Serie A

MANCHESTER CITY could find a familiar face standing in the way of their Champions League dream.Two Premier League castaways dominated the Milan derby in this semi-final first-leg as ex-City man Edin Dzeko and former Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan stunned AC Milan and left Inter on the brink of a first final since 2010.
Edin Dzeko hooked a left-footed shot into the back of the netCredit: Reuters
Henrikh Mkhitaryan made it 2-0 after 11 minutesCredit: Getty
This famous old stadium was literally shaking with deafening noise from both sides of the Milanese support over an hour before this city’s biggest game in two decades.
Milan’s ultras unveiled a shimmering tifo of Satan and a sign warning: ‘Hell is empty, all the devils are here.’
The devil may have been here but Rafael Leao wasn’t, not in the XI or on the bench. The first of Milan’s many problems.
Milan’s ferocious support had been building up to this since meeting in the city’s Piazza del Duomo yesterday morning, only to have their dreams shattered inside ten minutes by Dzeko.
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With Leao not fit and another Premier League outcast in Romelu Lukaku left on the bench for Inter, these two were spearheaded by European veterans in Dzeko, 37, and 36-year-old Olivier Giroud.
And it was Dzeko using every ounce of his experience to carve a superb opener on eight minutes, drifting towards the back post to meet Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner and hooking his leg around marker Davide Calabria to divert it in.
Giroud barely had a kick, isolated and ineffective up top.
Milan were shocked and the back four were still reeling when 34-year-old Mkhitaryan strolled through and smashed home a second three minutes later as they watched on standing stock still.
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Dzeko celebrates his early openerCredit: Getty
Mkhitaryan wheels away after scoring Inter’s secondCredit: Getty
In a theatre of thunderous support for two teams desperately fearing the horror of losing to one another, this was expected to be a cagey affair.
But Inter are in a fine vein of form, having won five on the bounce and climbed above Milan in Serie A at the weekend, and were having none of it.
Milan were terrified and chaotic, Inter rampant and ruthless.
Across six previous Champions League semi-finals at San Siro, Milan had conceded just one goal. Now they’d shipped two in 11 minutes.
It could have been three five minutes later when Calhanoglu crashed an effort against the inside of the post from 25-yards before Mkhitaryan’s follow-up was stopped by Mike Maignan.
Fikayo Tomori and Simon Kjaer were spared more embarrassment when, after Lautaro Martinez wriggled between them and hit the deck, the Spanish referee overturned his decision to award a penalty following a VAR review.
But Milan did not take the chance handed to them, and waves of Inter chances continued largely unchallenged.
Dimarco, Martinez and Denzel Dumfries all had chances to make it three before the break.
Leao, watching from the stands alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, buried his head in his hands.
Ibrahimovic was doing much the same late in the second half.
Substitute Junior Messias sent one shot wide but it was still all blue and black after immediately after the restart.
Milan’s tremendous support refused to give up, filling San Siro with red smoke and letting off two ear-splitting fire-crackers to try and spark their side into life.
It almost worked too, with Sandro Tonali clipping the post with a low shot as they looked more threatening.
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If Stefano Pioli’s side had offered half the ferocity of those in the Curva Sud this would have been a very different tie – but their slight second half improvement was never enough.
Having never beaten Milan in a European tie before this, it was Inter’s night and a shot at immortality is theirs to claim in next week’s return leg.
Lautaro Martinez thought he’d won a first-half penaltyCredit: Getty
Rafael Leao had to watch on from the standsCredit: Getty More

A 100-YEAR-OLD Inter Milan fan says he would give up his pension to see them beat rivals AC tonight – despite only recently watching his beloved team live for the first time.Both sides are also battling it out in Serie A this season with just two points separate Inter in fourth and Stefano Pioli’s side in fifth.
The 100-year-old Enrico Vanzini says he would give up his pension for an Inter winCredit: Reuters
The former prisoner of war only watched Inter live for the first time last yearCredit: Reuters
But they take their domestic rivalry onto the continent later in what promises to be a tasty Champions League semi-final first leg at the San Siro.
Inter supporter Enrico Vanzini only went to the club’s iconic stadium to watch them play for the first time last year at the age of 99.
But the Holocaust survivor is preparing to watch this evening’s huge showdown with Milan from the nursing home he lives at in the northern city of Padua.
Speaking to Reuters, Vanzini said: “My passion began when I was seven… I was never able to go, and I had no money.
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“I prayed to God to give me the joy of Inter winning, and hopefully he will agree.
“I would do anything (for a win), including (giving up) my small pension.”
Vanzini was a soldier in the Italian army during World War Two and was captured by the Germans and held as a prisoner of war after Italy surrendered to the Allies in 1943.
He managed to survive for the final few months of war in the Dachau Nazi concentration camp and would later work as a bus and truck driver after finally returning home.
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Vanzini received his signed Inter shirt from the club to mark his 100th birthday and has now learned how to use an iPad to follow his favourite team.
He said: “In the past, I used to visit friends who had a television … and if I was driving the bus I used to tell people: ‘Don’t shout please, I have to listen to something’.”
Vanzini is also a huge admirer of manager Simone Inzaghi and had one last message for his heroes: “In the first half, we must not get too tired, everyone must be in their place.”
Vanzini will be watching tonight’s clash from his care home in PaduaCredit: Reuters More

INTER MILAN are set for their first Champions League semi-final in 13 years on Wednesday evening.Both legs of their tie come at the San Siro against bitter rivals AC Milan as Simone Inzaghi’s side bid to claim a fourth European crown.
Inter Milan’s iconic blue and black saw them nicknamed the “Nerazzurri”Credit: Instagram / @inter
Inter have not reached the Champions League semi-finals since 2010Credit: AP
How the original Inter badge looked
And while the intrigue of their rivals’ badge comes from the cross on their emblem, the interesting part of Inter’s comes in the form of their chosen colours.
The blue and black combination represents the sky and the night.
This explains their nickname, the Nerazzurri, with “Ner” meaning black and “Azzurri” meaning blue.
They are also known affectionately as The Grass Snake or Serpente.
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This relates to the emblem of the House of Visconte – a Milan family who controlled the city in the 13th century.
What’s more, the circle of the badge holds within it the letters “FCIM” – which stand for FC Inter Milan.
The club crest was first created in 1908 and modernised in 2014 – but has principally remained the same.
And Inter will be hoping the 2022/23 campaign is a memorable one.
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They last celebrated a European triumph under Jose Mourinho, beating Bayern Munich to lift the Champions League in 2010.
The victory added to their back-to-back European titles in 1964 and 1965.
But standing in their way are bitter rivals AC Milan, before a potential final against either Real Madrid or Manchester City. More