“I already feel the excitement in the air for the derby, it’s an amazing event,” said Inter Coach Luciano Spalletti to Sky Sport. “People already feel it, they stop you at the traffic lights. Is it different than in Rome? Yes, although I'll say more about it after, but we feel close to our fans.”
The Derby della Madonnina certainly is one of the most hotly anticipated fixtures in the Serie A calendar, a match eagerly viewed by fans across the globe. There has been some amazing choreography and classic matches between the two sides over the years and – just like with any cross-city rivalry – the form book can be thrown out of the window.
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Spalletti is facing a very different challenge to that of his counterpart Vincenzo Montella, with the latter arguably under more pressure. The Rossoneri have lost their last two league outings in a row, with rumblings that the former Fiorentina boss could be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti.
Inter, meanwhile, have kept pace with reigning champions Juventus, but four out of their six league victories have come against strugglers SPAL, Crotone, Genoa and Benevento and the Nerazzurri are yet to show wholesale convincing performances. Whilst their Tuscan boss has never taken charge of a Milan derby yet, he has presided over 874 matches since his debut as a Coach in 1995 at Empoli.
Back then Montella was just embarking on a playing career that would eventually see him become a hero at Roma, and he actually played with and was coached by Spalletti at the Tuscan club at the very start of his career. Since taking to the dugout himself, the Milan boss has notched up 291 matches, and still has a way to go in order to match his former Empoli team-mate in terms of experience.
“I’ll be facing a friend and great opponent in Montella,” Spalletti continued in the same interview. “He played under me when I kept Empoli up. He had a heart problem, but I played him in a crucial game: we won and stayed up. From there, it can be said that my career began as a Coach.”
There is too much at stake for the pair to be friendly towards each other once the match kicks off and Montella in particular is under pressure to perform. The Rossoneri hierarchy have aims to reach the Champions League places this year, meaning a fourth-place finish is a must. The Coach did well with few resources before the takeover from Chinese investors was finally completed, but this season has been entirely the opposite.
The man nicknamed L’aeroplanino from his playing days has been criticised for his team selections and for tinkering with tactics as he looks to find a winning formula for a side that was only assembled this summer. He was openly criticised by CEO Marco Fassone after the defeat to Sampdoria, but many think the tactician needs more time.
“I hope Montella will stay,” Former Milan legend Andrea Pirlo told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Milan have a new team. It’s hard to put together 20 players.
“It needs time and faith even if the results don’t come immediately. “There is a project there and it needs to be taken forward. The many changes they have made in the dugout previously, for me, don’t seem to have given them results.”
He is correct, of course, and since the Rossoneri last won the Scudetto under Max Allegri they have gone through a myriad of bosses who have all turned out to be unsuccessful. Clarence Seedorf, Pippo Inzaghi, Sinisa Mihajlovic all tried and failed to bring this giant club back to prominence, with Montella the latest to be placed under the spotlight to succeed.
The derby only serves to increase that pressure, and with both bosses looking to establish themselves in their new sides, the rabid obsession with the fixture in the city has been turned up a notch. Will the master or the apprentice come out on top? Only time will tell.
