Inter Are the Derby Kings

Five. That number will haunt Milan for a long time. It’s not only the derby that finished with a 5-1 defeat. It also made it five defeats in a row for them, a first for either club in the derby’s history. Never before has a side dominated the other like this. And it’s not just on the pitch.

Last summer, both clubs tussled over two players. For weeks, Milan believed that they had beaten competition from Paris Saint-Germain and the Premier League to Marcus Thuram’s signature. But Inter popped up in the last second and sealed his signature on their contract offer instead. He absolutely dominated his first derby in a way only real champions could, sealed by a goal for the ages.

Davide Frattesi is the other one. He shares an agent with Sandro Tonali, and Milan explored the option of signing him after selling Tonali, but he made it clear that he’d ‘throw his agent in the sea’ if he didn’t get him to Inter. He came off the bench and scored as well.

But the derby is played on the pitch. And on there, Inter had no match. And it wasn’t just last night. Inter and Milan met five times in 2023; Milan did not deserve to even draw once. The gap between both teams couldn’t be any bigger.

Stefano Pioli can talk about modern football all he likes. He can ask Davide Calabria to play like Philipp Lahm under Pep Guardiola (!), try to build with two center backs and the goalkeeper, copy Guardiola’s or Roberto Di Zerbi’s or Mikel Arteta’s build up patterns, or even Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich in the one v one defending, but it never worked against Inter. Pioli lost 9 of his 14 derbies coaching Milan. Even when Olivier Giroud scored twice to give Milan the win in 2022 on their way to leapfrog Inter to the title, Inter were the better team.

This dominance isn’t new either. In the last 30 derbies, Milan have only won six. This is as one sided as it gets.

And this is where it gets serious. Before the derby, both teams were hyped as equals. Full points from three matches, dominant performances to go with their wins, and a real sense of excitement around both clubs. But it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Inter are last season’s Champions League finalists not by fluke.

They are, by far, the strongest side in Italy. Since Antonio Conte’s days.

Inter have turned from literally, Internazionale, to an old school Italian team. Five at the back, super solid defensively, lethal on the counter attack. A core of Italian players, complemented by guys like Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Stefan de Vrij, and Lautaro Martínez who have been in Italy for so long they might as well become honorary Italians.

Inter are a level above tactically.

Inter are a level above technically.

Inter are always hungrier, enter the derby with extreme fire and have recently tended to always score early in derbies and score a lot.

Inter have a core of 14-16 players that could all start, and their system is so well drilled.

It’s time for Simone Inzaghi to deliver the second star, and beat Milan to the symbolic 20th scudetto.

The psychological advantage Inter have over Milan now is something never seen before. Stefano Pioli has done a lot of good things at AC Milan, from winning their first scudetto in 11 years to leading them to a Champions League semi final after 16 years, but his legacy will forever be tarnished by his derby record. His first Milan derby actually set the tone for what was to come by losing 4-2 after leading 2-0 in the first half.

Now, we can return to talk about real football and not fantasy ideas or copying without logic. The team with the more intensity, wins. The team with a solid and organized defense, knows how not to lose. The team that knows how to vertically attack the space and create chances, knows how to win even without dominating the possession numbers.

Circulating possession in your own third, inverting fullbacks during build up, and all those ideas are all well and good when they serve a purpose. But when they’re done just to keep up with what’s modern…

Even Guardiola started using four physical center backs and Rodri — king of the tactical fouls — to protect against counter attacks. Guardiola would never use 1.77 meters Calabria as a pivot in midfield to block counter attacks, nor would he use him there as a tool in build up with his limited technical skills.

I warned to take Milan’s early wins with a pinch of salt. Especially with three Giroud penalties and a relatively low expected goals otherwise, and the lack of competitive opponent in Torino and Roma.

It’s not the end of the world for Milan, but it’s pretty much near it. It’s an unexplored territory — five derby defeats in a row. Five derby defeats in a calendar year. I’m not sure they could ever come back from this psychological block, against Inter, under Pioli.

For Inter, Simone Inzaghi might have tried to calm the scudetto hype pre-derby, but the pressure is absolutely on. They’ve messed about enough for two seasons. They practically threw away two scudetti as I firmly believe — with no disrespect to Milan and Napoli — that they were, on paper, the strongest team in Italy the past two seasons as well.

But football is won on the pitch. And Inter have made their statement. They should soak in the joy of this victory and savor it to the maximum, because it’s a truly historic achievement in a year they’ve dominated their Milanese rivals like no other.

And now, it may only be four matches into the season, but they absolutely have to win that scudetto and get their second star.