This is no normal derby: a semi-final, two legs over six days that will subsume an entire city in red-on-blue psychodrama
like an open palm, and by some trick of the light San Siro is bathed in a magical purple glow from every direction. Climb one of the epic spiral walkways at just the right moment and your reward is one of the great sensory overloads in European football, a place that feels closer to heaven than Earth.
The following morning, a Milan club employee who for obvious reasons must remain nameless is telling me he is desperate for Manchester City to win this season’s, just so Inter do not. “The final will be Manchester City against Inter,” he declares glumly. “In this moment, Inter are stronger. Only Pep Guardiola can help us.”
The stakes are almost unthinkably high. Unlike with City or Real Madrid, there are no guarantees either team will qualify for next season’s competition. To lose would be crushing enough; to do so against their sworn enemies adds a quantum of terror that neither club can fully contemplate. Small wonder Alessandro Nesta, a veteran of the classic 2003 semi-final that Milan won on away goals, is predicting an ugly, conservative game. “The two teams fear each other,” he said.
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