well equipped to win the league title, more so than progressing to the latter stages of the Champions League, so now is the time to seize the moment.

For their part Inter will feel that this is the ideal occasion to get their season up and running again – which could yet make for an stirring evening of strong passions at the San Siro.

A Special night for every Interista

Richard Whittle — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 10:44:00 GMT

“It is not me; it is us,” claimed the very Special One – and how right Jose Mourinho was in lauding his men at the end of a pulsating, drama-filled evening in the Nou Camp.

However, he couldn’t resist stealing the photo opportunity at the final whistle when he gave his conqueror salute to the away fans high in the gods, well aware that the Barcelona players were at his neck snarling the last breath of the vanquished.

NEWS Ten-man Inter reach final

It took water-sprinklers to get Mou’s players off a pitch they had already soaked with blood and sweat. They were down to 10 men for more than an hour after Thiago Motta's red card but they had been outnumbered and exposed for a long time beforehand.

Drowned but not out: Lucio celebrates MORE PICS HERE

A hostile atmosphere, constant noise and exploding firecrackers outside the team hotel the night before – it was back to the good old days of the 1970s and nightmare European Cup trips. And on foreign fields the locals can be quite sensitive when someone strokes their face, as Sergio Busquets can no doubt explain.

The Barcelona players had promised to play out of their skins, not jump out of them at the slightest contact, but being decimated so early on did little to change Inter's game-plan – which was efficiently designed to ensure that the home side created very little danger in and around the area.

FEATURE Master planner Mourinho ready to silence the Nou Camp

Inter condensed the play into the centre of the pitch, thanks in part to the late introduction of Christian Chivu for Goran Pandev. The Macedonian's muscle problem had been well-documented by Mourinho in the days leading up to the match, but it wasn't a massive surprise that it should “flare up” during the warm-up, after the Barça team-sheet had been handed in.

With Samuel Eto’o dropping back to cover the right flank and Chivu closing up the left, the balance was perfect for Wesley Sneijder and Motta to remain tucked in leaving Esteban Cambiasso to patrol the area just ahead of the backline where Leo Messi was waiting to wind up for those darting runs into the penalty-box.

So when Motta finally left the pitch (with a few choice words for one and all and a proper little nip at Busquets), all Cambiasso had to do was step out five metres or so – and of course double his work-rate. And as for expending every drop of energy, let us not forget the efforts of Diego Milito in chasing every pass – no matter how misplaced it was.

"Wherever you go, We Will Follow You" MORE PICS HERE

All this running and concentrating on opponents who are marvelled at for their quick movement and interchanging of positions is easier said than done but in reality Inter never looked under pressure – it was catenaccio without an Italian in sight and with little of the darker elements of the art.

Lucio and Walter Samuel were hardly drawn out of their fortress in the heart of the defence – and when they were their challenges were crisp and clean – while it is difficult to recall a time when Douglas Maicon or the peerless Javier Zanetti allowed an opponent to get to the by-line.

Julio Cesar was beaten once but followed up his first-leg heroics with another sterling performance, although Ivan Cordoba must have had flashbacks to 2003 – when he failed to close down Andriy Shevchenko for the decisive goal in the derby – when this time Gerard Pique turned inside his despairing challenge.

GALLERY Action and interest from the game

All over the pitch there were performances that merited a place in Madrid. For many it may well be an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and as the contest wore on it was a prospect they seemed determined not to pass up.

But how could they fail when their coach was frequently almost encroaching onto the pitch to man the barricades? It was one of those nights where everyone was special.

Around 2,000 fans welcomed the weary warriors back home at 2.30am, and it seemed as if the majority of the Nerazzurri half of the city had taken over the cafes first thing in the morning - making it an extraordinarily festive start to the day in stuffy old Milan.

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