Derby della Madonnina

On 13 December 1899, Alfred Edwards and others founded the Milan Cricket and Football Club. Edwards, a former British vice-consul in Milan and a well-known personality of the Milanese high society, was the club's first elected president. Initially, the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section managed by David Allison. The Milan team soon gained relevant notability under Herbert Kilpin's guide. The first trophy to be won was the Medaglia del Re ("King's Medal") in January 1900, and the team later won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it ended the consecutive series of wins of Genoa, which had been the only team to have won the title prior to 1901. On 9 March 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the foundation of Football Club Internazionale.

The first derby match between the two Milanese rivals was held in the final of the Chiasso Cup of 1908, a football tournament played in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, on 18 October of that year; the Rossoneri won 2–1. While Inter and Milan faced each other sporadically in the early years, the rivalry has been renewed annually since the inaugural 1926-27 season of the Divisione Nazionale, the first truly national Italian league. The two teams have played each other at least twice a year since then.

A vintage derby 1950–51.

In the 1960s, the Milan derby saw two big stars of Italian football come face-to-face. One of the most representative players of Inter was Sandro Mazzola, the son of former Torino player Valentino Mazzola who, along with most of his Torino teammates, died in the 1949 Superga air disaster after dominating Serie A for four seasons. His Milan counterpart was Gianni Rivera, nicknamed "Golden Boy" for his talent. This era saw brilliant derby matches and an increasing rivalry: while Milan won the European Cup in 1962–63, Inter followed with back-to-back success in the following years. Milan again won the title in 1968–69. During this successful period for both teams, Milan were coached by Nereo Rocco and Inter by Helenio Herrera, both coaching many notable players. The rivalry continued on the Italian national team, where two players from their respective clubs would often not play together, with one usually being substituted by the other at half-time. Rivera ended up losing the starting line-up to Mazzola in the 1970 final against Brazil, in which Italy was defeated 1–4 by the South Americans. He would later enter in the 84th minute after Italy were already far behind.

Brothers Giuseppe and Franco Baresi in the 1979–80 derby.

Arguably Milan's greatest-ever era took place during the late 1980s and had extended through to the mid-2000s. Often hailed as the greatest-ever Milan side, the team stemming from the 1989 European champions managed by Arrigo Sacchi, contained legendary Milan players, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Paolo Maldini, amongst others. Milan's dominance, both domestically and internationally, had seen them capture four league titles and three European Cups (finishing runners-up two additional times) between 1989 and 1996. During this time, Inter had gone on to finish runners-up in the 1992–93 season (behind Milan) and won two UEFA Cups.

Inter's long wait for a league title that began after 1989 finally arrived in 2006, when the Calciopoli scandal stripped Juventus of the 2005–06 title (as well as deducting points from Milan's final overall total) and handed it to the Inter, who were placed third behind both Juventus and Milan. This was seen as a controversial decision by many, as even though the title won the previous season by Juventus was also stripped, it was left un-awarded, which many felt should have also been the case with the 2005–06 title. Inter went on to win the 2006–07 Serie A title as well in a season that saw Juventus relegated from the top division, and Milan, as punishment, starting the season with negative points. Inter's triumphant campaign included a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories and victories in both fixtures against Milan. During the same season, however, Milan had captured their seventh European Cup/ UEFA Champions League, defeating Liverpool in the Final in Athens. As the Italian league recovered from the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal, Inter continued to dominate, winning each league up until the 2009–10 season in which they secured the title on the last day of the season. That season had also seen Inter become the first Italian side to win a treble. In addition to their league title, Inter had secured the Coppa Italia and their first Champions League title since 1965. The following season, however, Milan, with the acquisition of several players that included former Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, recaptured the Scudetto, their 18th overall, leading the league standings from as early as November until the end of the season. That season also saw Milan win both derby matches, keeping clean sheets in both fixtures.

Since 2011-12, both Milan teams have lagged behind Juventus in Serie A, with a disappointing ninth-place finish for Inter in 2012–13 and a difficult campaign for Milan in 2014–15, finishing tenth. Despite this, Inter have been the better of the two in derby matches, with ten wins, six draws and four losses (including one in the 2011 Supercoppa Italiana and one in the 2017–18 Coppa Italia).

• SF = Semi-finals
• QF = Quarter-finals
• R16 = Round of 16
• R32 = Round of 32
• GS = Group stage
• R1 = Round 1
• R2 = Round 2

  Milan win   Draw   Inter win

¹ The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League semi-final tie was won by Milan on away goals rule.[2]
² The 2004–05 UEFA Champions League second leg quarter-final match was abandoned after 72 minutes; UEFA awarded a 3–0 win for Milan as Inter fans threw flares onto the pitch.[3][4][2]
³ The 2017–18 Coppa Italia quarter-final match was won by Milan 1–0 after extra-time.

As of 9 February 2020

Top goalscorers

Below is the list of players who have scored at least six goals in official meetings.

The Rossonero Andriy Shevchenko, the top scorer of the Milan derby (14), and Giuseppe Meazza, the highest scorer of the Nerazzurri (12)

Position	Name	Team	Goals
1	Andriy Shevchenko	Milan	14
2	Giuseppe Meazza	Internazionale (12) Milan (1)	13
3	Gunnar Nordahl	Milan	11
	István Nyers	Internazionale
5	Enrico Candiani	Internazionale (7) Milan (3)	10
6	José Altafini	Milan	7
	Alessandro Altobelli	Internazionale
	Roberto Boninsegna	Internazionale
	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Internazionale (2) Milan (6)
	Benito Lorenzi	Internazionale
	Louis Van Hege	Milan
12	Aldo Boffi	Milan	6
	Aldo Cevenini	Milan (4) Internazionale (2)
	Attilio Demaría	Internazionale
	Sandro Mazzola	Internazionale
	Diego Milito	Internazionale
	Pietro Serantoni	Internazionale

Most appearances

Below is the list of players who have played at least thirty games in official meetings.

The Rossonero Paolo Maldini, the record appearance-maker of the Milan derby (56) and Javier Zanetti, the record appearance-maker of the Nerazzurri (47)

Position	Name	Team	Apps
1	Paolo Maldini	Milan	56
2	Javier Zanetti	Internazionale	47
3	Giuseppe Bergomi	Internazionale	44
4	Alessandro Costacurta	Milan	43
5	Gianni Rivera	Milan	42
6	Giacinto Facchetti	Internazionale	40
	Sandro Mazzola	Internazionale
	Giuseppe Meazza	Internazionale (37) Milan (3)
9	Franco Baresi	Milan	39
10	Mauro Tassotti	Milan	35
11	Tarcisio Burgnich	Internazionale	34
12	Giuseppe Baresi	Internazionale	33
	Mario Corso	Internazionale
14	Marco Sala	Milan (31) Internazionale (1)	32
15	Clarence Seedorf	Internazionale (7) Milan (24)	31
	Luigi Perversi	Milan

• Total: Milan with 41 higher finishes, Inter with 45 higher finishes (as of the end of the 2018–19 season).

Notes:

• Both teams qualified for the final round of 8 teams in 1946
• Both teams finished with the same number of points in 1958 and in 1991, but Milan had better goal difference in both cases

Note: Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Inter, then Milan

Ronaldo’s Inter Milan away jersey (left) and A.C. Milan away jersey (right) in the San Siro museum. He played for Inter from 1997 to 2002, and A.C. Milan from 2007 to 2008.

Name	Pos	Inter			Milan
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
Giuseppe Meazza	FW	1927–40	348	241	1940–42	37	9
		1946–47	17	2
Enrico Candiani	MF	1937–46	187	71	1949–50	22	8
Aldo Bet	DF	1967–68	8	0	1974–81	144	0
Aldo Serena	FW	1978–81	2	1
		1981–83	21	2	1982–83	20	8
		1983–85	28	8
		1987–91	114	45
Maurizio Ganz	FW	1995–97	68	26	1998–2001	40	9
Taribo West	DF	1997–99	44	1	2000–01	4	1
Ronaldo	FW	1997–2002	68	49	2007–08	20	9
Andrea Pirlo	MF	1998–2001	22	0	2001–11	284	32
Dario Šimić	DF	1999–2002	66	3	2002–08	82	1
Christian Vieri	FW	1999–2005	143	103	2005–06	8	1
Clarence Seedorf	MF	2000–02	64	8	2002–12	300	47
Hernán Crespo	FW	2002–03	18	7	2004–05	28	11
		2006–08	49	18
		2008–09	14	2
Giuseppe Favalli	DF	2004–06	49	0	2006–10	75	2
Zlatan Ibrahimović	FW	2006–09	88	57	2010–11	29	14
					2011–12	32	28
					2020–	5	2
Mario Balotelli	FW	2007–10	59	20	2013–14	43	26
					2015–16	20	1
Mancini	FW	2008–10	26	1	2010	7	0
Sulley Muntari	MF	2008–12	66	7	2012	13	3
					2012–15	57	8
Giampaolo Pazzini	FW	2011–12	50	16	2012–15	74	21
Andrea Poli	MF	2011–12	18	0	2013–17	90	3
Matías Silvestre	DF	2012–15	9	0	2013–14	4	1
Leonardo Bonucci	DF	2005–06	1	0
		2006–07	0	0	2017–2018	35	2

Milan, then Inter

Name	Pos	Milan			Inter
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
Aldo Cevenini	FW	1909–12	42	15	1912–15	51	42
		1915–19	42	48	1919–21	18	2
					1922–23	22	1
Luigi Cevenini	FW	1911–12	1	1	1912–15	55	63
		1915–19	7	5	1919–21	40	54
					1922–27	94	42
Lorenzo Buffon	GK	1949–59	277	0	1960–63	79	0
Fulvio Collovati	DF	1976–82	158	4	1982–86	109	3
Francesco Toldo	GK	1990–93	0	0	2001–10	148	0
Christian Panucci	DF	1993–96	89	9	1999–2001	26	1
Cristian Brocchi	MF	1994–98	0	0	2000–01	15	1
		2001–08	99	4
Roberto Baggio	FW	1995–97	51	12	1998–2000	41	9
Francesco Coco	DF	1995–2002	56	2	2002–07	26	0
Edgar Davids	MF	1996–97	19	0	2004–05	14	0
Patrick Vieira	MF	1995–96	2	0	2006–10	67	6
Guly	MF	1998–2001	57	6	2001–04	30	0
Thomas Helveg	DF	1998–2003	105	0	2003–04	23	0
Dražen Brnčić	MF	2000–01	1	0	2001–03	0	0
Ümit Davala	DF	2001–02	10	0	2002–04	0	0
Antonio Cassano	FW	2011–12	33	7	2012–13	28	7

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derby della Madonnina.

• All about AC Milan and Inter Milan
• Inter's archive about the Milan derby
• Milan derby: chronology and statistics
• STORIA DEL DERBY DELLA "MADONNINA"