AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (No.11) clashes with Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku on January 26 in Milan, Italy. Photo: IC

 

There is little to separate Inter Milan and AC Milan going into the derby this weekend.

The Milanese giants are a point apart at the top of the Serie A table and the closeness of the teams has been captured in a mural on the streets of the northern Italian city this week.

The art depicts AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic headbutting Inter's Romelu Lukaku in the sides' recent meeting in the Coppa Italia with the inscription "Face to face, heart to heart."

That the mural has appeared in the surrounds of the stadium that the clubs share only adds to the claustraphobia and contempt.

Those who have played in the Derby della Madonnina know that all too well.

"I have many anecdotes but one in particular stands out for me," former Inter centre back  Riccardo Ferri told the club's TV channel.

"There was a gym where the two teams started the warm-up and they shared the space.

"Arrigo Sacchi and Silvio Berlusconi's AC Milan were one of the most successful teams in the world.

"But during the warm-up, Nicola Berti used to kick the ball towards the AC Milan side of the gym to provoke them, while they were focused on warming up or on tactical issues.

"There were a few glances, not threatening ones but annoyed ones.

"Berti never said hello to anyone, despite having been on national team duties with Franco Baresi, Roberto Donadoni and Paolo Maldini.

"All the pleasantries were postponed until the end of the game."

Ferri, who spent nearly his whole playing career with Inter, then went on to discuss what it meant to him to be able to play in the Milan derby.

"For me, as for many in that period, playing a derby was a special thing," he said. 

"When the schedule came out at the start of the season, the first matches you went to look for were the two Milan derbies."

One of his former teammates agreed.

"The derby is special," former Inter Milan striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera today in midweek.

"I also scored a very good and important goal in a Milan derby in March 1985, which ended 2-2.

"The Milan derby is the most important game of the season and it is all the more so now."

The Bayern Munich Chief Executive is right about that. An Inter win would open the gap to four points and it would come just a week after leapfrogging AC Milan at the top of the table.

That was not meant to happen.

The Rossoneri played lowly Spezia on Saturday and should have rolled over the team that they went into the game 28 points ahead of on the Serie A table.

Spezia had not read the script winning 2-0 with AC Milan not registering a shot on target, the first time in 18 months they had not threatened the opposition goal.

Even with that unexpected good fortune, Inter still had to play Lazio but they swatted away Filippo Inzaghi's side, winning 3-1 with Belgian striker Lukaku scoring a brace.

Inter manager Antonio Conte was full of praise for Lukaku.

"He [Lukaku] came back firing on all cylinders tonight and we need this Romelu. We need this determination and passion from everyone in the team," Conte said after the game.

"I am happy for the lads, inevitably this must be a starting point for us and not the finish line. We know the next game is the derby with Milan, going into it above them is obviously much better.

"It's going to be a fascinating game between two teams who have strong ambitions."

Inter have made their ambitions clear, not least with the win over Lazio, as defender Milan Skriniar pointed out.

"Lazio are a very good team with strong results recently, so we knew the kind of match that awaited us," he told Sky Sport Italia.

"We are glad to have won, we could've scored more and it's a pity we conceded that goal, but the points are what matter."

"We always work for this, to be higher and stronger. So we'll enjoy this victory this evening and from tomorrow start preparing for the Derby against Milan."

Inter go into it as the form team. Not only has Lukaku moved joint top of the golden boot list with the ageless Cristiano Ronaldo but they have been tight at the other end.

The Nerazzuri have conceded only one goal in five games and that came from a deflected free kick against Lazio.

There will still be a long way to go after Saturday but a derby win would do Conte's side the world of good.

Inter have not been top of the table this late into a Serie A season since they last won the title in 2010.

"I hope Inter can win it this time," Rummenigge said of this season's Scudetto.

"They have the best chance of winning the Scudetto out of everyone and it is up to them to continue like this.

"Inter seems to me the most solid team in Serie A.

"They play well and win and they never lose strange games like they did in the past.

"The important thing is that they are not too euphoric, the road is long."

Not that long. There will only be 15 games left of the season come the final whistle on Sunday.

"It will be a decisive week for this season," AC Milan President Paolo  Scaroni told Italian radio station Radio Rai Gr Parlamento.

"We at AC Milan did not get excited when we were first in the league and we will not give up now we are second."