The championship isn’t worth it, nor is city supremacywhich in Milan translates into trophies lifted and not derbies won. With 26 matchdays still to be played, the first match of the season between Inter and Milan will have a fair impact on the development of the season. Max Allegri and Cristian Chivu have little to lose and a lot to gain on the night at San Siro, the first in which the two Milanese clubs play in their own stadium: for the Inter player it would be uncomfortable to suffer a fourth defeat (third in direct matches), for the Rossoneri it would sound some small alarm bells. However, everything is largely manageable because the start of the championship is bringing much greater problems elsewhere than the two in Milan.
In short, the conditions for having fun are all there. Even if the characteristics of the two teams, at least from what we have seen so far, leave us to imagine one plot in which there will be those who attack (Inter) and those who start again (Milan): the hope is that prudence does not prevail and that whoever must attack does so with conviction and courage and whoever sets out again never gives up trying to do harm. Translated: that we don’t settle for the classic middle ground so as not to risk just to win.
The 250th derby in Milanese history, then, can be imagined in five duels between the pitch and the bench. Five stories that act as a common thread on the eve of a match that will be played in the cold (polar temperatures expected) and with a snow warning.
First duel: Chivu against Allegri
An almost debutant (24 benches in Serie A) against a doyen who has over 500 tokens in the league: the challenge between Chivu and Allegri is entirely contained in these numbers which mark the difference between two very distant profiles. They presented themselves with different starting points and objectives but what they have in common is that they have done well so far.
Allegri is making the most of the qualities of a squad with great pragmatism which is missing more than a few things and which in the last month has also had to deal with injuries and absences. The ranking is flattering, considering the starting point, even if the most important challenge is missing, which is to transform Leao and Pulisic into two central strikers.
Chivu has put together the pieces of a dressing room that was left crumbling at the end of last season. It was not a given, especially because the market did not deliver those tactical variants that would have facilitated the break with the past and made the transition quicker. Allegri is a great coach, Chivu aspires to become one: this derby is a sort of calling card for him.
Second duel: Calhanoglu against Modric
Quality in the middle of the pitch. Who do you prefer? It is impossible to choose one while keeping the other out, it would be necessary to create two conductor’s batons to make them work together. Calhanoglu has put the summer of doubts and the rift with his teammates and environment behind him, he has entered the season with increased motivation, he plays and lets people play and he has rediscovered his feeling with goals.
Modric collects standing ovations, for him age is a detail and he is a pillar of the midfield built by Allegri. Being able to distill his energy with just one commitment a week allows him to stay within a physical comfort zone that is ideal for a forty-year-old, but be careful to think that he stands out only because in Italy the quality level is lower than elsewhere.
Third duel: Barella against Rabiot
Tactically it is the most intriguing challenge of the derby. Rabiot has been working for this match for twenty days, once he has recovered from the injury he suffered in October with the national team: it is easy to imagine him as the first screen for Calhanoglu and a direct challenger to Barella to gain supremacy in midfield. A good part of the destinies of the derby pass through here, because both have proven over time to be the most important thermometer of the performance of their respective departments.
In the past, in some encounters with Rabiot in the black and white jersey, Barella has shown that he suffers from the physicality of his opponent. It is also true, however, that some of the most beautiful pages in recent Inter history were created by the Italian in duels won against the Frenchman.
Fourth duel: Leao and Pulisic against ThuLa
On paper it is a mismatch in favor of the Inter couple, experienced and dominant in the Italian championship. In reality it is a fascinating challenge because building a competitive mechanism by putting together the qualities of two wingers like Pulisic and Leao, adapting them to a new role, is the most difficult thing Allegri faces at the start of the season.
There are interesting implications within this comparison. For example, how will Chivu respond to the prospect of a confrontation with an attack that does not allow reference points (Is Acerbi needed?) and that expresses enormous speed in the open field (stay high or lower so as not to give too much space behind the defenders?).
Fifth duel: Dimarco against Bartesaghi
They are the sons of Milan, it is not a field duel also because in principle they will never cross paths along the two opposite lanes. However, they are the two who grew up in the youth sectors of Inter and Milan and who today experience the greatest emotion, that of competing in the derby.
Dimarco has an established profile and career, he is also a member of Gattuso’s national team and has proposed himself as one of the best crossers in Europe. Bartesaghi is carving out a role for himself by defying skepticism, even that of his fans: Allegri saw him in training camp, weighed him and wanted to keep him with him. Not a bad starting point.
