Archive for August, 2009

AC Milan 0-4 Inter Milan: Yes Way José, the “Real” Serie A Can Begin

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Inter Milan's Serbian midfielder Dejan Stankovic, second from left, reacts after scoring their fourth goal with from left to right, Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder, Argentine defender Walter Samuel, Brazilian defender Maicon, Romanian defender Cristian Chivu and Brazilian defender Lucio, during their Serie A soccer match against AC Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009. Inter won 4-0. (AP Photo)

In many ways a new year of Serie A doesn’t truly begin until it features one of thee Big Matches. It is often said that over the course of the season it’s the the “little games”, those against teams battling for relegation, that pave the road for a championship title. Often true, but the “little games” certainly are not those everyone is waiting to see. And thanks to Lega Calcio’s new fixture drawing system, this year we have the opportunity to see two ‘Big Games’ as early as Matchday 2, starting with Saturday’s Derby della Madonnina.

And what a derby it was. With 4 goals against their most bitter rival this match featured a true display of power by Inter Milan, highlighted by the shining performances of Thiago Motta, Eto’o, Diego Milito and with and a clear clear message to their harshest critics: Zlatan who?

As for Milan, to quote Gazzetta Inter were “giants without an adversary”. AC Milan cannot hide behind their good performance of today’s first 15 minutes. A team which completely disintegrates both tactically and psychologically (see Gattuso’s red card) at the first sign of trouble cannot, for lack of a better phrase, call themselves a “team”. At least for the moment. Until Leonardo figures out a solution out of this mess.

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