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
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