Derby della Madonnina

Derby della Madonnina

Internazionale vs Milan
City or region	Milan, Italy
Teams involved	Milan Internazionale
First contested	Chiasso, 18 October 1908
Most player appearances	Paolo Maldini (57)
Top scorer	Andriy Shevchenko (14)

Derby della Madonnina (or the Milan Derby as it is known in the English-speaking world), is a football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale of Italy. Along with the Rome, Genoa and Turin derbies, it is widely considered one of the major crosstown derbies in not just the Italian league, but the world. Taking place at least twice during the year via the league fixtures, this cross-town rivalry has extended to the Coppa Italia, Champions League, and Supercoppa Italiana, as well as minor tournaments and friendlies. It is one of the only major crosstown derbies in association football that are always played in the same stadium, in this case the San Siro, as both Milan and Internazionale call San Siro "home". It is called "Derby della Madonnina" in honour of one of the main sights in the city of Milan, the statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of the Duomo, which is often referred to as the "Madonnina". The first derby match between the two Milanese rivals was held in the final of the Chiasso Cup of 1908, a football tournament played in Canton Ticino (Switzerland), on 18 October of that year. The Rossoneri won 2-1.

Rivalry culture

Inter supporters during a Derby

On 16 December 1899, Alfred Edwards and others founded the Milan Cricket and Football Club. Edwards, a former British vice-consul in Milan and a well-known personality of the Milanese high society, was the club's first elected president. Initially, the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section managed by David Allison. The Milan team soon gained relevant notability under Herbert Kilpin's guide. The first trophy to be won was the Medaglia del Re (King's Medal) on January 1900, and the team later won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it ended the consecutive series of wins of Genoa, which had been the only team to have won the title prior to 1901.

In 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the foundation of F.C. Internazionale Milano. In the past, Inter was seen as the club of the Milan bourgeoisie (nicknamed bauscia, a milanese term meaning "braggart"), whereas Milan (nicknamed casciavit, meaning in the milanese dialect "screwdriver", with reference to the blue-collar worker) was supported mainly by working class.^[1] However in the recent years this difference has mitigated, since Milan is now owned by former conservative Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi and Inter is owned by a centre-left businessman, Massimo Moratti.

During the mid-1960s, Inter was the more successful club, winning the European Cup twice in a row and the Intercontinental Cup twice in a row. However during the late 1980s and the 1990s Silvio Berlusconi's Milan was the more dominant team, with many victories both in Italy and in the European competitions.

The Mazzola and Rivera years

Sandro Mazzola

Gianni Rivera

In the 1960s the Milan derby saw two big stars of Italian football come face to face. One of the most representative players of Inter was Sandro Mazzola, the son of the Torino player Valentino Mazzola (who along with most of his Torino teammates, died in a plane crash in 1949 after dominating Serie A for four seasons). His Milan counterpart was Gianni Rivera, nicknamed Golden Boy for his talent. This era saw brilliant derby matches and an increasing rivalry: while Milan won the European Cup in 1962–63, Inter followed it up with back to back success in the following years. Milan again won the title in 1968–69. During this successful period for both teams, Milan were coached by Nereo Rocco and Inter were led by Helenio Herrera, both coaching many notable players.

The rivalry continued in the Italian national team, where the two players would often not play together, with one usually being substituted by the other at halftime. Rivera ended up losing the starting line-up to Mazzola in the 1970 final against Brazil, in which Italy was defeated 1–4 by the South Americans. He would later enter in the 84th minute, after Italy was already crushed. Many coaches and fans saw this as a mistake by the then coach Ferruccio Valcareggi, as the more dynamic Rivera could have changed the shift of the match.^{[citation needed]}

The 1990s and present years

Arguably Milan's greatest-ever era took place during the late 1980s and had extended through to the mid-1990s. Often hailed as the greatest-ever Milan side, the team stemming form the 1989 European Champions managed by Arrigo Sacchi, contained legendary Milan players Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard amongst others. Milan's dominance, both domestically and internationally, had seen them capture four league titles and three European Cups (finishing runners-up two additional times) between 1989 and 1996. During this time, Inter had gone on to finish runners-up in the 1992-93 season (behind Milan) and won two UEFA Cups.

Inter's long wait for a league title began after 1989, finally arrived in 2006 (albeit controversially), when the Calciopoli scandal stripped Juventus of the 2005–06 title (as well as deducting points from Milan's final overall total) and handed it to the Inter, who were placed third behind both Juventus and Milan. This was seen as a controversial decision by many as even though the title won the previous season by Juventus was also stripped, it was left un-awarded - which many felt should have also been the case with the 2005-06 title. Inter went on to win the 2007 Serie A title as well, in a season which saw Juventus relegated from the top division (with Inter acquiring several of the major players from Juventus' title-winning season), and Milan, as punishment, starting the season with negative points, with a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories, in a largely handicapped league, on the way winning both fixtures against Milan. However, during the same season, Milan had captured their seventh European Cup/ UEFA Champions League, defeating Liverpool in the final in Athens, Greece.

As the Italian league recovered from the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal, Inter continued to dominate, winning each league up until the 2009-10 season in which they secured the title on the last day of the season. That season had also seen Inter become the first Italian side to win a treble. In addition to their league title, Inter had secured the Coppa Italia and their first Champions League title since 1965. The following season however, Milan, with the acquisition of several players including former Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, recaptured the Scudetto, their 18th overall, leading the league standings from as early as November until the end of the season. That season had also seen Milan win both derby matches, keeping clean sheets in both fixtures. In the most recent 2011-12 season, Inter won both derbies, the first 1-0 and the second 4-2.

Milan Internationally

The two Milanese teams have previously encountered each other in European competition on two separate occasions. Both of them had been controlled by the Rossoneri. In the semi-finals of the 2002–03 season, both derbies finished equal (0-0; 1-1), but Milan won on "away" goal, as the away side in the second leg, even though both legs were played at San Siro. One of the most notorious derby matches was the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal on 12 April 2005. With Milan leading 1–0 thanks to an early Andriy Shevchenko goal and a 3-0 clear scoreline on aggregate, the referee Markus Merk controversially disallowed a goal from Inter-player Esteban Cambiasso. Inter's hardcore supporters became infuriated and various debris were subsequently thrown onto the pitch, but soon escalated to lit flares one of whom struck Milan's goalkeeper Dida.^[2]

Merk halted the match at the 74th minute. After a 30-minute delay in which firefighters were called in to remove the burning flares from the pitch, the match was restarted. Dida, however, was unable to continue, and was substituted by Christian Abbiati. Less than a minute later, though, Merk finally abandoned the match after more flares and debris rained down. The match was awarded as a 3–0 victory, totaling a 5–0 aggregate, to Milan. Inter were fined €200,000 -the largest fine ever handed down by UEFA- and were ordered to play their first four Champions League matches behind closed doors in the 2005–06 season as punishment.

Regarding their titles at worldwide stage, the two Italian giants have an excellent performance. Nevertheless, Milan dominate over Inter undoubtedly as the holder of eighteen officially recognised international cups, in comparison to Inter's nine successes.

List of matches of the last decade

NOTES:

1. Friendly matches not included.

2. 2005 Champions League 2nd leg Match awarded 3-0 to Milan after crowd trouble by Inter fans.

Biggest wins in official competitions

Criteria: the winning team scored four goals or above with two or more goal difference from the defeated team.

Milan

• Milan 6–3 Inter on 30 April 1911 in Serie A
• Milan 5–3 Inter on 27 March 1960 in Serie A
• Milan 4–2 Inter on 26 June 1968 in Coppa Italia
• Milan 5–0 Inter on 8 January 1998 in Coppa Italia
• Inter 0–6 Milan on 11 May 2001 in Serie A*
• Inter 2–4 Milan on 21 October 2001 in Serie A

Inter

• Milan 0–5 Inter on 2 February 1910 in Serie A
• Inter 5–1 Milan on 17 February 1910 in Serie A
• Inter 5–2 Milan on 22 February 1914 in Serie A
• Milan 1–4 Inter on 19 March 1931 in Serie A
• Inter 5–2 Milan on 28 March 1965 in Serie A
• Inter 4–0 Milan on 2 April 1967 in Serie A
• Milan 1–5 Inter on 24 March 1974 in Serie A
• Milan 0–4 Inter on 29 August 2009 in Serie A
• Inter 4–2 Milan on 6 May 2012 in Serie A

* All time goal difference record

Official elimination derbies

Head to head

The following table lists the history of meetings between Milan and Inter, updated to the most recent derby of 24 February 2013 (Internazionale-Milan 1–1)

Trophies

Top Goal scorers

Andriy Shevchenko

Dejan Stanković

	Player	Club(s)	League	Cup	Europe	Total
	Giuseppe Meazza	Inter, Milan				19
	Andriy Shevchenko	Milan				14
	Gunnar Nordahl	Milan				11
	István Nyers	Inter				11
	Enrico Candiani	Inter, Milan				10
	José Altafini	Milan				7
	Alessandro Altobelli	Inter				7
	Roberto Boninsegna	Inter				7
	Benito Lorenzi	Inter				7
	Louis Van Hege	Milan				7
	Aldo Boffi	Milan				6
	Aldo Cevenini	Milan, Inter				6
	Attilio Demaria	Inter				6
	Sandro Mazzola	Inter				6
	Pietro Serantoni	Inter				6
	Zlatan Ibrahimović	|Inter, Milan	5	1	-	6
	Diego Milito	|Inter	6	-	-	6
	Kaká	Milan	5	-	-	5
	Ronaldo	Inter, Milan	5	-	-	5
	Filippo Inzaghi	Milan	4	-	-	4
	Dejan Stanković	Inter	4	-	-	4
	Clarence Seedorf	Inter, Milan	4	-	-	4

Players who played for both teams

Milan then Inter

• 1912: Luigi Cevenini- Then back to Milan again in 1915, then back to Internationale again in 1919
• 1912: Aldo Cevenini - Then back to Milan again in 1915, then back to Internationale again in 1919
• 1960: Lorenzo Buffon - Through Genoa
• 1967: Victor Benitez - Through Roma and Venezia
• 1973: Nevio Scala - Through Roma, Vicenza, and Fiorentina, then back to Milan again in 1975
• 1982: Fulvio Collovati
• 1998: Roberto Baggio - Through Bologna
• 1999: Christian Panucci - Through Real Madrid
• 2000: Cristian Brocchi - Through Pro Sesto, Lumezzane, and Verona, then back to Milan again in 2001
• 2001: Dražen Brnčić
• 2001: Andrés Guglielminpietro
• 2001: Francesco Toldo - Through Verona, Trento, Ravenna, and Fiorentina
• 2002: Francesco Coco
• 2002: Ümit Davala
• 2003: Thomas Helveg
• 2004: Edgar Davids - Through Juventus and FC Barcelona
• 2006: Patrick Vieira - Through Arsenal and Juventus
• 2012: Antonio Cassano

Inter then Milan

• 1940: Giuseppe Meazza - Then back to Internazionale again in 1946 through Juventus, Varese, and Atalanta
• 1949: Enrico Candiani - Through Juventus and Pro Patria
• 1974: Aldo Bet - Through Roma and Verona
• 1982: Aldo Serena
• 1998: Maurizio Ganz
• 1999: Taribo West
• 2001: Andrea Pirlo
• 2002: Clarence Seedorf
• 2002: Dario Šimić
• 2004: Hernán Crespo - Through Chelsea on loan, then back to Internazionale again in 2006
• 2005: Christian Vieri
• 2006: Giuseppe Favalli
• 2007: Ronaldo - Through Real Madrid
• 2010: Mancini - Played for Milan on loan from Internazionale
• 2010: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Through Barcelona
• 2012: Sulley Muntari
• 2012: Giampaolo Pazzini
• 2013: Mario Balotelli - Through Manchester City
• 2013: Andrea Poli - Through Sampdoria
• 2013: Matías Silvestre

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derby della Madonnina.

• All about AC Milan and Inter Milan
• Inter's archive about the Milan derby
• Milan derby: chronology and statistics
• STORIA DEL DERBY DELLA "MADONNINA"