This Derby match is an important one in the race for both the Scudetto and Champions League qualification spots. Inter come into the match four points ahead of Milan with a game in hand, and Milan need to get their winning form back after the robbery vs. Spezia and the snoozefest draw with Juventus. Inter technically have the home advantage, except that instead of replacing the horrid San Siro pitch over the break, they Frankensteined it with patches of new grass, painting the old grass to match. So playing at home is not actually advantageous. With Inter's mercato and form, the possibility of more Milan injuries from a terrible pitch, as well as our existing injuries, this match is more likely to be a tragedy than a comedy. More of a horror film than Saturday Night Live.
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| Not just any Saturday night |
The Other Inzaghi's Inter has only lost one Serie A match this season, and are still flying after having won the Supercoppa trophy three weeks ago. Then they spent in the mercato, despite having €472 million in debts, the highest in Serie A. In fact, they posted €246 million in losses for 2020-21 alone, the worst ever in Italy. Only Barcelona were worse in Europe. This is nothing new, as they are responsible for nine of the 20 worst losses in Italy, and that even exceeds Milan's horrific losses with three ownerships in 2.5 years. If only there were something like Financial Fair Play that would penalize clubs that are so financially irresponsible...
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| (Did he know how bad Inter's finances were?) |
At least Inter's January purchases were great choices, though, having picked up Gosens from Atalanta and Caicedo from Genoa. Fiscally, they are bottom of the table, but competitively, they are in first place. Kind of like last year when they couldn't even pay their players, delaying our joint stadium project, but the league had no problem handing them a trophy.
Before the break, Inter beat Venezia 2-1. For that match, the Other Inzaghi lined up Handanović; Skriniar, de Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozović, the Turkish Traitor, Perisić; Martínez, and Dzeko. Inter have been very lucky with limited injuries and ref calls in their favor, including when the Turkish Traitor fouled Kessié in the box and was given a penalty in the last Derby. Their luck still holds, with only two injured players scheduled to miss this one: Correa and Gosens.
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| Gosens poses with Inter's pathetic trophies |
Pioli, on the other hand, considers himself lucky to only be missing two players to injury: Kjaer and Ballo-Touré (who is also still at AFCON for Senegal.) However, he will also likely be missing Ibrahimović, Rebić, and Tomori. There is a slight chance for Tomori, as he was able to join the group for part of training on Wednesday, but Ibrahimović and Rebić still trained alone. However, Pioli was missing six players in November when we faced Inter, so maybe we won't be a tragic comedy after all. Although missing both Kjaer and Tomori does still make our defense very shaky.
Kessié made it back from AFCON and is reportedly fine after a scary injury in his last match for Côte d'Ivoire. I hope he takes revenge on Calhanoglu for us. I suppose there is a slight chance we could see our newest signing, Lazetić, the 18 year-old Serbian from Red Star Belgrade, but I think Pioli will likely want him to settle in more before giving him his debut for Milan.
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| A signing for the future |
Inter's Curva Nord said that they were going to boycott the match due to ticket allocation because of the 50% capacity limit. Supposedly, they said they will attend, but without banners, megaphones, or coreo, and they will not cheer their team. Fine by me. Their coreo is always lame anyway, and fewer douchebag Inter fans means we will hear the Milan fans better, and so will our team on the pitch.
The overall mood of Milan fans ranges from somber to enraged because of the mercato, which makes it difficult to get excited for this one. Despite the fact that we are actually overperforming in terms of wage bill and experience, with our tragic luck this season, Milan fans have become rather cynical. But if we are going to have a statement win to declare our intentions for the rest of the season, this would be the match to do it. Also, because I really, really, really hate Inter. For all the reasons. But with the shambolic San Siro pitch, and given the way our season has gone, this will more likely be a tragedy on a Saturday night, live.
This post inspired by the music of Måneskin's "Torna a Casa"