Inter 4, Milan 2: Acute Suffering

Sometimes, there simply aren’t words to describe something. Tonight, there are no words to describe the pain Milan fans have. It would be bad enough if we were never in the game. Comparing the amount of money spent from top to bottom, a loss to Inter would be expected. But we had hope, at halftime we had so much hope. And now all we have is acute suffering.

Indescribable pain

Milan dominated the first half. Inter looked far more like the team that dropped so many points in January. And Milan were… refreshingly good. Calhanoglu even hit the bar early on, and we kept fighting. That fight finally paid off when Rebić scored from an Inbrahimović assist in the 40th minute. 1-0 Milan. Then Ibrahimovic followed that up in the sixth minute of stoppage time with a great header from a play from a corner. 2-0 Milan.

Ibrahimović celebrated as only he does, particularly having formerly played for Inter. However, his celebration was a bit cattivo (mischievous,) as he blew a kiss to Inter’s Curva Nord, who were singing racist chants about him earlier. Inter did not disappoint, also racially abusing Kessié… again. It’s so discouraging to know that they are never penalized for this, and our players have to face this abuse every time the teams meet. It is so wrong. Such unnecessary acute suffering.

He gave us hope, he gave us a goal and an assist and another 90 minutes.
But it still wasn't enough.

Also wrong was the way that everything flipped after the half, as if Conte literally threatened to kill his players or something, while Milan slipped into complacency and made many defensive errors. That led to a Brozović goal and a Vecino goal within 90 seconds of each other by the 53rd minute, and all of a sudden, our hopes and our two-point lead were gone. It was 2-2.

There were six yellow cards, four for Inter, and two for Milan, including Conti, who will miss our match with Torino next week. An Inter assistant coach, Stellini, was also shown a straight red for something he said to the referees. Then in the 70th, de Vrij scored a great header that also caught Milan sleeping. 3-2 Inter.

If only Inter could have stayed like that

Pioli made very attacking subs, bringing on Leão, Paqueta, and Bonaventura. And that helped, but it wasn’t enough. Eriksen came on and hit the post from a brilliant free kick. Ibrahimović also hit the post in the 90th. And then Lukaku scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time. 4-2 Inter. Such acute suffering.

Despite Milan maintaining slightly more possession and taking about the same number of shots, we only had the two shots on target. Defensively, we lost our shape and concentration in the second half. But what makes this one hurt so much is that we had this. We were up 2-0 at halftime. It doesn’t matter that Inter’s coach’s salary is nearly ten times Pioli’s. Or that they’ve spent €180 million in the transfer market this year to buy victories. Losing a Derby always hurts. But this one hurts that much more because we had it. We were winning. And then we choked. It is truly acute suffering.

Milan's coreo: "Interista gossip"

If you think Inter’s racial abuse was a solitary event, feel free to review what I wrote about it last year alone. How they are allowed to have fans in the stadium is beyond me.

Racism Wins Again from May 2019

Racism, Hypocrisy, and Serie A from September 2019

Podcast: Why I Hate Inter: Calciopoli Edition from September 2019

More Reasons to Hate Inter from September 2019

This post inspired by the music of NIN’s “Hurt”

Our next match is

Coppa Italia Semifinal First Leg

Milan vs. Juventus

Thursday, February 13 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)