San Siro Stadium

AC Milan 0-0 Internazionale

1st March 2022

I suppose there was a grim inevitability about this one ending in a scoreless draw, given it was the first leg of a two-legged Coppa Italia semi-final, between a pair of evenly matched sides each of whom appeared of late to have lost the habit of winning.  Going in to this one Milan had drawn their last two matches, whilst Inter had failed to win any of their previous four, including a Champions League defeat by Liverpool.

The fact both legs were going to be played at the combatants' shared stadium, would to extent negate any tangible home advantage - although, I believe away goals do still count double this this competition - so advantage Milan here I suppose.

First view of San Siro, exiting the Metro Station.

So glad I never had to ascend these winding stairs to the top tier.

Anyway. the match itself was, for me personally, secondary to the thrill of attending at the famous San Siro - or Stadio Giuseppe Meazza to give the place it's official title.  Particularly, given the fact I noted plans were announced recently to demolish the current stadium, and replace it with a completely new one.  

I am unsure how the two clubs divvy up the seating for Serie A Derby della Madonnina, but for this cup tie, the Inter Fans were given the full stand behind one of the goals.  And, although the Milan pre-match Popeye banner trumped anything the vising fans unfurled, it was the Inter lot who kept up the incessant chanting and big flag waving throughout the ninety minutes - or the 82 minutes of the business, I saw.

Which sorta struck me as odd, as why the Milan fans would allow themselves to be so clearly out-sung and outshone on their own turf, as it were.

The match itself, although far from dull never really came alight, with both sides seemingly content to ensure they each went into April's second leg still in the tie.

Milan created the better of what few clear-cut opportunities arose    Belgian Alexis Saelemaekers then Frenchman Theo Hernandes, both scorned decent opportunities in the first half: the former hitting an shot straight at visiting goalkeeper Samir Handanović, the latter sclaffing his attempt wide.  

Following the break, Olivier Giroud's lack of a right-foot lost him the opportunity for a first time strike, a good position squandered as the former Arsenal and Chelsea man toiled to get the ball onto his favoured left foot.  Other than that, the home side were restricted to long range pots, easily fielded by Handanović.

As for Inter, well most them were pretty anonymous it has to be said.  Particularly Ivan Perišić, who expended a lot of energy running around with doing anything terribly constructive.  I can recall perhaps one instance where Inter threatened, but some neat defending from Pierre Kalulu prevented the dreadfully disappointing Edin Džeko from getting onto the end of a cross from Denzel Dumfries.

And that was sort of it.  In fact, for me, the most memorable incident of the match was seeing Giroud clatter into Inter coach Simone Inzaghi on the touchline, the pair each ending up requiring treatment.

That being said, there could have been loads of exciting incidents very late on (although the lack of crown reactions, would suggest otherwise) for (unusually for me) I left the ground early.

I have not been able to ascertain what the evening's official attendance was (60-65,000 would be my guess), but I was sure a fair percentage of them would be looking to get home on the Milan Metro.  And that appeared to me to be a queue well worth avoiding.

I had two full days in Milan, and I would suggest unless top end shopping is your thing, two days would be sufficient for the average bod to "do" Milan.  There is the Doumo of course, and the nearby Da Vinci's The Last Supper.  Popping a head into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade is also worthwhile for the wow factor.

But unmissable (and free) is an hour spent wandering around the sprawling Cimitero Monumentale.

Below are a few pix I took.

A few vids from the San Siro: