As we head into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday and Wednesday night, European football’s most decorated clubs Real Madrid & AC Milan host Man City & Inter in huge games.
We spoke exclusively to Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba who gave us his thoughts on a mouth-watering clash as 7-time European champions AC Milan face their bitter rivals Inter in a Milan derby for the ages at the San Siro in the UEFA Champions League!
VI: The Milan Derby, one of the greatest rivalries in world football. This tie is going to be electric and I think it can go either way. They’re currently separated by just 2 points in Serie A with Inter occupying the final Champions League place for next season ahead of AC Milan although Juve’s legal battles with the Italian authorities may see both clubs end up in the top 4 spots after the season’s conclusion.
AC Milan clearly have the greater European pedigree winning the competition 7 times vs their cross-city rivals winning just 2 European Cups/Champions League in their history although Inter were the last Italian side to reach the promised land when Jose Mourinho led them to victory over Bayern Munich in 2010.
The weight of history though is a disadvantage for Inter who have never defeated AC Milan in European competition. In 4 games in the knockout stages of the UCL, they have scored just once against their bitter rivals and the last meeting in 2005 saw the Rossoneri run out 5-0 aggregate winners at the quarter-final stage.
This season, in 3 meetings in both the league and Supercoppa Italiana final, Inter have won 2 games 1-0 & 3-0 respectively whilst AC Milan won the first meeting this season 3-2 in a thriller all the way back in September. I think if we saw the same amount of goals in this tie as we’ve seen across the Milan derbies this year, we’ll be in for a treat!
I believe it was an advantage to Milan that they played against Napoli in the previous round and the manner in which they dispatched of the newly crowned Italian champions. I think the key to winning a tournament or even to reaching the finals of the Champions League, you just need to find a way to get over the line, as Real Madrid proved last season, because form doesn’t always matter in these latter stages.
Both sides have not had the consistency in Serie A that is needed to win a league title over 38 games, but they have both shown remarkable tenacity in Champions League throughout the season. Milan haven’t been spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but they dug out victories against Tottenham and Napoli in the knockout stages and are 2 games away from yet another European final whilst Inter had to overcome Barcelona in the group stages before knocking out 2 Portuguese clubs in the knockout stages in Porto and a much-fancied Benfica side in the last round. These ties are about getting through and history will not record how workmanlike some performances were in the course of the journey, only the results from that journey.
So on paper, I think it should be 50-50 but I believe that Milan looks the more likely to get to the final. In Rafael Leão they have what I can only describe as a beauty of a player and with the talent that he possesses he can change games in an instant as he showed with an incredible assist in the second leg in Naples last month. For me, he can be the real difference maker to take Milan to the final.
So I tend to favour Milan but don’t count Inter when they have the likes of Dzeko, Martinez and Lukaku just yet! This is going to be an incredible couple of games at the San Siro regardless!
