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Coming up: Inter v Milan

The Milan Derby

After only three rounds of Serie A fixtures, there may be 13 places and 4 points separating city rivals Inter Milan and AC Milan but at least things are starting to look a little bit brighter for the red and black contingent.

A comfortable victory in the Uefa Cup first round first leg soothed some worried of boss Carlos Ancelotti and he would have been delighted to see his team round off their week with a convincing 4-1 home victory against Lazio on match day four of Serie A.

ACis First League Win
Milan’s night got off to a great start on 8 minutes when Clarence Seedorf put his team ahead but the groans reverberated around the stadium when Lazio hauled themselves level before the half hour mark.

Zarate managed to find the back of the net and it was easy to see the nerves were starting to build. Thankfully for the home side, their lead was regained before half time when Zambrotta scored to make it 2-1. The half time team talk for the beleaguered Milan coach would have been made a bit easier and a goal from two of their South American superstars Pato and Kaka sealed victory in a more convincing second half performance which saw AC Milan grab their first three points of the league season.

It may well be though that the Uefa Cup offers some salvation to AC Milan in that it provides some respite from their domestic campaign and perhaps allows them the opportunity to develop some confidence and team unity.

Opening Day Blues
Certainly their results before they played in the UEFA Cup were nothing to write home about, particularly their 2-1 home defeat on the opening weekend of the season by newly promoted Bologna. If ever a top team needed to kick off a season with some authority it was AC Milan but they were humbled at home and their fortunes didn’t improve much on the road in the following game away to Genoa. Stumbling to a 2-0 defeat left AC Milan stuck on zero points after two games and a lot of talk was being given to the future of coach Carlos Ancelotti.

Now with three wins in a week (Milan beat Reggina midweek), Milan may just be finding their form for 2008/09. If this is the case then it couldn’t have come at a better time as this weekend sees the first Milan derby of the season with AC Milan playing the hosts as they face Inter Milan.

The Special One Hasn’t Lost His Touch
In contrast to AC Milan, things have been going quite smoothly for Inter Milan so far and Jose Mourinho looks to have taken to Italian football as smoothly as he took to Portuguese and English football. Away from the on-field action, Mourinho has already managed to put a few noses out of joint and gained some heckles from managers and media alike with some of his barbed comments and witticisms. An interesting duel to look out for this season may well be between Mourinho and Rainieri, the current Juventus boss and the man who Mourinho replaced at Chelsea.

The conflict between the Special One and The Tinker Man as the English media so often called the men will no doubt be played out in the newspapers and televisions all season long but at the end of the season, the only real victory will be had on the park.

And although Mourinho is very interesting to listen to and read, his true talent is based on getting results and so far, it’s looking good for Inter. The Italian Super Cup was clinched before the season started properly and although an opening day draw at Sampdoria caused some people to flinch, Mourinho took it in his side and Inter Milan have won their next three matches, two of them away from home, one of the away from home in the Champions League.

No Trouble at Torino
It’s hard to ask for more than that and Mourinho will be especially pleased with their 3-1 away victory at Torino on match day 3 of the Serie A season. Inter cruised to a 2-0 halftime lead when two goals in 3 minutes halfway through the first half set Inter on their way to a comfortable victory. Materrazi opened the scoring on 23 minutes and before Torino had time to comprehend losing the opening goal, they were further behind as Maicon doubled Inter’s lead before half-time.

Inter went 3-0 ahead when Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck on 52 minutes and although Abbruscato pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to go, the points were secure for the away side.

Last night’s 1-0 win against versus Lecce will warm Mourinho’s men up for the Milan derby and this will be another interesting test for the Portuguese manager. He has managed in some mighty big games throughout his career but none of them would be described as a massive derby match. Porto faced tough challenges against Benfica and Sporting Lisbon and Chelsea encountered close games against Arsenal and Tottenham but none of these games really spark the imagination of fans around the world.

Mourinho Finally at a “Big” Football Club
Partly this is due to the fact that Mourinho has never managed a top class club before. Yes, he made Porto European champions for which he deserves a lot of credit and he led Chelsea to two English Premier titles but for the majority of football fans around the world, these aren’t your major clubs. Porto have slipped back in the European pecking order and Chelsea are still viewed with suspicion, a millionaire’s plaything who are still trying to build a legacy and their own place at the top of the game.

Football fans all over the world will be taking a keen interest in what happens in Milan this Sunday and apart from Mourinho, there are players with points to prove. Depending on team selection, AC Milan could feature Ronaldhino who needs to convince people that he is still a top class footballer and of course, Shevchenko could feature. The irony would be apparent if Shevchenko could rediscover his goal scoring form to put a dent in the man who seemed so reluctant to play him at Chelsea. The Ukrainian striker was the equivalent of a sweater given to you by a relative at Christmas, you had to look thankful for it and occasionally get some use from it but in reality, you wish you never received it in the first place.

Shevchenko may strike a blow for discarded Christmas presents everywhere if he can conjure up the magic to derail The Special One in the San Siro on Sunday night.

by Andrew Reilly

for The Silver Circle at www.footballtip.co.uk

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