AC Milan and Inter Milan meet in their first Champions League semi finals encounter since 2003 – A Milan Derby worth watching.
Over the years, the match between AC Milan and Inter Milan is more like a boxing match than a mere football match.
The Derby di Milano will go down as the two Milan rivals faceoff in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
A famous image made the rounds on social media as the two Milan teams were match up in the last eight of the tournament.
The image had Inter defender Marco Materazzi standing with Milan’s Rui Costa at the 2003 Champions League quarter-final match – which was abandoned due to fans troubles.
The encounter between this two teams always see massive fireworks being unleashed in the stadium.
The image making the rounds only showed one thing, which is the imminent return of one of Europe’s iconic cities to top level football.
Inter and Milan were up there among the Champions League giants in the early 2000s with AC Milan reaching the final three times between 2003 and 2007, is a testament to that.
Inter Milan also completed the treble in 2010 with Jose Mourinho as their head coach.
No one would have thought that these two teams will have to take a decade to come so close to such match-up again.
Serie A title has been shared between these two clubs in the past two seasons. Interestingly, the Champions League semi-final night returns to San Siro in a season the two clubs couldn’t contend for the Serie A title.
Romelu Lukaku’s clash with Zlatan Ibrahimovic was also painted across the city and we can really say that the good times have returned in the city of Milan.
AC Milan and Inter: Two Teams Who Can’t Be Separated
There’s nothing so special about these two Milan teams other than they both rised and fell from the elites pyramid simultaneously.
After Juventus were relegated to Serie B following the the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, the two teams rose to prominence.
Premier League popularity that period also further pushed their owners in more financial desperation and mismanagement.
The Milan teams have however risen again together in the last two years under their new ownerships.
The have both competed in the Italian Serie A with both Milan teams winning one Scudetto each, they have also undergone similar dips this season.
AC Milan started the year on the left foot as they went seven games without a win while Inter Milan on the other hand managed to end an eight-game losing streak in April.
These runs have seen the two teams fight one another for a fourth place in the Italian Serie A which give more reason one of them needs to win this semi-final.
This may not be so surprising as both teams are currently being managed by similar coaches, veterans that are known to succeed in big matches.
Stefano Pioli is Milan’s big-game specialist and this season, AC Milan under him have beaten Inter, Juventus, and Lazio.
Pioli’s men have also beaten Serie A Champions Napoli two times and this is thanks to the manager’s innovation.
AC Milan under Pioli has been impressive as he guided them in navigating through their Champions League quarter-final with Napoli.
And Inter Milan is managed by Simone Inzaghi who was hired after Antonio Conte was axed in 2021 following his remarkable work at Lazio.
Inzaghi was renowned for being a cup specialist at Lazio that had players above 30s at the Stadio Olimpico.
And we are likely to see him do same with an old Inter Milan team against an equally old AC Milan team.
AC Milan Vs Inter Milan H2H
The last time both teams met, the match ended in a 2-2 draw as none of them could outplay the other,
Both teams have met 34 times in the last seasons and Inter Milan have won 18 while AC Milan have won 8 of those encounters.
There have been 8 matches that ended in a draw between the teams.
Milan are in good home form while Inter Milan have been dominant in their away matches this 2022/23 season.
So far in the Champions League this season, AC Milan have averaged 2.2 Points Per Game at home matches and Inter Milan 2.33 Points Per Game at away matches.
Probable Match Line Up
Here is the probable Milan Derby Line-up
AC Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Hernandez; Krunic, Tonali; Brahim, Bennacer, Saelemaekers; Giroud
Inter Milan (3-5-2): Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Mhikitaryan; Dimarco; Dzeko, Lautaro
