Serie A title, a second star and futures on the line as San Siro braces for Milan Derby for the ages

If an Inter Milan fan had the chance to script how they would win a landmark 20th Serie A title, this would be it.

On Monday night, the most tantalising prospect imaginable is within the grasp of the Nerazzurri.

Win against their fiercest rivals AC Milan and the title is theirs. It would be the first time a Serie A championship had ever been won in a derby match.

Win, and they will edge ahead of Milan into sole second place in the all-time Scudetto list with 20 titles, behind only Juventus on 36. That would earn them a second golden star on their jersey next season, as the coveted stitch is awarded for every 10 league crowns conquered.

Win, and they will have the league wrapped up with five games to spare.

Win, and they might well end the Stefano Pioli era on the other side of town - and under their enemy's noses, with this game being a Milan 'home' match.

This most mouthwatering of Serie A showdowns will be shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+ on Monday, April 22.

The odds are stacked against Milan delaying the inevitable Inter title party.

By almost every measure, Simone Inzaghi’s men have bettered their neighbours this season, and the combination of the form book, recent history and contrasting atmospheres at the two clubs make a blue-and-black celebration look likely.

Inter have the best attack in the league by a distance, with 77 goals scored to next-best Milan’s 63, and the best defence by a landslide with 17 conceded to next-best Bologna’s 25.

Lautaro Martinez is miles ahead at the top of the scoring charts, with 23 goals to nearest rival Dusan Vlahovic’s 16, while they are the first team to score in each of their first 32 games in a season.

It does not end there. With 26 wins in 32 games - and only one defeat - Inter are fast closing in on the club record of 30 wins in a single league campaign set back in 2006/07, the year after the Calciopoli scandal that saw Juventus demoted and Fiorentina, Milan and Lazio receive points deductions.

Last season’s surprising run to the UEFA Champions League final gave this team an extra swagger that has been evident throughout the campaign and the architect of that run, Inzaghi, is closing in on his sixth trophy in three years as Inter coach but his career-first league title.

The Inter coach is a man who likes to not look too far ahead, but even he could not help but admit that Monday’s Milanese spectacle is an opportunity that cannot be missed.

“Winning the title of the second star in the derby would obviously be nice. We’re preparing to try and cross the finish line on Monday,” he said.

The good news for Interisti is that Inzaghi appears to be going nowhere soon despite having only one year left on his contract.

“At the end of the season we will sit down and talk; there won’t be any problems to continue on this path together,” he said last week. It's a daunting prospect for the rest of the league.

Things on the other side of Milan are not looking quite as rosy, to say the least.

A glance at the league table might tell you that the Rossoneri are on course for a comfortable and creditable runners-up finish, but the atmosphere at the club is far from content after a year when momentum has stalled.

Coach Stefano Pioli has been in the firing line and media reports in Italy suggest that Monday’s game could be decisive.

Although he led the Rossoneri to their first Scudetto in 11 years in 2021/22 and their first Champions League semi-final since 2007 last season, Pioli has struggled to get his team ticking this term.

Thursday’s Europa League exit to a Roma side sitting three places below them in the league standings led to a public dressing-down of the squad from angry visiting fans as tensions deepened.

The following day, Gazzetta dello Sport described Pioli as “trembling” ahead of Monday’s derby, and even said “the derby might not be enough” to secure another season at the helm.

Milan’s senior players have also come in for criticism after an inconsistent season that can be summed up by the last two months as they were on a seven-match winning run before defeats in both legs of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final sandwiched a wild 3-3 draw with second-bottom Sassuolo.

After exiting Europe with a whimper, a runners-up finish will be scant consolation, and handing the title to their rivals in front of their own fans would be unforgivable.

It is not only Inter’s stunning season that will give Milanisti restless nights leading up to Monday’s showdown. This fixture has been a disaster for them of late, with Inter winning each of the last five meetings by an aggregate score of 12-1, including both legs of last season’s Champions League semi-final.

The 5-1 thumping they suffered back in September was the heaviest defeat in the fixture since a 4-0 win for Inter in August 2009 and the first time a team had conceded at least five Milan Derby goals since Milan’s 6-0 victory in May 2001.

Revenge would be sweet, not only to right the wrongs of that awful night, but to deny their cross-city cousins the satisfaction of wrapping up this inevitable Scudetto behind enemy lines.

If Milan can rediscover their free-scoring swagger of March at the opportune moment, they will hope a dangerous attack of Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud can have enough firepower to cause problems for an Inter side that has shown a few rare signs of frailty recently.

Before their devastating Champions League last 16 penalty shoot-out defeat to Atletico Madrid, Inter had won 13 games in a row. Since then, it is two wins and two draws - most recently at home to a Cagliari side fighting relegation. There is a sliver of hope for the red and blue side of the city to take from that.

For Milan, it is bad enough to know that an open-top bus parade through the city has already been planned for Tuesday.

It will not be long before the celebrations begin - but Pioli will hope for his own future and the pride of his supporters that they can at least be delayed a little longer.

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