The pre-match choreography lit up the stands of San Siro with vicious insults from Inter and Milan ultras aimed at each other’s record and reputation. Here is what it all meant.
Half the joy on derby day is seeing what the ‘tifo’ in the stands represents with inventive supporters eager to mock each other.
Despite losing their last four meetings with Inter between Serie A, the Supercoppa Italiana and Champions League semi-finals, Milan fans decided to needle their rivals on their failures.
Specifically, losing that Champions League Final to Manchester City and the fact Simone Inzaghi has never won the Scudetto.
The depiction was of an ‘Internazionale Circus’ with various symbols of failure, including a sad clown, the two of spades card (because ‘Due di Picche’ in Italian is a phrase meaning you are left empty-handed) and a King of Cups card representing Inzaghi’s success only in the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.
Inter fans decided to go a little more route one and depicted the Diavolo as nothing but a giant rat, with the phrase: ‘You emerged from the gutter.’
There were also banners calling Milan fans ‘easily offended’ and ‘you have a complex.’