The Milan Nightmare That Will Be Spoken Of For Generations

AC Milan fans are in pain.

It’s the kind of visceral pain that churns the stomach when pride and legacy have been squashed, when the unthinkable happens to a club steeped in tradition and dripping in accolades.

Milan lost its sixth consecutive derby to bitter rivals Inter Milan but this one hurts more than any other in living memory and will be remembered for eternity.

Briefly, this defeat not only confirmed Inter as Serie A champions but as 20-time winners of the Italian top-flight, carrying them past Milan’s tally of 19. But there are more layers to the nightmare.

Nothing infuriates fans more than when former players come back to haunt them. Discarded by Milan over a decade ago, Francesco Acerbi burned his image into Mike Maignan’s mind, shamefully unmarked with the goal at his disposal to score a header of true power and authority.

Making matters worse, the goal helped the unassailable Nerazzurri clinch the Scudetto with five games to spare - a joint league record.

The misery was compounded when Theo Hernandez and captain Davide Calabria were shown red cards, sent into the stands to watch the jubilant Hakan Çalhanoğlu (another former Milan player) hoist a banner symbolising Inter’s milestone.

“I have always worked in silence and also suffered in silence,” Çalhanoğlu told Il Giornale. “Once I arrived at Inter I had only one objective: to give my best and win with this extraordinary team. The victory was a great revenge for me.”

It’s said that the best revenge is success, which rings true for Çalhanoğlu who endured waves of criticism after leaving Milan for Inter in 2021 -an act that was deemed treacherous by Milanisti, especially as he left for free.

The Turkish midfielder watched as Milan surged from third place in the standings to snatch the 2021-22 championship away from his grasp, many considering it to be poetic justice. For days, one million Milan fans celebrated his and Inter’s demise.

Inter’s Revenge

The horror show played out at a Milan home match where over 65,000 of their most devout fans had front-row seats to what was said to be their own funeral.

In Italy, a star is sewn onto a team's jersey to represent 10 league titles. While 19-time champions Milan are stuck with one star, this defeat gifted Inter their second.

Çalhanoğlu’s midfield opponent, Yacine Adli, was one of the many inconsolable Milan players on the night. “It was more than a derby because we knew Inter could win the title,” Adli told Sport Mediaset after the loss.

Adli has impressed in 2024, but with Milan trailing by two goals, the Frenchman was subbed off for Samuel Chukwueze which triggered him to explode in the dugout, kicking into a water cooler in disgust.

“Words are not enough to explain what I feel inside me,” Adli added. “It’s more than frustration. We’ve disappointed our fans, it’s something that will remain inside me for a long time.”

One can only imagine how Tiziano Crudeli feels.

The after-party, which began in Milano’s Piazza Duomo on Monday night, is expected to last well beyond Sunday’s open-top bus parade. To Milan fans, Inter’s convoy of triumph may feel like a smash-up derby as black and blue buses ram-raid through the memories of 2022’s WeTheChamp19ns circuit.

But what hurts the most? Essentially, Il Biscione has attained its second star before Il Diavolo. For Inter, it took 58 years to get from the first star to the second, one which includes the Scudetto di Cartone (the cardboard Scudetto), awarded for the 2005-06 season as a result of the Calciopoli scandal when Milan and Juventus were penalised with points deductions.

With that in mind, Inter has won only 19 legitimate titles, according to Milan fans. But the President of the Italian Senate, Ignazio La Russa, an Inter fan, took the holier-than-thou approach, alleging the cardboard Scudetto should be exalted above all others because “it established that Inter was the only top team of the era to refrain from cheating.”

La Russa also believes that Inter would have won at least 25 titles by now if soccer was “more honest.” Former Inter president Massimo Moratti claims “without Juve’s interferences of the past, we would have 25.” Legendary striker Sandro Mazzola says “maybe even 28.”

Inter clinching any Scudetto let alone one that affirms their second star in such a monumental game will never be lived down. Milan heroically denied them once before, courtesy of Kaká and Filippo Inzaghi in 2008. Yet, for television pundits and Interisti, 2024 will be the year talked about for generations.

Lautaro Martinez and his side deserve the plaudits for scoring the highest amount of goals (79) in addition to conceding the fewest (18), losing just once along the way. Inter is currently unbeaten in 27 Serie A matches, and the sixth successive derby win in all competitions sees them equal Milan’s domination between 1946-48.

Simone Inzaghi won his sixth Inter trophy, including a maiden Serie A title. He became the third Inter manager with the most trophies won since the league began (1929) after Helenio Herrera and Roberto Mancini (both 7). He may surpass his predecessors this time next year.

Conversely, the much-maligned Stefano Pioli lost his 10th derby and became the first Milan coach to lose six derbies in a row. For a second year, the season ends without silverware. The collective Milanisti misery will be difficult for owner Gerry Cardinale to digest, who has plans to split away from the San Siro.

In the short term, Pioli must find a way to mitigate the suffering and convert demoralisation into fuel. Next is the trip to Juventus, the former club of Lillian Thuram, father of Marcus, scorer of the difference-maker in the derby.

Losing to the Bianconeri could spiral Milan further into depression. Victory will avenge the defeat of the reverse fixture and all but secure second place in the standings.

Inter’s match against Torino has been postponed from Saturday to Sunday to allow the post-game party to begin at San Siro and end at the Duomo where an evening concert awaits: a Festa Scudetto that amplifies Inter’s pleasure and magnifies Milan’s pain.

Milan will have their shot at a second star in 2024-25.