AC Milan and Inter Milan shared the spoils in the Serie A’s Derby della Madonina on Sunday, with Tijjani Reijnders giving Milan the lead late in the first half (45′) and Stefan de Vrij equalizing even later in the second (90+3′).
The teams
Milan coach Sergio Conceicao was without defenders Alessandro Florenzi and Emerson Royal through various injury issues, as well as midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek. There was no Youssouf Fofana in the middle of the park either, as the France international served a suspension for yellow-card accumulation. Striker Alvaro Morata left the club, officiallyj mere hours before kick-off.
Mike Maignan stood between the posts. Strahinja Pavlovic joined Fikayo Tomori in the heart of defence, with captain Theo Hernandez on the left and newcomer Kyle Walker on the right. Yunus Musah and Ismael Bennacer paired up in the middle of the park, with Tijjani Reijnders in a more advanced midfield role. Rafael Leao attacked from the left, Christian Pulisic from the right, and Tammy Abraham through the middle.
Inter boss Simone Inzaghi could not call upon forward Joaquin Correa, and backup goalkeeper Raffaele Di Gennaro.
With Yann Sommer in goal, the back three consisted of Benjamin Pavard, Stefan de Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni. Former Milan man Hakan Calhanoglu joined Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolo Barella in midfield, flanked by wing-backs Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries. Captain Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram paired up in attack.
Key moments
Inter sought to control the game and keep the ball as close as possible to the opposition goal straight away, and with less than seven minutes gone, they had the ball in the net through Dimarco, but Lautaro had been offside in the buildup and it didn’t count.
Milan threatened briefly and on rare occasions, and as Pulisic saw his shot blocked on one such occasions, chances came thick for Inter, but neither Barella nor Lautaro managed to score. The two of them were involved in another ruled out goal in the 33rd minute – this time it was Barella offside and Lautaro the would-be scorer.
In the next couple of minutes, Lautaro had a dismissed penalty claim, believing (wrongly) the ball had hit Pavlovic on the arm, and a shot which he fired wide of the target, and then the tables turned.
Milan started playing more aggressively towards the end of the first half, and after Sommer had to save a great shot from Reijnders and Pavard thwarted a Leao run on goal, the opening goal came. Abraham dispossessed Calhanoglu in his own half and the ball went left, where Leao broke and put a low cross into the six yards. Sommer went down to try and get to it first, but he only managed to parry it shortly, and Reijnders reacted instinctively, slamming under the bar to give Milan the lead.
Inter’s initiative became even more pronounced after the break, which was only to be expected at a goal down.
Lautaro had a great chance less than a minute from the restart, but his finish was uncharacteristically poor, going straight into Maignan. De Vrij came close with a header from a Dimarco corner, and then Pavard had a similar attempt as well. A good team move eventually got Dimarco in a great position to shoot from close range, but Pavlovic stifled the shot and made it easy for Maignan to pick up. Lautaro had yet another goal ruled out, with Dumfries judged to have failed to keep the ball in play in the buildup. Substitute Yann Biseck hit the post with a header, having just replaced Pavard.
Chance after chance came and went for Inter, though Milan did look dangerous on the counterattack a few times. But then came that third minute of stoppage time, when it really looked as if the Rossoneri would hold on to another derby win. A cross from the right found substitute Nicola Zalewski, freshly signed from Roma, on the far post, and he chested it deftly back into the six yards, finding De Vrij who was only too happy to slam it in from close range. Inter had snatched a point, and Zalewski got an an assist on his club debut, against the city rivals.
The aftermath
Milan will be happy to have avoided defeat against their city rivals for the third time this season, but the point they’ve earned will have done little to improve their position in the Serie A table. It will also have done little to improve the reportedly bad mood inside their camp, especially given the way they dropped the victory in the end.
As things stand, Sergio Conceicao’s team sit in eighth place with 35 points. Their chances of joining the race for the Scudetto are long gone, and all they can hope for is a place leading to Europe next season, preferably inside the top four, of course. And even that will likely prove challenging enough, with the forth place currently occupied by Juventus on 40 points, and Lazio (39) and Bologna (37) wedged in between.
The feelings will be similarly mixed for Inter, who will be thrilled to have gotten the late equalizer and for the first time this season stopped the Rossoneri from beating them in a direct duel. On the other hand, they will have hoped for a victory in this derby, and their failure to land one provides Napoli with an opportunity to open a five-point gap at the top of the table by beating Roma in the evening.
Though they’ve already met three times in 2024/25, AC Milan and Inter Milan could have yet another, potentially historic encounter on the horizon. If AC Milan triumph over Feyenoord in the Champions League play-offs, Inter are one of the two teams they could be up against in the round of 16 of the competition.
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