It has been 20 years since the last meeting at the same stage, but AC Milan and Inter will now face off in the Champions League semi-finals again.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) talks about how the two clubs Milan and Inter will experience ‘six electric days’, with the ultimate prize being a spot in the final of the competition in Istanbul on June 10th.
It was back in 2003 that the teams last met in the final four when the Rossoneri triumphed on away goals, and back then there were six days between the two legs. The same applies this time, with the first leg on May 10 (Milan at home) and the second leg on May 16 (Inter at home).
Back in 2003 two Milanese teams were among the best teams in the world and the Italian league still one of the most coveted, with an all-Italian semi-final then and an all-Italian final to follow as the Diavolo faced Juventus.
Silvio Berlusconi and Massimo Moratti were the owners of the respective clubs and they continued to invest money to in many ways compete with one another but also ensure Serie A remained a top league.
Now, however, things are different. In the last accounts Milan recorded revenues of €264.9m, while Inter had €308.4m, Manchester City €371m and Real Madrid €713.8m.
Under the American Gerry Cardinale and the Chinese Steven Zhang the two Milan clubs are trying to catch up. In twenty years many things have changed but what will never go away is the rivalry and tension that will be renewed next month.