The story of the Rivalry

It’s like El Clasico in Spain between Madrid and Barcelona, Der Klassiker in Germany between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Inter and Juve are the most important fan bases in Italy.

It doesn’t matter the ranking of the two teams on the table. This match is different from all the others.

Inter against Juventus has been one of the biggest rivalries in the history of soccer that has been going on for more than 80 years. 

Juventus, the most winning team in Serie A, with 36 “scudetti,” has always dominated the Italian league. Inter, which just won their 20th league title last season, seems to be on a lower level if you compare the league titles. But this rivalry is not only about statistics, it is mainly about fans. Juventus has the largest fan base in Italy, with over 8 million supporters, but Inter has probably one of the most passionate fan bases in Europe, and we have seen this in last year’s scudetto celebration when over 350,000 people were in the streets of Milan celebrating with the team. 

This match has seen protagonists like Zidane, Platini, Ronaldo “Il Fenomeno,” Baggio and many other world class players.

The rivalry is also made of a lot of controversies.

In 2006 Juventus was relegated in Serie B after the Calciopoli Scandal. This is  still a very discussed topic that hasn’t been totally clarified. Juventus was basically accused of  paying referees for match-fixing. Also other teams like Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were involved.

The Old Lady (Juventus’ nickname) was stripped of the 2004-2005 league title and the 2005-2006 scudetto was assigned to the originally third placed Inter.

That’s why Juventus fans call the Inter 2005-2006 title the “Cardboard scudetto” and they claim to have 38 scudetti. 

Inter fans call Juventus thieves and think that Juventus has always been an unfair team.

Every match between those two teams is in fact, often full of polemics regarding referee decisions on both sides.But much of this is part of the teasing between the fans that contributes to creating a magical atmosphere around the “Derby d’Italia.”

Juventus and Inter situation in this season

Inter’s season wasn’t really following the expectations. Considered one of the best defenses in Europe last year, it now has serious defensive problems. Too many errors caused by a lack of attention caused Inter to concede nine goals in the first eight games.

Despite that they had been doing very well due to their offense, with 21 goals scored and often carried by the French striker Marcus Thuram.

Juventus had been quite the opposite. They have very solid defense with only one goal conceded in the league in the first eight, but have only 11 goals scored. 

At the time of the match, Inter was second with 17 points, Juve third with 16. They both wanted to keep themselves on Napoli’s back, which already played and was first with 22 points. A draw wasn’t good, they both wanted to take three points at home.

There were all the prerequisites for a match full of emotions. And the expectations weren’t disappointing.

Gameday

The clash took place at San Siro Stadium, “La Scala del calcio,” Inter’s home field, at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, the ninth Serie A match.

The match was pretty balanced at the start, but it’s evident that the teams are willing to risk and attack.

At minute 14 Thuram anticipates Danilo, the Juventus defender, who kicks his foot.

A penalty for Inter is awarded. Hakan Chalanoglu, the man who hasn’t missed any of his 17 Serie A penalties, is injured due to a muscular problem.In his place Piotr Zielinski, Inter’s new signing, goes to take the responsibility. 

At the referee’s whistle. Di Gregorio, Juve’s keeper, dives to his right, but the Inter Polish midfielder goes for the center: goal. 1-0 for the home team.

But like many other times this season, Inter’s defense lacks concentration. In the 

20th minute a cross from the three quarters into the Inter box came to Weston McKennie, the Juventus American midfielder, who was left completely alone by the home defense. He gives the ball to Dusan Vlahovic with a first pass, and the Serbian striker only has to tap the ball in the goal. The scoreboard now says 1-1.

Now Juventus is very determined and only six minutes pass before Coincecao, Juve’s new, young and promising Portuguese wing, with a great incursion into the Inter box from the right, passes the ball to a completely free Timothy Weah, the son of George Weah,  the famous Milan striker. He only has to easily place the ball on the net from 5 feet. 

The USA is the protagonist of these two Juve goals with an assist and a goal from Mckennie and Weah. Juventus managed to come back in five minutes, helped by a horrendous and careless Inter defense.But the home team, pushed by the over 75,000 people at the stadium, didn’t give up.

Mkhitarian, Inter Armenian midfielder, is 35 years old but immovable for coach Inzaghi, and  with a splendid give and go with Thuram at the limit of Juve box, manages to free himself and shoots with a surgical left foot to the left bottom corner. Di Gregorio, the Juve keeper, dives but can’t reach the ball. It’s 2-2 at the 35th minute.

Now Inter has regained confidence and after one minute the unexpected happens.

After a rebound the  ball goes toward Dumfries, Inter’s right back, in Juve’s box. The Dutch player is inexplicably kicked from the back from Kalulu, Juve’s defender, who was trying to reach the ball without noticing the Inter player in front of him. This is one of the first mistakes of the season from the Juve defender who has done a great job so far in replacing Bremer, one of Serie A’s best defenders who is out due an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injury.

Another penalty is awarded to Inter. Zielinsky shoots again from 11 meters. This time he shoots in the left bottom corner and Di Gregorio reads it and almost saves it. But the ball fills the net. 

Zielinski, who wasn’t even expected to play and hadn’t been playing much this season, has allowed Inter to come back with a brace!

The first half finishes 3-2. Five goals in the first half is crazy, considering also the quality that those defenses are supposed to have. But this is soccer: unpredictable.

In the second half Inter starts strong and gets so close to the goal a couple of times.

Then after some rebounds in Juventus’ box from a corner kick, the ball goes to Dumfries, who, after missing an easy goal in the previous minutes, redeems himself scoring to make it 4-2 with his right foot at the 57th minute.

The game must seem over for many. Inter continues attacking but doesn’t manage to score; Juve seems to be panicking.

But then at 61 minutes Kenan Yildiz, one of the brightest Serie A prospects, considered by many the new Alessandro Del Piero, got subbed in. He hadn’t been doing so well in his last games but he’s ready to prove haters wrong. This game is the right stage to show what you are capable of.

In the 71st minute, the Turkish number 10 receives the ball. Dumfries, who scored the last goal securing Inter a two goal gap, is taking him but doesn’t try to steal the ball and waits, moving backwards. Yildiz is able to arrive at the limit of the Inter box and finds a great crossed angle to the bottom right corner with his left foot. Sommer doesn’t dive, as he was surprised by the shot. It is now 4-3. The game isn’t over yet and both teams know it.

Juventus continues attacking.

In the 81st minute: a cross in the middle is not dealt with by Yann Bisseck, the Inter German defender who was subbed in, tries to sweep the ball outside the box with a header but the ball goes to Yildiz who, left free by Dumfries, controls the ball and shoots from the left. The ball goes under Sommer’s arms and goes in the net.

Yildiz has redeemed himself in the best way possible, scoring two goals in a crazy comeback against the historical rival!

Juventus has managed to draw a two goal difference and now wants to win. Inter fans now are really worried about a fifth goal from the away team.

Unexpectedly, the referee concedes only three minutes of stoppage time and the match finishes with the score of 4-4 with some goosebump last chances for both teams.

It is a bitter draw for Inter players who know they missed too many opportunities in the second half and have lacked attention in defense for all the game.

It is an unexpected draw for Juventus, who have to worry anyway about having conceded four goals in one game but can be happy about the determination and perseverance of their players.

Neutral fans surely enjoyed this match and will enter in history for being one of the most thrilling “Derby d’Italia.”

I hope that many soccer fans around the world watched this match and realized that there isn’t only the Premier League, where each club spends billions of dollars a year and has the best players in the world. But there’s also another league, maybe with less money, maybe with less developed structures, but with a lot of passion and a lot of history. That league is called Serie A and I hope that this match has made everyone realize that the Italian league is not only made by boring defensive-style teams, like many people think, but it can be very fun and entertaining to watch, also more than the Premier league.

The Serie A needs matches like this if it wants to draw the attention of the young fans all across the world and tries to become the best and most challenging league in Europe like it used to be for many years.

I want to ask you something: if you enjoyed reading this article, please go watch this game and other Serie A games highlights and tell your friends about the beauty of this league. Doing this more and more people will notice Italian soccer: too good and too full of passion to be ignored.