The pre-match buzz ahead of Juventus' clash with Napoli on Saturday revolved around which of these two teams would emerge as the 'anti-Inter'. Thiago Motta's Bianconeri were the only Serie A team yet to concede a goal and had kicked off their Champions League campaign with a convincing victory over PSV. Meanwhile, Antonio Conte's Napoli were sitting comfortably in second place in the league standings. These were the two teams widely considered to be the main challengers to Inter's title reign. Juventus, given their storied history and the recent success of their young manager who led Bologna back to the European Cup after 60 years, and Napoli, who are just 16 months removed from their third Scudetto and still boast Conte's reputation as a serial winner in Italy.
Milan were also expected to be in this mix, with Paulo Fonseca setting high expectations by declaring a league title as his objective after replacing Stefano Pioli in the summer. However, as his team prepared to face Inter in the derby on Sunday, the Rossoneri had managed just five points from their opening four games. Instead of discussing Milan's title credentials, Fonseca found himself fielding questions about potential sackings. 'No, and that's the truth,' he insisted. 'That stuff is not important. If I worried about that, I could not do my job calmly. The only important thing is what I hear from the people I'm working with.'
The signs of disharmony within the team were evident when Rafael Leão and Theo Hernández chose to take a cooling break on the far side of the pitch from their teammates and manager during a draw against Lazio. Despite this, the pressure on Fonseca was palpable. Milan fans were initially lukewarm about his appointment and had already demonstrated their influence by pressuring the club to avoid hiring Julen Lopetegui. The team's failure to win any of their first three league games did little to reassure the supporters. Before their fourth game at home against Venezia, over a thousand fans gathered outside San Siro with a banner that read: 'Enough excuses, this is the last call.'
Milan's 4-0 thrashing of Venezia provided a brief respite, but any positive feelings were quickly dispelled by a Champions League defeat to Liverpool. The nature of the loss, surrendering soft set-piece goals after taking an early lead, provoked a strong reaction from the home supporters. Hopes were not high for a better performance against Inter, who had looked impressive in their own Champions League draw at Manchester City. The Nerazzurri were chasing a record-setting seventh consecutive derby win, with an aggregate scoreline of 14-2 from the previous six meetings.
Juventus' game against Napoli ended in a 0-0 draw, neither team seizing the opportunity to assert themselves as the top contender. This result meant that a win for Inter over Milan would return them to the top of the table. However, backed into a corner, Fonseca's Milan came out fighting with a starting XI that included summer signings Tammy Abraham and Álvaro Morata together for the first time up front, with Leão and Pulisic on the wings. Pulisic opened the scoring in the 10th minute, but Inter quickly equalized through Federico DiMarco. Despite the setback, Milan regained the initiative in the second half, with Matteo Gabbia scoring the winning goal in the derby, cementing his place in fans' affections forever.
Gabbia's goal was a testament to his composure, and his comment afterward was telling: 'A match like this needs to be the norm, we need to go out on to the pitch giving everything to help each other.' Fonseca had brought the players together for a 90-minute meeting before training to restore focus on the collective. This result may help ease the pressure on Fonseca, but the manager's future remains uncertain. As Fonseca noted, 'This was an important match, both because Milan had not won the derby for a while and because we were not going through a good spell. I can't remember a team in recent times that gave Inter so many problems.' Perhaps Milan may yet make a case to be the 'anti-Inter' after all.
