When AC Milan face Juventus this weekend, they will go into the game as underdogs. It is an unusual position for the Rossoneri to be in, yet carries some historical precedent.
Matches between these two sides are peculiar; they have often been battles for national, or even continental, supremacy but seldom carry the needle or animosity of other teams’ matches.
Back in 1961, Juventus were reigning Serie A champions. During the week before their trip to the San Siro, they had narrowly won a tough European match. 55 years ago, it was a 2-1 win at Partizan in then-Yugoslavia rather than this year’s 1-0 win in Lyon.
Their Rossoneri opponents had the week off, their Inter City Fairs Cup campaign having come to an end after a meek humbling by another Yugoslavian side, Novi Sad some time ago.
Neither side had started the Serie A season particularly well. While Inter headed the table, AC Milan languished five points behind their city rivals, with their Turinese foes a further three points back. With Milan and Juventus having alternated the previous five Scudetti, the rise of Inter provided a welcome challenge, and any threat to their supremacy would have to start reading its head soon.
The weekend before Juventus travelled to Milan, Italy faced Israel in the second leg of their World Cup playoff. The Azzurri won 6-0, with five representatives plucked from the two sides set to meet the following weekend.
That match, Omar Sivori grabbed four goals, the Bianconeri hitman clearly in a rich vein of form.
Sivori was a definite starter, however, so all the talk in the build-up to the game was about the Brits in each squad, and the changes the two coaches might be forced into. John Charles was a doubt for Juventus – he eventually played. Jimmy Greaves looked to be on his way out of Milan; he soon was, and he didn’t feature.
Nereo Rocco instead opted to field Paolo Barison up front, while first choice goalkeeper Giorgio Ghezzi watched from the stands.
His replacement Mario Liberalato stepped in for a second appearance of the season. It was his opposite number, Roberto Anzolin, who was pressed into action first.
There was a covering of snow on the field before the game, cleared in advance of kick-off. Yet still, despite their Alpine roots, the visitors froze.
Jose Altafini, grasping the nettle of lead striker with both hands, found himself in space just outside the penalty area with less than three minutes gone. He rifled home a low shot into the bottom right corner to give Milan the lead.
Just a few minutes later, he made it 2-0 from a similar spot, but into the top corner this time.
The Rossoneri remained on top during the first period but were unable to add to their lead and found themselves pegged back by Humberto Rosa’s first goal in a black and white shirt.
At 2-1, it was set up for a barnstorming second half, with Carlo Parola’s Juventus knowing that a fifth defeat of the season would leave the top of the table a long, long away.
They were unable to do anything to stop the tide, however, as Gianni Rivera scored his first goal of the season to extend the lead to 3-1.
Then Altafini took over, to demonstrate that he had been learning from Sivori, and took his personal total to four as Milan dealt out those most severe thrashing to the Bianconeri since before the war with the score finally settling at 5-1.
Five defeats down, Juventus’ season was irrevocably punctured. The champions had more bad days to come, including another humbling by Milan, as they stumbled to 12th place.
By contrast, Milan lost just one more game all season. They had drawn level on points with Inter by the February 1962 Derby della Madonnina, and despite the setback of that defeat, went on to overhaul their city rivals to regain the Serie A title.
Saturday’s match is unlikely, given the current situation of the two sides, to be as pivotal as that meeting. Yet if Milan were to repeat that feat, perhaps with Carlos Bacca in the Altafini role, it would certainly give pause for thought.
