The game in Boston last month was a warm-up for the main event this weekend. The Derby della Madonnina, or the Milan Derby game this week has so many subplots that I could fill a whole blog with them!
Some of the stories this people will focus on this week include Ronaldinho against his old Barcelona team-mate Samuel Eto’o.
Ronaldinho was simply terrific last week for AC Milan while Samuel Eto’o opened up his Serie A account with a penalty on Sunday. The Cameroon forward scored 104 league goals in 136 games for Barcelona and Inter fans will be hoping for a similar strike rate from the forward.
Part of the intrigue about the game is who will not be playing in it. Milan will be without Kaka, Carlo Ancelotti and Paolo Maldini who have all moved on our retired. Inter will be without Serie A’s top goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
While Inter’s new look includes Thiago Motta in midfield and Eto’o and Diego Milito up front, Milan will counter with their new €15m (£13m) signing from Real Madrid Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
Milan, under new coach Leonardo, looked very poor in the preseason and a lot of people were picking them to drop out the top four in Italy this season. If Milan wins, then their confidence will be sky high and they might start to believe that they can compete for the Serie A title this season. If Inter beats Milan for the second time in a month, it sews some doubt in the Milan players minds about how good they really are. That is why it is critical for Inter to win.
Milan Derby Records
| Club | G | W | D | L | F | A | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serie A Games Only | |||||||
| Internazionale | 172 | 62 | 52 | 58 | 249 | 235 | +14 |
| Milan | 172 | 58 | 52 | 62 | 235 | 249 | -14 |
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Inter had strengthen the team appropriately with some good new players while Milan had sold their Kaka w/o getting his replacement to reinforce the team.
Ronaldinho may have excel last week, but I dun foresee him to carry the entire Milan on his own for the entire season. I can’t say which team will win in a derby this week, but Milan’s lack of depth will show once the cup competitions kick in.
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