Milan-Inter, the Champions League derby will be magnificent and imperfect – Corriere.it

Two imperfect quarter-finals, two imperfect teams, two imperfect squads, two imperfect clubs, two imperfect championships: and here they are together in the semi-final, Inter and Milan, the symbol of a magnificent and imperfect city. On the contrary, magnificent because imperfect.
Classic splendour, without shadows, is of no interest to Milan. Around here we prefer chiaroscuro. Finding two teams playing in the same stadium among the top four in Europe — San Siro, woe to anyone who throws it down! — a rare event. But it is not unpredictable: Milan is the only European city to have won the Champions League with two different teams (ten total victories, seven by the Rossoneri).

Yet Inter and Milan have not reached the semi-final in a linear fashion this season. They suffered in the group stage. They struggled in the round of 16, against Porto and Tottenham, with two skimpy wins at home and two zero-zero away. also happened in the quarterfinals. Milan, with Napoli, risked more than Inter with Benfica, as could be expected. But think about it: both teams, after qualifying, were reached at the last moment (1-1 Milan, 3-3 Inter). As if to say: even joy must be imperfect, are we in Milan or not?

The two teams are unfamiliar, to say the least. This is demonstrated by the fluctuating (nervating?) trend in the league. It happened last year, when Inter – master of masochism, when they want – in Bologna handed over the Scudetto to Milan, who graciously accepted it. This year, even more. In a tough season — Winter World Cup in Qatar — the two teams showed their limits. Today they float, paired, in a limbo that doesn’t guarantee access to the next Champions League, of which today they represent the elite If not this imperfection.

The two societies are imperfect. If there was one Champions of Financial Complications — foreign properties, mobile capital, demanding loans, offers, taciturn executives — FC Internazionale and AC Milan would also shine there. Yet, with limited means — where are the dan? Marotta would say — they built top teams. Wrong, too. Milan has its mysterious objects (De Ketelaere, Bakayoko, Origi), Inter is no less: Lukaku not the one from before, Asllani and Bellanova — talented and young — almost never play. Both teams have anxious coaches. Doubtful Ulysses, not glittering Achilles like Guardiola or Ancelotti.

All this imperfection has produced what we know: twenty years later, another derby to fight for the final (ah, that shot by Kallon!, we Inter fans say; ah, that save by Abbiati!, the Milan fans responded). All of this — let us remember — happens during the Salone del Mobile, our spring celebration: there is a beautiful chaos all around, scented with optimism and the future, two things Italy desperately needs. A coincidence? Of course not.

Milan knows how to build masterpieces, even if sometimes it doesn’t realize it. The beauty of the city is a product of overlapping and contamination. We do not have the classic splendor of other Italian cities (Venice, Florence, Rome).. But we have the variety of streets, buildings and styles, which smell of effort, invention and magnificent recklessness. One becomes attached to the urban charm of Milan as to the irregular teeth of a relativewrote Mario Praz: people like it because it is familiar.

Milan is rarely sensational, but hypnotic. Observe the clothes of Prada or Armani, study the paintings of Marco Petrus or the tables of Sergio Gerasi, look at Fabrizio Bentivoglio (nerazzurro) or Diego Abatantuono (rossonero), laugh with Enrico Bertolino (interista) and Germano Imbruttito Lanzoni (milanista), listen to Ornella Vanoni or Carlo Fava, read Dino Buzzati or Giuseppe Marotta. No, not that of Inter (may the goddess Eupalla keep it for us!). The other, the one he wrote many years ago It’s not cold in Milan.

And do you know why it’s not cold here?
I was thinking about it the other night at San Sirowaiting for the qualification and the rain. It’s not cold because passion – the passion of doing – warms. Because the fans of the two teams don’t hate each other in black and white, but dream together in color (each with its own, of course). Because football is not a redemption, but a confirmation: we are strong, perfectly imperfect, and Milan will be in the final in Istanbul.
Who ticks it? I know, but she won’t tell you.