A month on from their five-goal thriller in Saudi Arabia, Serie A giants AC Milan and Inter Milan will meet for a more conventional Derby della Madonnina on Sunday.
While Inter need points to aid their defence of the Scudetto, Milan aim to beat their foes for a third time this season, as the second-city rivals clash at San Siro.
Since a 2-1 league victory in September – when Matteo Gabbia’s late winner ended a long losing streak against Inter – Milan have fallen far behind in the Serie A standings.
Their current deficit stands at 16 points, but an inconsistent Rossoneri side were still able to spoil Inter’s dreams of a quadruple by fighting back from two goals down to win the recent Supercoppa Italiana final.
Tammy Abraham’s last-gasp strike in Riyadh also meant that Milan had won the last two derbies across all competitions – as many victories as throughout the previous 13.
Results have been mixed since that success, which came within a week of Sergio Conceicao’s appointment, and the Portuguese coach recently suffered his first setback, losing 2-0 to Juventus in Turin.
His side bounced back by beating Girona in the Champions League, then twice came from behind to defeat Parma 3-2 last weekend, with Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze both scoring in stoppage time.
However, after going down to 10 men in their final league-phase fixture – Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, that saw them slip out of the top eight – Milan must beat Feyenoord in a playoff if they are to progress further in UEFA’s top competition.
First, Conceicao – who made 41 Serie A appearances for Inter during his playing days – will attempt to become just the second Rossoneri boss in 35 years to win his first two derbies, while boosting hopes of a return to Europe next season.
While Milan must sweat to make the Champions League’s last 16, Inter swept past Monaco in midweek, when their 3-0 home win booked safe passage via a second-placed finish in the league phase.
Back in form after an early-season lull, last term’s Capocannoniere, captain Lautaro Martinez, hit a hat-trick on Wednesday evening, after finding the net in last week’s 4-0 league victory over Lecce.
That result kept the reigning champions within three points of relentless league leaders Napoli, and it appears to be a two-horse race for the Italian title, with Atalanta BC now trailing behind.
Inter have scored 55 goals in Serie A this season – their most at this stage of any campaign since 1961 – and their defensive record is almost as impressive.
Not only have the Nerazzurri navigated eight European fixtures for the loss of just one goal, but they have also kept a clean sheet in their last seven league games away from home.
With an aggregate score of 23-0 in their favour during that streak, Simone Inzaghi’s men can now match Milan’s national record of eight – set back in March 1994 – when they walk out as ‘visitors’ on Sunday.
While Kyle Walker recently arrived to solve Milan’s right-back woes, it remains to be seen whether the England defender will be thrust straight into an intense city derby.
Sergio Conceicao may be tempted, though, as Emerson Royal is injured and club captain Davide Calabria was involved in a very public bust-up with his coach last weekend; Fikayo Tomori filled in on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, midfield fulcrum Youssouf Fofana must serve a suspension and Alvaro Morata may be heading for the exit; Malick Thiaw, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and long-term absentee Alessandro Florenzi are all unavailable.
Inter’s fitness issues concern ex-Milan man Hakan Calhanoglu (calf) and veteran defender Francesco Acerbi (hamstring) but only Joaquin Correa is definitely sidelined.
Having named something like his strongest side in midweek, Simone Inzaghi is not expected to make many changes, with reinvigorated striker Lautaro Martinez joining Marcus Thuram up front.
‘El Toro’ has nine league goals to his name this term, and one more would see him hit double figures in six Serie A seasons – he would also become the third Inter player to net 10 against Milan across all competitions.
Meanwhile, on the Nerazzurri’s right flank, attacking wing-back Denzel Dumfries has scored in each of his last three top-flight appearances.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Walker, Tomori, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Bennacer, Musah; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Abraham
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Thuram
