Serie A is back with a bang this weekend, following the international break, as Inter will host Milan at San Siro. The Rossoneri are eager to bounce back and prove themselves after the 2-2 draw against Parma, while the Nerazzurri can extend their H2H lead in the standings to five points.
During his press conference, Massimiliano Allegri admitted that it will be a tough game and that Inter are the favourites to win. However, as he was keen to point out, this doesn’t mean that Milan don’t have a chance in the game; quite the opposite.
As confirmed during the aforementioned press conference, Milan will only have two absences for the game: Zachary Athekame and Santiago Gimenez. The right-back sustained a calf injury while on international duty, and the striker is still recovering from his ankle injury.
All things considered, however, Allegri can be very happy with the injury situation. Christian Pulisic and Ardon Jashari both got 90 minutes in the friendly against Virtus Entella during the break, while Adrien Rabiot returned to group training earlier this week.
The Frenchman’s return is crucial for the Rossoneri and as Allegri also confirmed during the presser, he will play from the first minute. The hope is that he will help restore much-needed balance for the team, following a few weeks with too many goals conceded.
Taking a look at the full predicted XI, there will be one at the back as Fikayo Tomori will be back in action, replacing Koni De Winter to the right. The Belgian received mixed reviews after the Parma draw, but the Englishman has been solid so far.
Further up the pitch, the aforementioned Rabiot will be playing from the first minute and sadly for Samuele Ricci, that means he will be on the bench. Allegri still feels that Youssouf Fofana is doing more good than harm, opting for him instead of the Italian.
On the left-hand side, there has been a battle between Davide Bartesaghi and Pervis Estupinan over the last few days. By all accounts, however, the academy product has won the battle and will thus make his first derby appearance from start; a dream come true, without a doubt.
Finally, Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic will team up in attack for the first time in Serie A this season. It would have happened much earlier if it hadn’t been for injuries, but now both of them are in good condition. Hopefully, they will link up well and do some damage to Inter’s backline.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Leao.
Following what was a disappointing 2024-25 season, failing to win a single trophy, Inter parted ways with Simone Inzaghi. It was the end of an era in many ways for the Nerazzurri who, instead of going for an experienced name, appointed Cristian Chivu as their new head coach.
The Romanian had just guided Parma to safety in Serie A, hired by the Gialloblu in February to salvage the situation, and Inter were impressed with what they saw. On top of that, Chivu was the manager of Inter’s Primavera side between 2021 and 2024.
In short, while Inter definitely went against the norm in the summer (Milan took Allegri, Roma took Gian Piero Gasperini, and Napoli retained Antonio Conte), it wasn’t completely out of the blue. The situation was also ‘made better’ by the fact that they kept a lot of their stars over the summer.
Nicola Zalewski, Benjamin Pavard, Mehdi Taremi and Joaquin Correa were the most notable departures, which says a lot. Furthermore, the likes of Ange-Yoan Bonny, Luis Henrique, Andy Diouf, Petar Sucic and Manuel Akanji were brought in to strengthen the team.
In Derby della Madonnina’s history, there have been a total of 228 matches with 74 wins for Milan, 85 for Inter and 69 draws. The Nerazzurri have dominated the fixture in recent times, even if the Rossoneri won three and drew two of the five games in the 2024-25 season.
Last season’s success ended a six-game losing run (!) for Milan in the derby, meaning it was long overdue. It was also a wake-up call of sorts for Inter, who had become very used to celebrating three points on derby days.
As mentioned, there were five encounters last season, with the most recent one being the Coppa Italia semi-final. It ended 3-0 in favour of Milan, following a brace from Luka Jovic, and it saw them through to the final with a 4-1 win on aggregate (1-1 in the first semi-final leg).
The most recent league encounter with Inter as the designated home side, however, was in September last year. It was a much-needed win for Milan and Paulo Fonseca at the time, which they had Matteo Gabbia’s 2-1 winner to thank for. Christian Pulisic also scored a nice goal.
