Inter-Milan Preview: Sucks to be Blue

There is no other match in the world like the Derby della Madonnina. Sure, there are other derbies, other matches that are full of fire and hate and passion. But only one Derby della Madonnina. Part of the reason is the disparity in the level of class: Inter got their paltry trophies by cheating and stealing, Milan got their plethora of trophies the good old fashioned way. Another is the difference in fans: Inter’s fans always cry and whine and their coreo is boring and terrible, while Milan fans are clever and vociferous with the most amazing coreo in the world. And while on the pitch, both teams have struggled this season, one is still crashing and burning, while Milan is showing signs of doing the opposite. So adding it all up, it sucks to be blue. But then again, Milan fans have always known that.

She knows that it sucks to be blue.

Another disparity is the amount of cash poured into the clubs this season. While Milan invested barely anything and hired a coach who was willing to work for next to nothing, Inter splashed some cash on some good players this past year and brought Mancini back with a king’s ransom of a salary after Eric Thohir bought the club from that lecherous snake Moratti (also known as one of the masterminds behind Calciopoli.) And yet after all that cash, they are one point behind what has been a painfully poor Milan. Oh yeah, it sucks to be blue.

But don’t think for a second that Milan are favorites. After a record in the league of D-D-D-L, Inter finally won convincingly last week away to Verona, their first win since February. And while they crashed out of the Europa League to Wolfsburg in spectacular fashion, Milan technically crashed out of Europe last year. But going back to their win in Verona, Mancini lined up Handanovic; Juan, Vidic, Ranocchia, D’Ambrosio; Palacio, Guarin, Medel, Brozovic, Hernanes, and Icardi. But the good news out of that win was that Guarin and Brozovic got themselves suspended and will miss tomorrow’s match. Also missing for Mancini will be Moreira, Dodo, Campagnaro, and possiblyKuzmanovic, all due to injury. Sucks to be blue.

When De Jong is celebrating, it definitely sucks to be blue.

Meanwhile, Milan said goodbye to Armero, who went to Flamengo on loan. And we will still be missing Agazzi, Mastour, Montolivo, and El Shaarawy, the latter of which just returned to training this week after another long injury. Essien is also doubtful to be available, with Destro returning to training after the knock he picked up last Sunday vs. Sampdoria and Honda also likely to be declared fit.

After winning this fixture last year, Milan drew with i biscioni in November with an equalizer scored by this guy. And despite a current form of D-L-W-W-D, this game is wide open. We all know that the Derby could go to anyone, even more so this year with both teams having such poor seasons. But still, it sucks to be blue.

Trolling the Nerazzuri since 2007. Yeah, it sucks to be blue.

So break out the smacktalk, finish your preparations, and then sit down, fasten your seatbelts, and get ready for an epic battle. A battle of evil vs. good, wrong vs. right, Nerazzurri vs. Rossoneri. We can only hope for a win, but also for a great game. And hopefully, at full time, we’ll still be able to say convincingly “It sucks to be blue.”

This post inspired by the music of the Cure’s “The Snakepit”

il Derby della Madonnina

Inter vs. AC Milan

Sunday, April 19 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)

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