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HHow different would this moment have felt, inside a crowded San Siro? How different would it have sounded? When Romelu Lukaku completed Internazionale’s rout of Milan at the Derby della Madonnina, burying a left foot past Gianluigi Donnarumma for 3-0, would we have even heard what he had to say, above the din of 80,000 fans?
“I’m the fucking best!” The Belgian yelled as he ran to the corner flag, slapping his chest and cursing in both English and Italian. “Me! Me! I told you!”
Not even Zlatan Ibrahimovic dared to disagree, lowering his gaze and offering a resigned applause. This match had been billed as a showdown between them: two superstars whose arrival last season transformed a city’s football fortunes.
For the first time in a decade, Inter and Milan faced each other as the top two teams in the Serie A table. Lukaku topped the division with 16 goals. Ibrahimovic was just two behind despite making nine fewer appearances.
Their rivalry had defined the last editions of this derby. “There is a new king in town” Lukaku tweeted after scoring the final goal in a 4-2 win over Milan last February. When Ibrahimovic scored twice to give his team the points in October, he replied that: “Milan never had a king, they have a GOD”.
Then came a fight in the quarterfinals of last month’s Coppa Italia, when the two forwards had to be separated by teammates. Ibrahimovic was reported to have incited Lukaku with taunts about his mother.
That incident is still being investigated by the Italian Football Federation, but in the meantime it became the subject of a striking mural on the outskirts of San Siro. At a time when much of the color has been stripped from football, the image of Ibrahimovic pressing his forehead against Lukaku’s chin pierced through him – a reminder that even empty stadiums can become a setting for iconic scenes.
There was more to come on Sunday. The fans of both teams sought to create an atmosphere off the pitch, thousands gathered with flares and flags to greet their teams in defiance of social distancing laws. Inside, however, it was left to the players. Lukaku set out to make this occasion his own.
In the fifth minute, he passed Alessio Romagnoli on the right. Simon Kjær crossed to block an early cross, but that meant setting Lautaro Martínez free in the middle. Lukaku rebounded and threw a second pitch to the head of his teammate, who hit him from close range.
Ibrahimovic did not shy away from the challenge. This has been an indifferent season for Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, whose mistakes cost his team dearly in their Coppa Italia semi-final loss to Juventus, but would make a couple of impressive reflex saves after the break to deny the Swedish in the point-blank range. He followed with another good save on a shot by Sandro Tonali.
Then Inter produced a sensational team goal to extend their lead: nine different players touching the ball as they swept from one end to the other, Ivan Perisic playing the last square ball for Martinez to convert from six yards. The Croatian international would also be credited with an assist on the next goal, although it was actually just one man.
Taking possession within the center circle, Lukaku shed Franck Kessié and carried the ball 30 yards to the edge of the penalty area, defeating Romagnoli again before selecting the bottom left corner. His roar of vindication felt like something significant: that moment when a team that has barely competed for honors since the departure of José Mourinho began to regain its self-confidence.
The magnitude of that goal for the title race was obvious. The victory moved Inter four points clear at the top, and the margin guaranteed them a head-to-head tiebreaker over Milan at the top.
the Rossoneri He had stayed in the game admirably, but at 3-0 even his own coach, Stefano Pioli, seemed to acknowledge that the jig was over. Ibrahimovic retired soon after, perhaps with his sights set on Thursday’s Europa League second leg at home to Crvena Zvezda.
Scrutiny of the Swede’s actions in the coming days will be intense. Ibrahimovic is booked to play a role at the SanRemo music festival next week, a commitment he made before extending his contract for this season. The five-day event takes place over 150 miles from Milan, and it seems impossible for you to travel to train with your teammates.
The club was aware of this reserve at the time of Ibrahimovic’s renewal, but few could have anticipated at the time that they would be a challenge for the Scudetto. In fact, they had led this race for the title from the beginning, until the surprise loss to Spezia in the previous round. For the player to leave now feels especially tense.
Fast guide
Serie A Results
Friday: Cagliari 0-1 Turin, Fiorentina 3-0 Spezia. He sat: Genoa 2-2 Verona, Lazio 1-0 Sampdoria, Sassuolo 1-1 Bologna. Sun: Atalanta 4-2 Naples, Benevento 0-0 Rome, Milan 0-3 Inter, Parma 2-2 Udinese. Mon: Juventus v Crotone.
There will be no such distractions for Lukaku, giving his best in the most important games. His assist for Martinez’s opener started almost identically to that provided against Lazio a week earlier, Romagnoli pushed aside just as Marco Parolo had. Lukaku scored two of his against him Biancocelesti, sinking opponents who had previously won six straight games. Sportweek magazine described it as “a mountain that moves to the rhythm of [Italy’s high-speed] Frecciarossa Train “.
Inter is more than one player. Martinez edged out Lukaku on Sunday, and the best aspect of this derby for his coach Antonio Conte might have been the performances of Perisic and Christian Eriksen – two players who so recently didn’t seem to fit into his plans. The former returned from a year on loan at Bayern Munich to an unknown role as a left back, but has thrived there for the past month. The latter finally seems to have carved out a role of his own.
Deployed in various guises as a number 10, a deep playmaker and even a false nine since arriving from Tottenham last January, Eriksen has lately been playing as something of a mixed bag – lining up to the left of a midfield three but playing the position differently from Nicolò Barella on the opposite side. Where Italian is a classic mix it, rushing from box to box and breaking the lines, the Dane roams a bit more widely and is often placed alongside Marcelo Brozovic as a secondary distributor.
His adaptation is still a work in progress, and no one should cast him as the star of this show, but he has become useful to Conte in a way that was not true before.
It’s another little detail in a big picture that suddenly looks very pink. Milan is barely out of sight, while Juventus, at 11 points, have two games less, but for the first time Inter are clearly in command of this Scudetto career. Unlike their rivals, they don’t have other competitions left to distract them either.
More complicated problems await on the horizon as the club’s owners, Suning, are reportedly seeking a bridging loan of about 200 million euros (173 million pounds), at the same time that the leadership in Beijing discourages international investment. On the pitch, however, Inter have found their arrogance. In empty stadiums, they begin to roar.
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