Inter Milan - Milan

[Tito]

Arguably the most anticipated match of this season in Italy - the second edition of the Derby della Madonnina - takes place in Milan this Sunday.

With Room To Spare

Heading into last weekend’s fixtures, it appeared that this match would be the ultimate decider of whether or not Milan would be able to seriously challenge Inter for the title. While this may still be the case, the circumstances have changed a bit.

Inter’s consummate 3-0 victory away to Lecce combined with Milan’s shocking 1-1 home draw against Reggina created a furthering of the gap between the neighbouring sides. Inter are now eight points clear of their crosstown nemesis in the Serie A table - and seven points ahead of Juventus, who are in second place.

While Lecce had several good opportunities to score, Inter were clearly in control the match last Saturday and ended up winning comfortably. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whom the Nerazzurri have relied upon for goals all season, gave his side the lead in the 12th minute with a low shot inside the near post after he got behind the defence and beat the offside trap.

Luis Figo, scoring his first goal of the season, made it 2-0 in the 72nd minute with a header in the middle of the box from a good cross by young left full-back Davide Santon. The result was put beyond a doubt when Dejan Stankovic himself netted with a header in the 82nd minute.

This match was a full team effort, but it also showed just much Inter rely on Ibrahimovic. He is their leading scorer by far with 14 goals, with the next highest scoring player having just four goals to his name (Douglas Maicon and Dejan Stankovic).

While ‘Ibra’ is sure to start, he will most likely be joined up front by Adriano. Questions have been raised about the Brazilian's match fitness, but he played the majority of the match on Tuesday when Brazil defeated Italy 2-0, so he appears to be in good shape at the moment.

On The Other Side Of The Ball

Had Milan won last Saturday, then they could have come into this match with hope of a victory to cut the deficit to a mere three points. Of course, that did not happen, and now they are behind Inter by eight points.

This presents Milan with the difficult prospect that if they lose this match, they are almost surely out of the Scudetto race, as 11 points would appear to be way too much ground to make up in the remaining 14 matches of the season.

The task of winning has become even more difficult with the likelihood that Kaka, their leading scorer and best player, will probably not be able to take any part in this match. He sustained a sprain to his left foot against Reggina on Saturday and had to be substituted. As he walked off the field, or limped I should say, the sinking of Rossoneri hearts in the stadium was almost palpable.

On the eve of the most important match of the season for the club, losing your most important player would be an almost guarantee of defeat for most clubs.

However, Milan have the services of Ronaldinho in Kaka’s stead. ‘Ronnie’ has failed to sustain the kind of form he has shown in spurts over the course of the season, but he will have memories of scoring his first Milan goal when these clubs first met last September.

A True Legend

A special mention also has to be given to Milan captain Paolo Maldini. After nearly a quarter of a century at the top of the game, he will hang up his boots at the close of this season.

Nowhere has he played better than the encounters with his club’s main rivals, Inter. In a match that brings up such heated passion, he has always showed the uttermost class and control, while playing fantastic football all the while. With his retirement now fast approaching, he will again be needed by his side in his final performance against Inter.

FORM GUIDE

Inter

21/01 (Coppa Italia): Inter 2-1 Roma

25/01 (Serie A): Inter 1-0 Sampdoria

28/01 (Serie A): Catania 0-2 Inter

01/02 (Serie A): Inter 1-1 Torino

07/02 (Serie A): Lecce 0-3 Inter

Milan

17/01 (Serie A): Milan 1-0 Fiorentina

25/01 (Serie A): Bologna 1-4 Milan

28/01 (Serie A): Milan 1-1 Genoa

01/02 (Serie A): Lazio 0-3 Milan

07/02 (Serie A): Milan 1-1 Reggina

TEAM NEWS

Inter

Manager Jose Mourinho has a nearly full squad to choose from except for Mario Balotelli, who is suspended. However, they have no serious concerns in the first team regarding injuries.

Cristian Chivu and Nicolas Burdisso are one caution away from receiving a suspension.

Possible Formation (4-3-1-2): Julio Cesar; Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Santon; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari; Stankovic; Ibrahimovic, Adriano

Milan

Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Marco Borriello, Giuseppe Favalli, Emerson and Kaka are all sidelined. Kakhaber Kaladze could return to the squad by featuring in this match, but he faces a suspension if he gets cautioned in this fixture.

Andrea Pirlo returns from suspension, but Daniele Bonera is out of this match due to the yellow card he received last Saturday.

Possible Formation (4-3-2-1): Abbiati; Zambrotta, Kaladze, Maldini, Jankulovski; Beckham, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf, Ronaldinho; Pato

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Inter

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the only player in the squad that has scored in double figures, and he is as essential to his club as any other player in Serie A. ‘Ibracadabra’ gets a lot of criticism for not showing up in the big matches, but Inter can have confidence going into this match knowing that whenever he scores against Milan, they win. Esteban Cambiasso was dominant against the Rossoneri in both meetings last season, but didn’t fare quite as well when they met last September. It’s fair to expect that he won’t have a repeat performance from earlier this season.

Milan

Without Kaka, Ronaldinho must produce something special for Ancelotti's side to win this match. He scored the winning goal when they last played their eternal rivals earlier this season, and his scoring touch will be needed once again. Although his future has yet to be sorted out, David Beckham will be a necessary component for the Milan cause. He had a bit of a dip in form last weekend, but his time in the red and black half of Milan has by and large been a smashing success so far.

any prediction

[moby]

FORZA INTER

some are already saying is inter win the scudetto is theres

so i think a 2-1 win for inter

[cigar omar]

Even tho I'd like to see AC win to make the title race interesting again. I'd rather Inter destroy AC and go into the champions league game against United on the back of some good wins.

[oLi]

FORZA INTER

some are already saying is inter win the scudetto is theres

so i think a 2-1 win for inter

You straight up sick Moby straight up.  :cheers: impressive gues!


BTW the Adriano's goal haha.. Touched his hand. And Inzaghis that was blown of because offside.. God damn. Such a sick goal too bad about the offside it was only like 5cm or something.

Anyone can say what they wanna say but to me Milan deserved the win.

[Chunkchenko]

They actually broadcasted this on BBC 3. Shocking how no one in the UK has Serie A rights atm i think Setanta sports show a couple games every so often. It would have been funny if they stopped showing the match when Beckham was subbed lol

Was gutted to see adrianos replay to see that it was a hand ball but tbh Milan were poor during the first half but in the second half when Pato scored it turned into end to end action.

[moby]

woooooow

suck on it chunk  :3some:

Adriano dedicates his goal to mourinho's son lol woooooow

[Tito]

Adrianos goal makes up for Stankovics miss moments earlier

[cigar omar]

Fantastic game one of the better games I've seen all season in all leagues.

Inter will crush United. Mourinhos undefeated streak against Fergilisious will continue.

[manutd.]

Inter will crush United. Mourinhos undefeated streak against Fergilisious will continue.

I highly doubt it, I think United can escape with a draw in the first leg, then finish it off in the second leg.  :biggrin:

[Tito]

at least you started off modest  :lol:

[moby]

lol

Inter played lovely, ambrosini's last ditch tackle was disgusting on stankovic's behalf. i always hated him and cruz. but they always pop up at the right moments.

ronnie looked good out there

[Tito]

lol

Inter played lovely, ambrosini's last ditch tackle was disgusting on stankovic's behalf. i always hated him and cruz. but they always pop up at the right moments.

his scored the winning goal   :lol: