AC Milan 3-0 Inter : Five talking points

Alex opened the scoring for the RossoneriAC Milan took on Inter Milan for the 164th iteration of the Derby de la Madonnina - a fixture which has lost it's glamour compared to the El Clasico, London and Manchester derbies. Milan were the designated hosts at the San Siro, a stadium which both the teams share and ran out 3-0 winners.Milan scored the opener through an Alex header against the run of play. Inter pushed for an equalizer and should have had one through Icardi's penalty that crashed against the woodwork in the 70th minute. That proved to be decisive as Milan sneaked in two more goals in quick succession through Bacca and Niang to seal the result. Let's take a look at the 5 major talking points that emerged from the game.

#1 Scudetto - A bridge too far for Inter

After a solid and unspectacular start to the season, in addition to the horrific start by the defending champions Juventus, many were touting Inter as potential League and Cup champions.

Inter have not displayed the champion's mentality consistently through the season, in contrast to high-flying Napoli and a resurgent Juventus. While Napoli have hardly slipped up this season, Juve are on a fantastic run of form with 12 league wins on the trot. Despite being the early league leaders, Inter have needlessly dropped points against lowly opponents, and the latest result sees them 9 points off the top in 4th place.

A 3-0 humbling at Juve in their midweek Coppa Italia semi-final first leg is a result they are unlikely to overturn in the second leg. Inter are having a good season which should see them return to the lucrative and prestigious Champion's League, but it would be too much to expect them to win any trophies this season.

#2 A result crucial to Milan\'s season

Sinisa Mihajlovic's AC Milan's season has been a mixed bag thus far. The plans for a brand new stadium having fallen through set the tone for another season where it seemed unlikely that Milan would finish above mid-table. Their initial struggles which saw them hovering around the 9th spot while fierce rivals Inter occupied the top spot put more pressure on Milan and their manager.

Mihajlovic was rumoured to be one defeat away from the sack on three separate occasions this season, but has successfully survived and navigated his team through a tricky winter fixture list. A run of form which has seen them suffer only one defeat in nine fixtures in the league has catapulted the Rossoneri to 6th place and two points of the last Europa League spot.

Their first win in a Milan Derby since 2014, and a first 3-0 win since 2011 will give Milan the confidence to see through a difficult transition period by securing European football, so that they can climb up more in the seasons to come.

#3 A tale of two strikers

It is often that a few moments define the fate of a football match. Inter hitman Mauro Icardi's penalty miss in the 70th minute was shortly followed by Milan's Carlos Bacca doubling his side's lead with a clinical finish.

Icardi was the joint top-scorer in Serie A last season, while Bacca had led his previous club Sevilla to back-to-back Europa League titles.

Icardi has been guilty of missing sitters when his side need him, and he most recently drew his manager's ire for missing a simple finish which would have sealed the points at lowly Carpi, instead dropping points thanks to a late equaliser.

On the other hand, Bacca has earned the nickname 'one-shot Bacca' for his clinical finishing, which has seen him plunder 11 goals from 17 shots on target this season.

The match could have had a different end had Icardi scored his penalty. It seems likely that a solid Inter side may have to settle for third or fourth place thanks to their off-colour strikers, and the on-fire Bacca can lead an average Milan side back to European football.

#4 Mancini\'s rebuilding is far from done

One can almost draw a parallel between Mancini's Inter and Louis van Gaal's Manchester United. An expensive rebuilding job at both clubs who's current style of play is based on a mean defence has not yet shaped into the final product. Inter have claimed their wins to unspectacular and hard fought 1-0 scorelines.

However, their miserly defence has been taking a tonking off late, which means that they have ceded their tag of best defensive team in the league to Juventus. Off colour strikers, Jovetic and Icardi have not been able to lift the pressure at the other end, and more is expected from the likes of Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic.

Inter are not quite at the level of Napoli and Juventus, both in terms of quality in the squad and mental toughness. Roberto Mancini's squad has not yet taken its final shape.

#5 A few more seasons to go before Milan and Inter dominate again

milan inter — The San-Siro based clubs still have a long way to go

Had Juventus won the treble last season by defeating Barcelona in the UCL final, it would have done a world of good for Italian football. The lure of the cash-rich Premier League and of traditional giants like Bayern, Real Madrid and Barcelona means that Italian teams are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain top talent.

It is a testament to the quality of the competition in Italian football that apart from the Premier League, no other big league's title race is as open as the Serie A. With 6 big teams (Roma and Fiorentina apart from two Milan teams, Juve and Napoli) and only 5 spots for European football, one team will be deprived of the money that is earned from taking part in the continental competitions. It is also a prerequisite for a club to be competing in the UCL or UEL to attract good players.

The days of a star-studded Milan and Inter lineup may never return, but both AC Milan and Inter are well on course to reclaim some of the glory lost over the years.

Edited by Staff Editor