Derby Days - AC Milan v Inter Milan: At stake on Sunday are the bragging rights and gaining an advantage in the race for the 'scudetto,' awarded to the winner of Serie A

IT COULD have been a cricket derby. AC Milan – long before the split which resulted in the creation of two deadly rivals – was formed by five English men as both a football and cricket club.

When the locals got involved, however, they leaned heavily towards the big ball. Cricket is still waiting for another chance to gain a foothold in north Italy.

According to statisticians, this weekend’s Derby della Madonnina – so called because of the golden statue on the spire of Milan Cathedral – is their 200th clash in major competitions. There have been other clashes, of course, though none so strange as the ‘derby’ that did not actually involve either team.

While many Irish soccer fans have vivid memories of the 1990 World Cup finals, they may not remember the ‘Milan derby’ the day before David O’Leary and Packie Bonnar put the Republic of Ireland into the quarter-finals.

On June 24th, at the San Siro, West Germany and the Netherlands met in the first knockout stage. The reigning European Champions boasted Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit, all of whom had day jobs with the European Cup champions AC Milan.

For the German side, Jürgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthäus and Andreas Brehme were also familiar with the San Siro pitch, the trio being members of the Inter Milan team that captured the Serie A title the previous year.

In the city, the match was viewed as an international version of the city derby, ironic perhaps considering the clubs’ original split 100 years ago came about over a disagreement concerning foreign players. The game itself – which the Germans won 2-1 through goals from local heroes Klinsmann and Brehme – is best remembered for the actions of another local club player, Rijkaard being sent off after spitting at Rudi Völler.

Inter may have won that ‘derby’, but the club would slowly drift into a long hibernation – settling into the long shadow cast by their neighbour.

In fact, their next league title would arrive in 2006 – and only then because the match-fixing scandal that ripped through Italy and irreparably tore holes in the illustrious reputation of Serie A.

By then the reputation of the Milan derby had also suffered a serious blow – when the sides were drawn to meet at the quarter-final stage of the 2005 Champions League.

In the previous round, AC Milan had beaten Manchester United, home and away, while Inter had overcome the defending champions, Porto.

For Inter fans, years of hurt could be overcome in one leap.

A counterattacking Milan side took the first leg, 2-0, through headed goals from Jaap Stam and Andriy Shevchenko.

All was not lost for Roberto Mancini’s side, however – at least not until Shevchenko first-half strike and Esteban Cambiasso’s second-half disallowed goal in the second leg ended all hope for Inter fans. Bottles, coins and flares rained down on the pitch, with Milan goalkeeper Dida struck on the shoulder midway through the second half.

After play was called to a halt for 20 minutes, the match was official abandoned after it became apparent the Inter spectators had come prepared with a plentiful supply of fireworks.

It was left to Liverpool to prove later that season that a 3-0 AC Milan lead was, in fact, not ‘game over’ after all.

It was not the first time the rivalry had spilled on to the pitch. In a decade when the clubs shared four European Cup titles, the stars of the red-hot derby meetings during the 1960s – Inter’s Sandro Mazzola and AC’s Gianni Rivera – were such firm adversaries that Ferruccio Valcareggi, the Italian coach, decided he couldn’t play them together on the national side, which certainly helped Brazil defeat Italy in the 1970 World Cup final.

Four decades on, many of the best footballers in the world still wear the famous jerseys of the Rossoneri (red-black) and Nerazzurri (black-blue), though AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi is having to vigorously defend the club’s lack of transfer dealings during the summer – especially after the loss of Kaká to Real Madrid.

The Dutch influence is back, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar recently linking up with Clarence Seedorf at a club that, despite the protestations of supporters, still boasts the quality of Ronaldinho, Kakha Kaladze, Gennaro Gattuso, Filippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Zambrotta and the teenage sensation Alexandre Pato.

Inter fans, however, no longer approach the derby games with a mixture of dread and anticipation.

The 2006 title victory may have had a hollow ring, but Inter began the following season with an incredible five-month winning streak – culminating in another league title, which helped distract the club’s supporters from AC Milan’s march to another European crown. It did, however, result in Mancini being replaced by José Mourinho the following year, despite a third league title in succession for Inter.

With a squad that includes Francesco Toldo, Marco Materazzi, Javier Zanetti, Patrick Vieira, Esteban Cambiasso, Iván Córdoba and now Samuel Eto’o supporters have rightly begun to demand a return to the club’s glory days in European competition.

A domestic double last season, and another first knockout round defeat in the Champions League, is now considered a poor season for Inter supporters.

The prospects of both clubs for the season ahead can be better judged on Saturday night.

AC Milan v Inter Milan   Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)

Saturday, kick-off – 7.45pm (Irish-time)

Live on ESPN