TIME MACHINE: AC MILAN v INTER

It was a very tense Derby with high stakes: AC Milan had 62 points and Inter 60, meaning that a victory is worth at least half the Scudetto. The atmosphere was hyped up too: the Rossoneri were playing at home and the fans have been waiting a long time to welcome back the former player Leonardo, the Nerazzurri coach for a few months now. It is impossible to forget the Derby of 2 April 2011, MD 31 of Serie A - it was practically a film. The season had come to a standstill, quite literally because there was an international break in between. A long, complicated journey, full of excitment and hope.

Allegri's team was ready to play, but not exactly serene. The moment was very delicate, the home draw against Bari (1-1) and the subsequent defeat in Palermo (0-1) weakened our advantage at the top and also left Ibrahimović off the squad due to disqualification. Their all-time rivals were right on their heels, dreaming of overtaking them. The team spirit could make the difference, as well as motivation. This was our formation on the pitch: the Pato-Robinho duo in attack, behind Boateng, van Bommel-Seedorf-Gattuso in the midfield, Pirlo not even on the bench, Abate-Nesta-Thiago Silva-Zambrotta in defence, Abbiati in goal. Hours and days were spent imagining how it could go, how our tactics could go wrong, but instead the Diavolo needed only 47 seconds to find the opener: a Pato-Gattuso link-up, Robinho drew Júlio César out, Pato picked up the rebound and scored with a powerful right footer. San Siro went crazy with cheers and celebrations.

Then Seedorf's shot was blocked by Maicon's wide arm in the box, Pazzini's attempt was saved by Abbiati, and van Bommel hit the crossbar from the distance. Inter attacked with danger in the next phase: Thiago Motta swept in from a corner and Abbiati's miracle save was just millimetres away from the goal line, Cambiaso caused a mistake by Eto'o, who failed to hit the target from close range. A big scare. All momentum was reversed when Chivu received a red card. The cards on the table changed; the Diavolo retook the initiative and found the second goal thanks to Pato's double, skillful in deflecting Abate's creative assist with his head. In the added time, it was bittersweet as Cassano scored a penalty, but then sent off not long after. The final whistle. AC Milan enjoyed the win, gaining a decisive advantage which propelled us to the Scudetto.

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