Milan is tinged with nerazzurri. The poorest derby in recent years (both from a technical and contouring point of view) is decided by Palacio, with a magic, yes, worthy of such an important match. Because Inter-Milan will no longer be as spectacular as it once was (after all, where Van Basten and Ronaldo were, there are Constant and Taider), but it has certainly not lost its charm and prestige.
Vince Mazzarri, who after an abundant hour of containment changes his attitude, loses Allegri, whose season by now seems only a slow agony towards the inevitable divorce at the end of the Championship. And to think that Milan, despite their general inadequacy, had even done something more than their opponents. Who should have had a penalty in the first half (foul by Zapata on Palacio not seen by Mazzoleni), but who had still limited themselves to a few ideas in a competitive battle match.
Allegri, on the other hand, had managed to build something more, so much so that at a certain point many thought that, if someone really had to win, it would be him. In the end however, as often happens in derbies, a great play proved to be decisive, the most beautiful of the match. And that, as previously mentioned, was found by Inter. On Guarin's cross, Palacio invented a beautiful back-heel, which left Abbiati, the Curva Sud and all of Milan motionless.
“It's the most important goal of my career – explained the Argentinian immediately after the match. – This victory gives us confidence, we will go on holiday happy”. Yes, the Nerazzurri have many reasons to rejoice. Meanwhile, yesterday's victory was Thohir's first in the championship: “It was wonderful, a really nice Christmas present. We won a fantastic game, I want to thank everyone, even the fans." And then there are the ranking reasons, the ones that interest Walter Mazzarri the most.
“We have 4-5 points fewer than we should have, but if we think about where we started from, we have to be satisfied – commented the Nerazzurri coach with satisfaction. – I cheered a lot at the goal, but I regretted it because the other times we were almost always caught up. And then we certainly can't count on penalties, we're really unlucky because even Zapata's was sensational".
On the Milan front, a lot of disappointment, not only for the result. Muntari's expulsion (pushing Kuzmanovic) and Balotelli's nervousness (his quarrels continued with the Inter supporters and Mazzoleni, to whom, after the game, he even sent ironic Christmas wishes) show that the team is still a long way off from the recovery hoped for by Allegri. “My parents were a bit tired, unfortunately I also had few changes on the bench. On the occasion of Palacio's goal we could have defended better. Inter complains about the refereeing? No, it doesn't add up. We get fouled up more, yet we get booked more…”.
Beyond this, however, Milan's standings leave him no alibi: the 19 points collected after 17 matchdays (!) cause a sensation, as do the 27 fewer from Juventus and, if you like, even the 12 from Inter. Numbers too negative not to get carried away by pessimism. The one that now pervades Italian football, hit yesterday by the absurd fight against folklore and entertainment. Deprived of choreography due to extreme taxation by the authorities (the beauty is that smoke bombs and firecrackers still enter!), the curves responded with a supporters' strike, thus depriving the derby of a fundamental component: the color of the fans. Yet another missed opportunity to relaunch the image of our football.
