While there is now an abundance of players from abroad in both the Inter and AC Milan squads, there are two players who know what the derby means as fans.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, there will be over 70,000 fans of Milan and Inter on the pitch tomorrow evening, but also two on the pitch. Without a scarf, but with their shirt.
The players in question are Federico Dimarco and Davide Calabria, fans of Inter and Milan respectively. They don’t sing chants but go into tackles – it’s their way of supporting the clubs they grew up with a strong attachment to.
On the wing they will be direct competitors, provided that the Rossoneri full-back does not have directing duties in the centre as happened against Roma. They will still find a way to cross paths, before, after and during the game.
It’s been happening since they were kids, with Dimarco now a leader of Inter and Calabria wearing the captain’s armband. The two met in the youth national teams and have shared memories that they will cherish for a long time.
In the final phase of the 2015 U17 European Championship in Slovakia one governed on the left and the other on the right. Their joy stopped on penalties, in the final against Russia.
Since he was a child, the mood of Dimarco’s days changed based on Inter’s results, let alone now that he has climbed through the various youth sectors to the top.
Dimarco will not have the armband like his Rossoneri colleague, but he is by right in Simone Inzaghi’s group of trusted men who support Lautaro Martinez, together with him other Italians such as Barella, Bastoni and Darmian.
In short, the Inter winger pulls the cart even off the pitch, while on the wing his performance no longer surprises anyone. Step by step he has grown to the point of being able to challenge the best in his role.
At the end of the last derby, the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, he took the megaphone as if he were still in the Curva and from there a diplomatic incident was born that was soon resolved with the Milan Ultras.
Calabria has been at Milan since he was 11 years old, so he has spent more than half of his life at the club. He acted as a reserve in various stages of the youth sector, but he never stopped believing in his dream.
He wants to hoist a trophy as captain. He was in the 2016 squad when Milan won their last Supercoppa Italiana, but did not even get even a single minute on the pitch.
The right-back was among the architects of the Scudetto win, but it was Alessio Romagnoli who was photographed lifting the trophy. At 26 years old, his name has appeared in the first team squad for ten season.
He experienced the first derby on 3 September 2015, the next one will be number 17. He is the Milan player with the most appearances in the squad by far with 220, and he must show all his experience tomorrow.
