Why AC Milan have proven football makes no sense
I have recently written about how rubbish AC Milan have been this season and how good Inter Milan are - and yet I find myself looking a bit stupid. This is because last night, in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, it marked the fifth time that the two Milan teams have faced each other this season.
And not once have Inter managed to beat their rivals with the Azzurri losing 3-0 in at ‘home’.
They’ve played twice in the league and three times through respective cup competitions. The Rossoneri have now knocked Inter out of the Copa Italia whilst also beating them in the Super Cup final. In 5 games, they’ve won 3 and drawn 2. This is completely bewildering considering the current state of affairs these teams find themselves in.
Inter are top of the league and are about to face Barcelona in the Champions League and were looking to win the treble before yesterday. AC Milan got knocked out of the Champions League by Feyenoord’s B team and are currently sat 9th in the Serie A.
One team is one of the best in Europe whilst one team is barely in the top 10 in their own country. And yet, it’s the latter that keep coming out triumphant in these recent exchanges.
So why is this happening? How does a pretty dismal AC Milan team have the Azzurri's number this season?
The thing is, it’s slightly more complicated than that. Over these 5 games Inter have accumulated an xG of 5.91 compared to AC Milan’s 4.36. They have created more big chances whilst having more shots and shots on target. In fact over these 5 games, Inter dominated Milan in 3 of them and yet failed to leave the pitch as victors on any of these occasions.
There’s a quote I remember hearing from Arsene Wenger. Although I don’t remember it word for word, it was something along the lines of “the more football I watch, the less I know” and this is the case for me because there is no scientific or logical reason why AC Milan have managed to go unbeaten against an Inter team who are miles better than them in every aspect, and yet they did.
You think you know everything on a subject, you go where the data and trends point you and yet the complete opposite to what you expected, happens. There are some things unquantifiable in football and I think derbies are definitely one of them. At the San Siro, I guess anything is possible because that’s my only explanation.
It’s the magic of the Milan derby. Screw form and whoever’s meant to be the better team. In that cauldron of a stadium it appears it all flies out the window.
That’s why derbies are one of the best things in football. They show football is still as unpredictable as ever.
