2023-05-10 08:54:58
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AC Milan receives its neighbor Inter on Wednesday, in the semi-finals of the Champions League, in the San Siro stadium shared by the two clubs.
Milan will be in the Champions League final but which of its clubs? The Lombard capital will experience, Wednesday, May 10, a inevitably boiling “euroderby” between AC Milan and Inter for a place in the final of the Champions League, a double confrontation which marks the return of Italian clubs to the top of the league. ‘Europe.
If the other half between the City of Pep Guardiola and the Real of Carlo Ancelotti opposes what is probably best in terms of play, the “derbissimo” promises to be a summit of passions and history between the two neighbors opposed for the 236th time.
“It’s not a derby, but THE derby. We know what it represents for the club, for the players, the tifosi”, recalled Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
????️ Interview with Simone Inzaghi for Mediaset on the eve of the derby:
“We know the importance that the derby represents for everyone, for ourselves, for the club, for our supporters. We will have to play a great derby.” pic.twitter.com/NaeaYdW20H
— Inter FR (@InterMilanFRA) May 9, 2023
Milan AC invaincu en euroderby
In the Champions League, the two rivals of the Madonnina, the name of the virgin overlooking the Milanese Duomo, giving its name to the derby, have already faced each other four times. But that goes back twenty years, to a time when Serie A still attracted the biggest stars of football, some of whom are expected in the stands like Andrei Shevchenko or Cafu.
In 2003, it was already in the semi-finals: Milan had qualified thanks to the goal scored on the “outside” (0-0, 1-1), not without irony since the two clubs share the same stadium, San Syro.
Two years later, it was during an electric shift. The return match was not completed after the Inter tifosi threw smoke bombs, one of which hit the rossonero goalkeeper Dida. AC Milan, already winner in the first leg (2-0), had won on green carpet (3-0).
Ancelotti was then the coach of Milan during these four matches and had thus confirmed the supremacy in the European Cup of the Rossoneri, the most successful in C1 behind Real Madrid (14 victories).
The dynamic is for Inter
But will the weight of history be enough against the confidence of Inter Milan? Simone Inzaghi’s team has indeed won the two derbies disputed in 2023, in particular giving a lesson to Milan in the Italian Supercup (3-0) in January before winning the league (1-0).
Despite a checkered season, the Nerazzurri have always been there in C1, in particular by extricating themselves from a strong group, with Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona, both now out of the running in Europe.
They arrive especially towards the end of the season in great shape, during a series of five victories, in all competitions, having notably beaten Juventus, Lazio and Roma while scoring fifteen goals. Romelu Lukaku has chased his spleen with five goals since the beginning of April, finding his agreement with the Argentinian Lautaro Martinez.
AC Milan, for its part, may have to do without its offensive arrow Rafael Leao, released quickly on Saturday against Lazio (2-0) after an alert in the adductor of the right thigh.
“He will try to force (Wednesday morning) and we will decide what to do,” explained coach Stefano Pioli on Tuesday, who knows that his team is not the same without “Rafa”: the Rossoneri did not win this season only one of the ten matches where the Portuguese has not started, whether he has entered the game or has not played at all.
Leao had notably been decisive in the quarter-finals of C1 against Naples, decisive passer on the way (1-0) as on the return thanks to a fantastic ride (1-1).
Milan will still need him at a very uncertain end to the season, both to dream of the Champions League but also to try to return to Serie A in the top four qualifying for the next C1 – the defending champions are currently 5th.
With AFP
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