AC Milan-Inter Milan:: a derby to save face... or win the title, hot evening at San Siro

Will Inter Milan and its fans have their eyes full of stars on Monday evening? Two would be enough for their joy, those which would adorn the Nerazzurri jerseys in the event of victory in the derby against AC Milan, synonymous with the twentieth Italian championship title.

The question is no longer who will be crowned champion but when Inter, who are flying through the 2023-24 season, will be crowned. The Milan derby which closes the 33rd day on Monday (8:45 p.m.) is the first occasion where Lautaro Martinez and his teammates can pocket the “scudetto” and officially succeed Naples.

To do this, they need to beat AC Milan, the last team to be able to deprive them of the title: the hated rival and runner-up, relegated to 14 points, would be pushed back 17 lengths in the event of success while there will only be five days remaining. argue. A draw or a defeat, and we will have to wait until the 34th day the following weekend, where Inter will host Torino.

The 239th edition of the “Milano derby”, always a highlight of the Italian season, can be historic: Inter can become the second team after Juventus Turin to have twenty league titles under their belt and therefore be able to sew two golden stars on his jerseys.

And what could be better for the Nerazzurri than to achieve this under the noses of their Rossoneri rivals, stuck at 19 titles. While Inter finalizes the program of festivities with the local authorities, with a bus parade of the new Italian champions between San Siro and the “Duomo” on Tuesday, AC Milan wants to delay this coronation by at least a few days.

But the derby has not been successful for AC Milan in recent times: it remains on five defeats in a row, in all competitions, including a catastrophic 5-1 last September in a San Siro decked out in the colors of Inter.

And above all Stefano Pioli's team must recover from a huge disappointment, its elimination in the quarter-finals of the Europa League by AS Roma who beat it twice, 1-0 in the first leg at San Siro , 2-1 Thursday at the Olympic Stadium. “We did not play at our level during these two matches,” regretted the Italian technician, whose future is written in dotted lines. “We have to react in the derby, it’s a very important match for our ranking, for the club and for our fans,” he warned.

If Milan receives and therefore plays in front of its supporters who are very upset against the players after the defeat against Roma, they will have to show a completely different face than that displayed since the beginning of the month. The Rossoneri are slipping, like their snatched draw (3-3) last weekend at poorly ranked Sassuolo after being down 2-0, then 3-1.

This requires a return to form among the attackers, first and foremost Frenchman Olivier Giroud who has only scored one goal in the last seven league matches.

For their part, Inter are preparing for this derby with the peace of mind provided by their impressive record of 26 wins and just one defeat this season in Serie A. Simone Inzaghi will be able to count on Martinez and Benjamin Pavard who, suspended, were sorely missed against Cagliari last weekend (2-2). The Inter coach has been hammering his players for several days with the same message which, he hopes, will also be heard by the supporters: calm, concentration and no provocation. Before Monday night’s celebrations?