The season has barely kicked off and it’s already time for the first Derby della Madonnina as AC Milan play host to local rivals Inter Milan at the mighty San Siro.

Despite a disastrous preseason campaign, the Rossoneri picked up three points in the season opener in their tricky away game to Siena in impressive fashion while the Nerazzurri did just the opposite as they struggled against newcomers Bari and walked away from the fixture with a disappointing 1-1 draw.

Needless to say, the derby will be played without a number of key players as Paolo Maldini at the end of last season wrapped up an incredible career while Ricardo Kaká and Zlatan Ibrahimovic switched to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively in two of the summer’s most high profile transfers.

The derby could very well set the tone for the coming weeks and with Inter already having lost important points in the opening round the pressure mainly lies on the Italian champions to deliver a positive result.  A negative outcome, however, could see the gap grow to a possible five points only two games into the new campaign.

AC Milan

Coming into the season the team had undergone some major changes. Captain Paolo Maldini had bowed out of the game after 25 impressive seasons in the Italian top flight while Ricardo Kaká – who many considered the future Milan captain and icon to be – was sold to Spanish giants Real Madrid after six years in the fashion capital due to economic reasons. Last but not least, Carlo Ancelotti decided the time had for a change of scene after eight years at the club.

Rookie trainer Leonardo was appointed the head coach only hours after “Carletto” announced his departure and quickly declared that he wanted to see the team play a more offensive, fast-paced and entertaining kind of football.

Although Milan hasn’t been very active during the transfer window they have managed to secure the services of Dutch forward Jan-Klaas Huntelaar. Milan signed centre back Thiago Silva during the wintermercato but the Brazilian made his first official appearance in the Milan jersey only last Saturday. On top of that both midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and defender Alessandro Nesta has returned after lengthy injury spells.

Last week’s opening game away against Siena saw Alexandre Pato score a brace as Ronaldinho – in his new trequartista role – created both of his fellow countryman’s goal. Aside from that both newcomers Thiago Silva and Alessandro Nesta impressed greatly during the team’s first outing while new signing Huntelaar sat out a suspension. The Dutchman is most likely to make his debut in Saturday’s big showdown.

Leonardo was happy after his first victory and it was easy to see that – despite the lack of activity in the transfer market – the team is sporting a different kind of attitude and approach to the game altogether. In other words, major changes are taking place in a team that will probably come to surprise us despite having lost so many of its key components in such a short time.

Probable starting XI according to the Gazzetta: Storari; Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Jankulovski; Gattuso, Pirlo, Flamini; Ronaldinho; Pato, Huntelaar

Inter Milan

Out of the top teams in Italy  has undoubtedly been the one most active during the transfer window. The season had barely rounded up before Genoaduo Diego Milito and Thiago Motta had both put pen to paper for the Italian champions.

Some weeks later the Brazilian defender Lucio arrived from Bayern Munich along with strikers Mirko Arnautovic on loan from Twente and former Barcelona hitman Samuel Eto’o as their main star Zlatan Ibrahimovic went the other way in one of the summer’s hottest transfer deals.

Although all the above are very impressive signings indeed the club have yet to address the main problem. Inter are in dire need of a creative force – especially after the departure of the Swede – as Dejan Stankovic simply don’t seem to be able to fill that role a creative midfielder no matter how much heart he displays on the pitch.

Inter looked void of ideas and lacked both pace and creativity against Bari which lead José Mourinho to change formations no less than three times. This clearly indicates that something is missing in the team that still seems to be somewhat unbalanced.

Sulley Muntari was substituted only thirty minutes into last week’s game – most likely due to his fasting and how Ricardo Quaresma once again worked his way into the team is still a mystery. The will is certainly there but not much went right way for the Portuguese winger against Bari. The only goal came from eleven yards through Eto’o after Milito had fallen to the ground all too easily.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic obviously left a big void behind.

Reports are claiming the Inter has signed Real Madrid’s playmaker Wesley Sneijder but the deal has yet to be made official. Should the Dutchman complete his move in the coming hours he could make his debut as early as Saturday night’s kick-off in the derby – playing the role of trequartista in the high-profile clash right behind Milito and Eto’o up front.

Probable starting XI according to the Gazzetta: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu; Zanetti, Stankovic, Thiago Motta; Balotelli, Milito, Eto’o