Drab Milan Derby Illustrates How Far Participants Have Fallen

Once was a time when the biannual contests between AC Milan and Inter meant something.  As little as three years ago the Derby della Madonnina decided the title when a see-saw battle on the penultimate day of the season saw Inter end Milan's title defense and hand the Scudetto to Juventus.

In the years since, the derby has meant less and less to the grand scheme of the league's results.  Still, the players—most of whom still knew the depth of the rivalry between the two clubs—played it like it was a Champions League final.  The teams may not have been at the top of the table, but the fire was still there.  No game between these two teams had finished goalless in 10 years.

Sunday's edition of the Madonnina, however, was a depressing spectacle.  Like the 1-1 draw that the teams played out in November, the game was devoid of any fire, any spark.  Even the old animosity between the red and blue sides of Milan isn't enough anymore to invigorate this contest between fallen giants.  All it did was exhibit just how far the clubs have fallen.

Milan, in particular, looked completely devoid of passion.  

For the first 20 minutes or so, the Rossoneri were completely devoid of any kind of pace.  With Inter dominating possession, they made no effort to close down the man on the ball.  When they did gain possession in position to drive at Samir Handanovic's goal, they took their time, trying to string together passes or running with no urgency whatsoever.  

It was a performance worthy of the famous "lollygaggers" scene from the classic baseball film, Bull Durham.

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Milan grew into the game towards the end of the first half.  Particularly impressive was young Spaniard Suso, who curled two angled drives at Handanovic.  The first went right into the Slovenian international's gut, but the second saw him sprawling at full stretch to parry.

Suso was the focus of Milan's best-looking move of the first half.  Standing over a free-kick on the wing, the youth international whipped in a fantastic ball that ping-ponged around the six-yard box before getting buried into the net by Alex.  Unfortunately for Milan, he had been in an offside position on the initial ball, and referee Luca Banti correctly disallowed what looked to be the opening strike.

That move gave Milan confidence, and they spent the majority of the remainder of the first half camped in Inter's half.  But the team still lacked a crucial sense of urgency, and all that possession largely went to nothing, as a combination of good defending by Inter and wasteful final balls saw the Rossoneri squander what would be their only real period of dominance in the game.

Milan came out of the break the better, but that only lasted about 10 minutes.  Inter slowly worked their way back into the game, and by the hour mark they were once again solidly in control.  Rodrigo Palacio ran wild down the left side, pulling Milan's centre-backs out of position and creating openings for Hernanes and Mauro Icardi.

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It was a combination of the skill of Diego Lopez and sheer dumb luck that Milan stayed level.  With 72 minutes on the clock, Philippe Mexes nearly suffered the ultimate embarrassment of scoring an own goal in a derby, only to be reprieved when Palacio was whistled for a foul in the build-up.

Seven minutes later Palacio redirected a ball from Joel Obi from inside the six-yard box.  Had the ball been fractions of an inch to either side, Inter would have led, but he slammed it straight at the keeper.  Lopez knew nothing about it—the ball nearly hit him in the face.  But it was enough to keep the ball out and the game scoreless.

Danilo D'Ambrosio came closest next, flying a ball just over the bar from 25 yards out.  It was only then that Milan showed a sign of life for the first time since the break, with Giacomo Bonaventura slipping substitute Mattia Destro through, but his first-time effort lacked any power and was easily smothered by Handanovic.

By game's end, Inter was simply looping crosses into the box for Diego Lopez to claim, and Milan was losing possession of the ball with regularity to keep them supplied with ammunition to do so.  Stoppage time saw some moments that could have been—Nigel de Jong nearly connecting a bicycle kick, Icardi whipping the ball wide after getting put into the box by Xherdan Shaqiri.

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Soon after Banti put his whistle to his mouth for the final time, bringing an end to a game that was unworthy of the Derby della Madonnina's history.

It's difficult to wrap one's head around just how far these teams have fallen.  You can tell a champion—or even a scrappy underdog—by the look in their eyes.  But over the last few months, teams like Torino have looked far more the contender than either of the Milan teams have.

Milan, in particular, have simply sunk—they look like a team that has given up.  There isn't any fight or fire in their eyes.  

Inter was the only team in the last phases of the match who looked like they wanted to win—the Rossoneri looked like they were content to draw.  Their struggles have crushed their spirits—which says a lot about the overall quality of their roster.  Few of the players available to Filippo Inzaghi have truly earned their shirts.

It's clear by this game that a large-scale reboot is necessary for them if they are to return to the top of the league.