Derby della Madonnina, even better up close

Sunday was reportedly set to be a rainy day so we weren’t sure what to expect in terms of the game.  The reports of thundershowers didn’t hamper the 42,000+ fans from tailgating to Gillette Stadium and swarming into the stadium.  The stands were mixed evenly with both Inter and Milan fans, but I could still make out the odd Barca, Palermo, Fiorentina and national team jerseys in the crowd.   Fans brought posters and flags of all shape and size including some funny ones like “Dove Antonio Cassano?”.  Glad to see the fine spirits of the fans picking up as the teams entered the field.

Inter were on the field first and immediately started their warm up, sprinting and passing exercises.  They waved to the fans and shook some hands but I got the sense that they wanted to prepare as much as they could for the game.  The goalie coaches were taking shots at Julio Caesar with such power I oo’d and ahh’d at every one he saved.

Milan took to the field next and similarly many players waved and shook hands with the crowd.  Their pre-game warm up consisted primarily of stretches and passing exercises, but I felt that they were yet again not being as technical in their preparation as Inter was.  Ronaldinho took time to sign some autographs for the fans and then threw red promotional balls into the crowd (picture on right).

First Half:

The game started with Inter almost running circles around Milan’s defense.  Milan looked sluggish and it took merely 4 minutes for Inter to score a goal via Diego Milito.  He single handedly out maneuvered Onyewu amd Zambrotta on the left flank before hammering the ball in the 2 foot gap between Kalac and the post.  It was beautiful.  Milan responded with Ronaldinho feeding the ball to Pato on the wing but he kept getting held up by Inter’s defense time and time again, it was as if no matter where Pirlo or Ronaldinho fed the ball there was always a midfielder or a defender of Inter to block the pass/shot.

The funniest part of the first half was at the 35th minute when Ronaldinho drew a yellow card for a rough foul on Lucio but the referee pulled out his red card instead of the yellow.  The whole crowd could be heard screaming “WHAT WAS THAT?”  Luckily the referee realized his mistake, smiled & apologised and drew the yellow instead.

Second Half:

Milan wanted to get back on top this half but were yet again falling into the same old traps and routines as in the first half, they looked tired on top if it and seemed to be ever frustrated with failed attempt after failed attempt.  Pato made a couple of decent attempts but Julio Caesar was always there to scoop the balls up.  Inter’s second goal came at the 75th minute yet again by a superb strike by Milito fed by Viera.   Gattuso’s frustration was evident as he was diving everywhere and throwing himself on every loose ball that came his way.  A beast of a header by substitute Materazzi off of Boriello’s cross was just what the crowd asked for as I could hear the collective “wow!” coming from the mouths of thousands of fans.

The game ended Inter up 2-0 and Milan were left to think about what steps to take next.  I don’t believe Leonardo is to blame because he was part of the staff that brought Kaka to Milan in 2005 and Pato to Milan in 2007.  I see Milan as being in some kind of monetary trouble due to the fact that of the 65 million euro transfer fee payed to Milan by Real Madrid, very little has been spent in filling the hole he left.  What adds to my suspicion is the failed transfer of Cissokho from Porto due to bad teeth (of all the lousy excuses…), Luis Fabiano and Edin Dzeko due to Milan not wanting to pay their high transfer fees.

Milan are acting like a cheap date, one that we wish would either step up and pay for dessert or stop trying to pretend it’s still hot shit.  There’s still a month left in the transfer market, we’ll see what happens next!

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Photos taken by Franco Reale, Samy Sood, Arturo Saltarelli & Rick Di Corpo