Sunday’s Derby della Madonnina clash between AC Milan and Inter harked back at a glorious moment of both Milanese clubs’ glorious past… but unfortunately having very little to do with the overall spectacle on show at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Jeremy Menez’s opening goal for AC Milan was a volley of supreme technical skill. The Frenchman met Stephan El Shaarawy’s cross with deftly adjusted side-footed volley, evading Samir Handanovic’s outstretched arms before nestling into the top-corner. The goal was uncannily similar to Evaristo Beccalossi’s volley, some 35 years prior, which helped Inter to a 2–0 win over AC Milan in the 1979-80 season.
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Beccalossi had also scored the first goal of the derby… just like Menez. Beccalossi went on to grab a brace for himself… it was the Frenchman’s only goal on the night however. The derby ended in an Inter win… it didn’t in this case, ending in a 1–1 draw instead. Inter went on to win their 12th Scudetto that year… it would be safe to say that the Nerazzurri won’t be replicating that feat today. So in effect the similarities well and truly end at the goal. In fact the most stark of difference was in the product on display.
Giuseppe (left) and Franco (right) Baresi
Thirty-five years ago Inter and AC Milan entered the fray with names such as Franco and Giuseppe Baresi — the two brothers facing each other in only their second Derby della Madonnina — Alessandro Altobelli, Giuseppe Bergomi, Enrico Albertosi and Alberto Bigon. Fast-forward three decades and the San Siro featured the likes of Sulley Muntari, Philippe Mexes, Fredy Guarin, Mauro Icardi and Andrea Ranocchia, lest we forget the hapless Fernando Torres.
Menez’s goal offered something of a deja vu moment but only reflected back a distorted mirror image — picture the funhouse of mirrors type — of a match that no longer lived up to its former gloss and glamour.
Both teams played with plenty intensity and worked hard, but overall direly lacked in technical quality. Attacking movements were poorly executed, forwards lacked imaginations, and even AC Milan — once Serie A’s flag-bearers for attacking and proactive football — surrendered to simply sitting back and counter-attacking.
The fact is that Menez’s goal was the only true moment of quality throughout the game. Between El Shaarawy and Mauro Icardi both failing to convert their chances when going one-on-one against the goalkeeper, Muntari turning over possession all over the pitch, and Dodo failing to complete a single cross, the 2014-15 Derby della Madonnina made for painful watching.
Of course the strange thing was that both teams being as poor as the other made for a surprisingly well balanced game. Consequently, despite the technical quality being absent, the intensity and suspense of an evenly poised game were still present to at least keep observers tuned in.
The greatest indictment of the game however, of how far both these Milanese giants have fallen and the quality of the actors on the field, was on the sidelines: with both Filippo Inzaghi and Roberto Mancini, in their respective players’ careers, counting more winners medals than all the 27 players who featured on Sunday.
You can follow Ogo Sylla on Twitter at: @RossonerOgo_3
