Milan-Inter Preview: Throwdown

It’s Derby time. Time for wrongs to be made right. For good to overcome evil. For the balance of Milano to be restored. Unless Inter win, of course. De Jong scored in April to give us our first Derby victory since January of 2011. Can we make beating Inter a habit? With so many changes to both sides, and three points toward a European spot at the end of the year, it will be anyone’s game. So let’s get ready for a throwdown.

De Jong hands the mojo over to Lucky Jack, who has scored 4 goals in his 4 times facing Inter

As usual, there are so many different storylines ahead of this matchup. The biggest news, of course, is the return to the Inter bench of Roberto Mancini. For all that the Inter management did to orchestrate and hide from the consequences of Calciopoli, he is still the manager who placed third in the 2005-06 season but was handed a paper Scudetto by a corrupt “justice” system. And benefitting from the relegation of Juve and the points deductions of Milan and others, including getting players on the cheap, he went on to “win” the next two Scudetti. But a lot has changed since then. First of all, rival teams don’t have that caliber of players to give to him on the cheap. In fact, Inter doesn’t have that caliber of players to begin with. And Facchetti died & Moratti is no longer president, either. So he’s going to have to win his matches on the pitch this time around.

Benvenuto, Mister. I see they’re still holding your paper Scudetto for you

While Mazzarri was playing a 3-5-2, Mancini started out with a 4-3-1-2 in training upon his return. Which means that the Inter that was struggling and recently lost 2-0 to bottom of the table Parma is not the Inter that we will see on Sunday. Gary Medel managed to get himself suspended for this match, and Moreira, D’Ambrosio, and M’Vila are injured, with Guarin, Campagnaro, and Hernanes still questionable as to their fitness. So Mancini will have to work within those limitations. But he’ll still have all of the usual villains, and he actually has quite a lot of talent at his disposal.

But despite the fact that many teams who replace a coach win their first match with the new coach, Milan have Inzaghi. Pippo Inzaghi. The one who scored the first of two goals in Milan’s 2-1 win over Inter in April of 2008. That’s right, he knows what it means to score and win a Derby. He also has the benefit of training the team since July, with a system in place and a slightly better record to Inter’s so far this season. Having him on our sideline is definitely an advantage.

Beating Inter is in his DNA

There is a slight chance that Inzaghi will have Montolivo back, although he mentioned he likely wouldn’t start. Also looking to pass fitness tests are Alex, Muntari, Abate, and De Jong, all of whom are in doubt to play on Sunday. In fact, the only player we know for sure will not be playing is Daniele Bonera (insert the Hallelujah Chorus here.) So Inzaghi may have the upper hand in his squad availability, too.

You mad, Inter?

Last but not least, Milan are the home team and so we will hopefully have the 12th man advantage, too. Certainly, our own Milan Obsession correspondent, Derwuin, has promised to do his part there. And Milan also rock the coreografia, so look for a fantastic display from the Curva Sud again. Only after the game will we know which side will be victorious. But there is a greater sense of hope from Milan fans than there has been the past couple of years. A belief that we can blank them again with all of our new talent, with the grinta that Inzaghi makes them eat for breakfast, and because management have finally calmed down and stopped behaving with so much douchebaggery. I’m not going to make a prediction as to the scoreline, because I’m terrible at those things. But one thing I will say, this Derby is going to be a serious throwdown.

This post inspired by the music of “Milan Milan”

il Derby della Madonnina

Milan vs. Inter

Sunday, November 23 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)

This match will be shown on RAI and BeIN Sport in the U.S.

Check comments for stream links ahead of the match