Milan Is Black & Blue, What's Next?

 The dust has settled fully by now on the 174^th Milan Derby played on Sunday. It was the first time since 2011, that Inter and Milan played in a derby that was billed as a top-of-the-table clash. A decade is a long time for clubs of this stature and prestige to be away from challenging for major honours. The match a decade ago didn’t hold any fond memories for me. Milan won that match 3-0 on their way to winning their 18^th Scudetti, levelling it with us. We went on to win the Coppa Italia in that season. Coincidentally, for both teams, it was the last piece of major silverware either team could savour. Milan did win the Supercoppa Italiana a season after though.

Revenge for 2011

With that match in my memory as well as the outcome from the previous derby in Serie A, I approached this match nervous about its outcome. I hope Inter would not let me down and would make good use of having a full week without any matches to be fully prepared for this match. As it turned out, the team didn’t disappoint. That is 6 points out of 6 from two consecutive big matches. We have opened up a 4 point lead too at the top of the table. We avenged the 3-0 defeat we suffered in 2011 by beating Milan with the same score-line. Since 2011, Inter has had the upper hand in derbies, winning more than Milan but neither team has been where they should be. Inter has at least been closer to the top than Milan has been in the last 3 seasons before Milan’s sudden resurgence after the lockdown period last season.

Conte’s Preparation

This victory is down to the preparation of Antonio Conte, dubbed the best one-game-per-week coach in the world. Tactically, we got it spot-on and typically, throughout the game, he lived it with his players, guiding them every step of the way. His enthusiasm is such that if he was allowed to, he would don his boots and run on the pitch to play with his players but that would have been a strange sight for someone synonymous with the jersey of our enemies, Juventus.

LuLa

From Conte to the players that implemented his tactics on the pitch. I just want to point out a few who answered their detractors in this match. Lautaro Martinez has been guilty of missing some sitters in recent matches and his performances this season has not always been bright. He was bright, sharp and a handful with his movement in this match, scoring twice from positions he has been guilty of missing from. His strike-partner, Romelu Lukaku has been accused of going missing in big matches but to be fair to him, he has always risen to the occasion in Milan derbies. He rose to the occasion, delivered an assist for the first goal and scored the third for us.

Redemption Of Handanovic

I wouldn’t say this performance was as perfect as the one against Juventus was in Serie A because we looked a bit jittery in defence. Samir Handanovic has taken a lot of flak for being a “statute” and “not moving” to save shots. He more than did that, producing three great stops to deny Zlatan Ibrahimovic twice and Sandro Tonali once. Crucial stops because had those attempts gone in, the momentum of the game might have shifted towards Milan at a time in the game where they were in the ascendancy.

“New Signings”

Finally, Ivan Perisic and Christian Eriksen have looked like two new signings. They both look comfortable in their new positions, they understand what is needed of them and have confidence in implementing the tactical plan. I liked the focus of the team leading up to the derby with the players not speaking much about it. They need to keep this focus and concentration going because there are more tough challenges ahead and the next two matches will be tougher than the last two. It’s easy to raise your game against a big team but can you see off an opponent that you should be beating? Can you win the bread-and-butter games? These are questions to be answered.