Milano Still Red, Not Blue This Season

Although the momentum now seems to be with the blue and black stripes, rather than the red and black ones, I still believe Milan are superior to Inter and proved that in Sunday's Derby Della Maddonina.

This may be a controversial belief but Milan were the better side on Sunday, as emphasized by the statistics. Milan lead the corner count (10-2), the shots count (15-12), and possesion, with an incredible 67%. Inter's tactic was to defend and hope to counter, as going toe to toe with the il Diavolo would have meant defeat. Ranieri relied on a superb defensive performance from verteran pair Lucio and Walter Samuel, a Nerazzurri wall that Milan could not breach.

There were times when Milan could and maybe should have netted. Pato missed a sitter from 9 yards with only Julio Cesar to beat, whilst the excellent Mark Van Bommel rattled the crossbar on the stroke of half-time. The second half was much tougher as Inter dropped deeper, and the task proved in-surmountable for Milan after Abate's mistake allowed Milito to slide home half-way through the half. After the goal, Milan seemed resigned to defeat, with the introduction of youngster Stephan El Shaarawy being the only bright moment within 45 minutes of darkness.

It's easy for us writers to have the benefit of hindsight, but if Abate's horrible mis-judgement of Zanetti's cross field ball hadn't occurred, it's very difficult to make a case for Inter to have scored at any point in the second half. Sure, they had a chance at the end of the first half through Alvarez, but that was created more through coincidence rather than skill and desire.

Credit should be given in fairness to firstly Ranieri. Must maligned in England, he understood his sides capabilities in such a game and tactically maybe gained an upper hand on Allegri, who didn't seem to have a 'Plan B'. Secondly, credit to Javier Zanetti. Anything that could be said about the Argentine has already been said. The only thing I can add to the list of compliments is that in all my Calcio years, he is the one player who you could count on one hand the amount of bad games he's had. A legend, one who even Milan fans will find hard to dislike such is his professionalism.

Milan will bounce back from defeat. The Scudetto is still there for the taking. As Juventus proved in drawing at home to Cagliari, they're not unbeatable and have shown a few signs of tiredness in the past few weeks. Milan have experience and will come strong much like they did in the second half of last season.

As for Inter, their current run points to an air of confidence that may be carrying them slightly. The biggest test is not maintaining their amazing run, but bouncing back when defeat knocks them down. Ranieri has experience of these situations before, most notably with Roma in 2009-10 and will be taking things one game at a time (doesn't every Calcio tactician?).

Inter won the derby but Milan are still the top team in the city. Over time Inter can rebuild their squad and stake their claim to be not only the number one in Milano but also in Italy. Milan's time is now however, and will still be at the top fighting for the Scudetto by the end of the season.

Charles Ducksbury


Twitter:@cducksbury

charles.ducksbury@hotmail.co.uk

Milito scores in the derby