Ahead of any Milan derby, the exes are always asked to parade their predictions. Carlo Ancelotti, who oversaw 19 such neighbourly contests in his time in charge with Milan, veers in his forecast towards his old employers. It is not just affection and loyalty that so guides him, says the coach who departed for Chelsea last summer.
"The advantage is tipping towards Milan because they are obviously sharp and in good shape at the moment," believes Ancelotti. "And they are confident." His former sparring partner in the opposite dugout over four years of Serie A tussles, Roberto Mancini, is more cautious, or perhaps more loyal to his former colleagues at Inter. "It looks too close to call," said the new manager of Manchester City of today's clash at San Siro. "But Milan certainly have some momentum right now."
Naturally, the question was put to Ancelotti and Mancini of whether they missed their Derbies della Madonnina, as the Milan collision is known. They nodded in agreement at how unique was the clash between Inter and Milan. Certainly, there is no grander local rivalry with so much at stake in all of European football at the moment. Granted, Mancini has just been made familiar with the heat that can be generated when Manchester City meet Manchester United, though there the stakes are only so high because of lavish recent investment in Manchester's less decorated club and the spikiness around a semi-final meeting in the Carling Cup, England's third most important competition.
Ancelotti may see blue and red Londoners contesting the summit of the Premier League right now, but it is hardly as if Chelsea and Arsenal have regularly been doing so over the past half a century. Elsewhere, traditional, heavyweight city grudges have only a distant bearing on important silverware. In Madrid, Real are well ahead of Atletico, and both of them behind Barcelona in Spain. In Lisbon, Benfica are thriving, while Sporting are not. In Rome, Roma can lord over Lazio in Serie A, but are still some way from challenging for the scudetto.
In Serie A, the two Milan clubs stand at first and second in the table, the gap between them six points, the intrigue deepened by the fact Milan have a game in hand on their neighbours. In other words, a defeat for Inter tonight opens up the tantalising prospect that should Milan then match Inter's results in the period before the Rossoneri play their outstanding match, next month, against Fiorentina - it was postponed in December due to bad weather - they could catch Inter.
At the very least, the gap between Inter and AC looks to have narrowed sharply since August when the Serie A champions walloped the seven-times European champions 4-0. Before half-time that night, two of Inter's new signings, Thiago Motta and Diego Milito, had scored. If ever there seemed an indicator of which club was progressing and which going backwards, here it was. Ronaldinho suffered severe criticism after that rout; his coach, Leonardo, learned fast how tough would be the task of replacing Ancelotti. Yet five months on, Milan are the form team, Ronaldinho the man of the moment and Leonardo the most fashionable young head coach of Serie A.
Ronaldinho has six goals in his last three Milan games, but is uncomfortable with the tag that he is Man of the Derby. "I'm just pleased that I am passing the ball well but I am even happier that the whole team is doing so well," he said. "I don't play football on my own and I always try to contribute a goal or an assist to help my colleagues. Everybody at Milan is going through a great moment of form. That makes it easier for every individual. Man of the Derby? Anybody who goes out on that pitch can become the man of the match."
Focus would be the key, says Ronaldinho. "We will all need to concentrate. Inter have so many top-level players, and a great head coach in Jose Mourinho. They will surprise us if we let our focus drop for a minute. But if we can keep that up for 90 minutes we won't have a repeat of what happened to us in the first derby this season. I think we have learned from the mistakes we made that evening. We will go out to win this one."
For Leonardo, Alessandro Nesta's fitness remains a worry. The central defender, outstanding this season, has a thigh complaint that may keep him out. However, Clarence Seedorf, the former Inter midfielder, should be available again. Inter are without Samuel Eto'o, away at the African Cup of Nations, and have doubts over Wesley Sneijder and Dejan Stankovic. But as Ancelotti warns, Mourinho's team have become deft at compensating for setbacks.
"Watch out for Inter," says the ex-Milan coach. "They never give up. The comebacks they had from being behind against Siena and Bari were incredible." sports@thenational.ae Inter v AC Milan, KO 11.45pm, Aljazeera Sport + 1
