Derby Della Madonnina: A Classic Battle Between Inter and AC Milan

For the first time in a long time, the Milan Derby will not be played for honour and bragging rights in the City of Milano, but for a place at the top of the Serie A table. Inter Milan are the current leaders of the table at 50 points, just 1 above city rivals AC Milan.

Just a few weeks ago when these two sides met in the Coppa Italia, there was a memorable heated war of words between Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Even after both players were booked for the alteration, they could not stop throwing words at each other.

The last time both sides met in the league earlier on in the season, it was Zlatan who came out on top having scored 2 goals on that occasion. Lukaku managed to pull one back but it was not enough to salvage anything for Inter from the game.

This fixture will also mainly be a battle between these two forwards. They are their team’s respective top scorers and on such games of big value, any team would want their best player to raise up to the occasion.

Coming into this fixture, Romero Lukaku will be looking forward to being the first player since AC Milan legend Romeo Benetti to score in four consecutive leagues Milan derbies. Benetti achieved it in the 1970s.

Milan will be looking at overturning their current run of poor form having lost to relegation battlers Spezia in their most previous league game. Milan will continue to draw inspiration from 39-year-old Zlatan to fire them past Inter and into the first position of the league table.

Milan will be looking at completing a league derby double over against city rivals for the first time since the 2010-11 season in which they won 1-0 and 3-0, and later iced it with winning that season’s Scudetto.

AC Milan will be without Ismael Bennacer and Brahim Diaz but will welcome back Simon Kjær and Davide Calabria.  Inter Milan have no injuries coming into this fixture.

Derby Della Madonnina:  AC Milan vs. Inter Milan

This is one of the best times of the year given the constant bombardment of Derbys across leagues like the Premier League and a few others including Champions League knockout matches. However, the battle between Inter and Milan are a spectacle to die for.

A win for Inter on Sunday would give them a four-point edge over their rivals and expand their lead on other contenders like Roma, Juventus and Napoli. As for AC Milan, which had managed to top the table for a period of time nearly the entire season, there’s a possibility that could change after recent weeks performances.

The Derby Della Madonnina will be played on Sunday at 3 pm GMT.

 

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