El Derbissimo - or, Ultras and Riots

El Derbissimo. The Milan derby. This is the game with the best reputation in Italy, played in the best spirit, the game with the best atmosphere...

All that went up in smoke last night.

The game started well. It was fast-paced and furious as Inter, needing to score at least twice, gave it everything they had. Me, I couldn't take my eyes off Seba Verón, who had actual hair for the first time since I first saw him play. A Number One buzzcut, true, but still - hair.

There were a few dodgy refereeing decisions, but when aren't there? Andriy Shevchenko gave Milan the lead, and a 3-0 aggregate score, with a truly beautiful long-range goal, but in truth was lucky to still be on the field after earlier appearing to headbutt Materazzi.

Crespo had a quiet game. I was disappointed to see him substituted on 69 minutes, but Alessandro Nesta was still on the field, and it was a good game, holding my interest...

On 71 minutes Inter had what appeared a perfectly good goal disallowed. And all hell broke loose. Behind the Milan goal, Inter's Ultras started hurling missiles onto the pitch. Milan's goal keeper, Nelson Dida, was brave and stood his ground, attempting to clear away the debris so he could take his free kick. But then he was hit on the shoulder by a lit flare! Luckily, it was only a slight burn, but that was just the start of the mayhem. The players and officials had to huddle together in the middle of the pitch while something like 50 lit flares rained down on at that far end of the pitch. They couldn't leave the ground because the tunnel was at that end.

After almost 15 minutes they finally were able to run for it, escaping to safety. About 10 minutes later again, the game was restarted - for all of 30 seconds. Missiles and flares continued to rain down. It was unsafe for the players to be out there. The game was abandoned.

I'm quite glad Crespo had already gone off before all that happened.

Inter will no doubt now face major sanctions, and Milan will be awarded the win and go through to the semi-finals. And the beautiful game has been brought into disrepute once more. :(

El Derbissimo - or, Ultras and Riots

El Derbissimo. The Milan derby. This is the game with the best reputation in Italy, played in the best spirit, the game with the best atmosphere...

All that went up in smoke last night.

The game started well. It was fast-paced and furious as Inter, needing to score at least twice, gave it everything they had. Me, I couldn't take my eyes off Seba Verón, who had actual hair for the first time since I first saw him play. A Number One buzzcut, true, but still - hair.

There were a few dodgy refereeing decisions, but when aren't there? Andriy Shevchenko gave Milan the lead, and a 3-0 aggregate score, with a truly beautiful long-range goal, but in truth was lucky to still be on the field after earlier appearing to headbutt Materazzi.

Crespo had a quiet game. I was disappointed to see him substituted on 69 minutes, but Alessandro Nesta was still on the field, and it was a good game, holding my interest...

On 71 minutes Inter had what appeared a perfectly good goal disallowed. And all hell broke loose. Behind the Milan goal, Inter's Ultras started hurling missiles onto the pitch. Milan's goal keeper, Nelson Dida, was brave and stood his ground, attempting to clear away the debris so he could take his free kick. But then he was hit on the shoulder by a lit flare! Luckily, it was only a slight burn, but that was just the start of the mayhem. The players and officials had to huddle together in the middle of the pitch while something like 50 lit flares rained down on at that far end of the pitch. They couldn't leave the ground because the tunnel was at that end.

After almost 15 minutes they finally were able to run for it, escaping to safety. About 10 minutes later again, the game was restarted - for all of 30 seconds. Missiles and flares continued to rain down. It was unsafe for the players to be out there. The game was abandoned.

I'm quite glad Crespo had already gone off before all that happened.

Inter will no doubt now face major sanctions, and Milan will be awarded the win and go through to the semi-finals. And the beautiful game has been brought into disrepute once more. :(