AC Milan vs Inter Milan

Stadio San Siro is the venue as AC Milan and Inter Milan go head-to-head in the first leg of their mouth-watering Coppa Italia semi-final tie.

Milan turned a 1-0 half-time lead into a 1-1 draw against Udinese last time out, their second consecutive draw against current Serie A relegation fighters in a row. However, ‘I Rossoneri’ came from behind to beat Inter 2-1 in the latest installment of the famed Derby della Madonnina earlier this year. What’s more, they are unbeaten in seven of their last eight Coppa Italia, Champions League and Supercoppa Italiana meetings with arch-rivals (W4, D3). It is worth noting, though, that Milan have drawn 11 (65%) of their 17 Coppa Italia semi-finals first legs, winning only two of their remaining six such fixtures (L4). Yet, after claiming an overwhelming 4-0 win over Lazio in the previous Coppa Italia round, Stefano Pioli’s side will feel confident about their ambitions to stretch a four-game unbeaten home streak in all competitions (W2, D2).

In the meantime, Inter Milan wasted a glorious opportunity to regain control at the Serie A summit as they were held to a dismal ‘nil-nil’ draw to relegation-threatened Genoa last time out. ‘I Nerazzurri’ head into proceedings winless in their last four matches across all competitions (D2, L2), scoring just once in that sequence! Signs are ominous for the reigning Serie A champions, as they have failed to make it through to the Coppa Italia grand final in any of their last four semi-final appearances. Simone Inzaghi’s men can at least find some comfort knowing that they’ve found the net in their last nine competitive meetings with Milan, their longest scoring streak against bitter rivals in the 21st century. Though they will be only nominal visitors here, it’s worth mentioning that Inter have drawn their last three away matches, two of which featured the same 0-0 scoreline.