Milan Derby Preview: Family Feud

To say that the derby Saturday night is big would be the understatement of the milennium. Many people don’t understand how deep the rivalry is or just how long the feud has run.

Derby della Madonnina Poll

In Milan, there is an iconic and historic cathedral called Il Duomo. Atop the tallest spire stands the Lady Madonna, looking out over the city, offering her protection. From this icon of the city, the Milan derby gets its name, Il Derby della Madonnina or the “Derby of the Madonna.”

 

So You Think You Know van Bommel?

Thug. Dirty Player. Walking red card. That is the word on the street. And having watched the Netherlands play in the World Cup Final last year where van Bommel was amongst those to receive one of the plethora of yellow cards shown that day, I quickly fell for the labels. Why was AC Milan signing this guy? We don’t need  red cards, we need trophies!

van Bommel leaves the pitch after being sent off vs. Catania

Milan's International Roundup

Buffon and Cassano enjoy training with the Azzurri

While we take a quick break from Serie A, many of our players are representing their national teams in qualifying matches and friendlies around the globe. I have done my best to gather the information for which of our first team players are called up and where and when they will be playing so you can catch as many matches as you can. Divertitevi!

Savicevic and Boban: Milan's Balkan warriors

The late 80s and early 90s in Milan are remembered by the flying Dutchmen, Berlusconi's reign, a steel defense led by Franco Baresi and a golden rain of trophies. There are, however, unsung heroes among the red and black ranks - two of them came from a part of Europe that was at the time torn up by wars, and their countries happened to be on opposite sides. Savicevic and Boban still found a common love for football and contributed to arguably the most beautiful period of Milan's history.

Left to right: Gullit, Rijkaard, Savicevic, Baresi, Van Basten, Papin, Boban

When is a Goal Offside?

Answer is at the bottom of post, please scroll down

We’ve all been there, no matter which team we support: the feeling of being robbed of a game, 3 points, or worse, even a trophy because our opponent scored a goal that was allowed despite being blatantly offside. Or maybe we scored and it was onside and it was disallowed. The TV pundits are crying for blood, the video replay show he was clearly either offside or onside, and yet no call, no win. Or perhaps, you are amongst the few that get little twinges of guilt when the wrong call goes in your team’s favor. Either way, the offside call is perhaps the most influential and yet misunderstood decision a football ref can make in a game.

Palermo 1, Milan 0: The Pink Death

The writing was on the wall. Milan hadn’t won at the Stadio Renzo Barbera since 2006. Palermo lost big against Udinese, but had steadily improved to just a 1-0 loss last week. Pastore had cut off that ridiculous mullet thing he’d been wearing and gotten himself a proper haircut. This match was never destined to be easy, and maybe was never even destined for a Milan victory.

 

Palermo-Milan preview: the battle of Sicily

This is the first of three battles Milan will fight without their Swedish warlord, and one that should give us an answer to the age-old question - is every Ibra team Ibra-dependent? Will the young cavalrymen led by the old, battle-scarred generals ride into victory or will they falter and allow the arch enemies in black and blue to close in ahead of the big showdown? On the day of the UEFA Champions League draw that saw Tottenham Hotspur matched up with Real Madrid, Milan only has one major goal left this season - win the long overdue domestic title that will end Inter's reign at the top.

Player Profile: Who's Urby?

In January, Milan signed a player from Ajax that not a lot of Milan fans knew much about. (Well, Dutch fans certainly knew about him, but the rest of us....) His name is Urby Vittorio Diego Emanuelson. Yes, that’s Emanuelson with one “m.” He is one half of a new Dutch Duo lighting up our midfield this season.

Van Bommel, Galliani, and Emanuelson as the presentation of the Dutch Duo

FIGC Follies: Week 29

This weekend was not a pretty one in Serie A. One could expect the tensions running high in the Derby della Capitale, but it’s harder to understand some of the increased tension in the other matches. Blame it on the rain, I guess.

As a result, yesterday, the FIGC reviewed a few of the incidents that resulted from the tensions and handed down bans. The question is, what constitutes a red card vs. a 2 match ban vs. a 3 match ban? Or do any of them go completely unpunished?

Milan-Bari 1-1: frustration hits the roof

Bari's 8^th away goal of the season happened to be the 11^th goal Milan conceded at the San Siro this year, and it came at a terrible time. Instead of taking advantage of Inter's slip-up, Milan had a frustrating afternoon in which everything that could go wrong, went wrong and it was almost by sheer will power that Milan found a late equalizer with 10 men. Bari defended with grit and determination, Milan had the necessary urgency in the second 45 minutes but, between Pato's disappearing act, Zlatan's ever-growing frustration and Robinho's failure to take a dangerous shot on goal it was hard to make the chances count.

Milan-Bari Preview: Let's Do Lunch

Bari will come to the San Siro on Sunday for the lunchtime fixture, but for them, it will likely feel more like their last supper. Sitting dead last in the league, you have to admire a team that comes to play each game, despite knowing that next year, they’ll be dining in Serie B.

Milan march out of the Champions League with their heads held high

I'll be the first to say it - I feel good after this game. For the first time in years, this season I've had the pleasure of watching a Milan team that makes me proud. The men in red and black ran out onto the hostile ground in London tonight with no real substitutes, a loss from the first leg and an attitude that makes me shout in support even though my couch is hardly at hearing distance to Seedorf and co. Yes, tonight the Milan spirit was personified in the Dutch senator, who put in a wonderful vice-Pirlo performance in deep midfield while sporting the captain's armband.

Tottenham-Milan Preview: Fielding 11 Players

I was so looking forward to the challenge: down an away goal, going into White Hart Lane with a stadium full of fans who make our Ultras look like baby kittens. Playing for survival and for some of our favorite players: Pippo, Pirlo, Ambrosini, and Gattuso, we would show this English side that Italians actually can play football at the highest level, and we would make Joe Jordan serve his own ban for the rest of the Champions League season by knocking those Spurs out.

For a good cause

Temper Tantrums: Have Your Say

Most players lose their cool at some point. But some reach their boiling point sooner than others. This year, we've seen many different kinds of meltdowns - from Ibrahimovich shouting at his teammates to Flamini, well, being a walking red card. We saw Abate get red carded for standing up to Pandev in the Milan derby. And most recently, Gattuso's infamous meltdown during the Tottenham game.

Juventus-Milan 0-1: Gattuso to the rescue!

Zero chances, zero shots on goal. That's a simple way to summarize Juve's display tonight, but it also gives a fine description of Allegri's masterplan. He had his strongest defense at his disposal (Jankulovski included), utilized three aggressive midfield destroyers in front of them and filled the hole behind the strikers with yet another physical player, leaving Robinho on the bench. It was clear that the game plan was simple - don't let Juve create anything, keep it simple, pass it to Cassano and Ibra quickly and rely on them to win the game. However, there was a twist in the plot and the winning goal came from the most unlikely and lovable source of them all!

Juventus-Milan preview: Italy's greatest derby

When two of the biggest clubs in Italy meet on Saturday, it'll be a clash of two clubs in very different positions, in the standings and otherwise. Milan is topping the charts, playing with confidence and Allegri seems to have a good rapport with the squad. Juve, on the other hand, is struggling to reach the Euro qualification zone, team morale is possibly at an all time low and the Del Neri's seat is shaking like De Ceglie when he sees Bonera. Bottom line, the greatest Italian derby comes at a bad time for Juve. As much as I as a Serie A fan would like Juve to be great again, Milan has no choice but to put the circumstances to use and go for the kill in Torino.

Juventus v. Milan: An Italian Classic

With the big game coming up on Saturday, we thought we would have some friendly discussion while we are all still speaking. So bloggers from The Juventus Offside, The Milan Offside and the new Milan Obsession blogs have each taken a few minutes to answer the same five questions. You will find a different sampling of their answers at each blog, so feel free to visit each one to get them all and to join in the discussion! 

 "Italian Gothic"

by sposato al nemico