Derby della Madonnina

Scene of a Derby della Madonnina in 1915

On 13 December 1899, Herbert Kilpin and others founded the Milan Cricket and Football Club. Alfred Edwards, a former British vice-consul in Milan and a well-known personality of the Milanese high society, was the club's first elected president. Initially, the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section managed by David Allison. The Milan team soon gained relevant notability under Herbert Kilpin's guide. The first trophy to be won was the Medaglia del Re ("King's Medal") in January 1900, and the team later won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it ended the consecutive series of wins of Genoa, which had been the only team to have won the title prior to 1901. On 9 March 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the foundation of Football Club Internazionale.

The first derby match between the two Milanese rivals was held in the final of the Chiasso Cup of 1908, a football tournament played in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, on 18 October of that year; the Rossoneri won 2–1. While Inter and Milan faced each other sporadically in the early years, the rivalry has been renewed annually since the inaugural 1926–27 season of the Divisione Nazionale, the first truly national Italian league. The two teams have played each other at least twice a year since then.

Gunnar Nordahl scoring a goal in a Milan derby on 25 March 1951

In the 1960s, the Milan derby saw two big stars of Italian football come face-to-face. One of the most representative players of Inter was Sandro Mazzola, the son of former Torino player Valentino Mazzola who, along with most of his Torino teammates, died in the 1949 Superga air disaster after dominating Serie A for four seasons. His Milan counterpart was Gianni Rivera, nicknamed "Golden Boy" for his talent. This era saw brilliant derby matches and an increasing rivalry: while Milan won the European Cup in 1962–63, Inter followed with back-to-back success in the following years. Milan again won the title in 1968–69. During this successful period for both teams, Milan were coached by Nereo Rocco and Inter by Helenio Herrera, both coaching many notable players. The rivalry continued on the Italy national team, where two players from their respective clubs would often not play together, with one usually being substituted by the other at half-time. Rivera ended up losing the starting line-up to Mazzola in the 1970 final against Brazil, in which Italy was defeated 1–4 by the South Americans. He would later enter in the 84th minute after Italy were already far behind. Arguably Milan's greatest-ever era took place during the late 1980s and had extended through to the mid-2000s. Often hailed as the greatest-ever Milan side, the team stemming from the 1989 European champions managed by Arrigo Sacchi, contained legendary Milan players, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Paolo Maldini, amongst others. Milan's dominance, both domestically and internationally, had seen them capture four league titles and three European Cups (finishing runners-up two additional times) between 1989 and 1996. During this time, Inter had gone on to finish runners-up in the 1992–93 season (behind Milan) and won two UEFA Cups.

Adriano heading a goal in a Milan derby on 15 February 2009

The two clubs famously met in the semi-finals of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League, their first ever European matches against one another, in which Milan went through on the away goals rule despite both clubs playing at the same stadium; Milan would go on to win the competition. They met again in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 edition; Milan triumphed on aggregate after UEFA awarded them a 3–0 victory in the second leg, as the match was abandoned due to flares thrown by Inter fans.

Inter's long wait for a league title that began after 1989 finally arrived in 2006, when the Calciopoli scandal stripped Juventus of the 2005–06 title (as well as deducting points from Milan's final overall total) and handed it to Inter, who originally finished third behind both Juventus and Milan. This was seen as a controversial decision by many, as even though the title won the previous season by Juventus was also stripped, it was left unawarded, which many felt should have also been the case with the 2005–06 title. Inter went on to win the 2006–07 Serie A title as well in a season that saw Juventus relegated from the top division, and Milan, as punishment, starting the season with negative points. Inter's triumphant campaign included a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories and victories in both fixtures against Milan. During the same season, however, Milan had captured their seventh European Cup/UEFA Champions League, defeating Liverpool in the final in Athens. As the Italian league recovered from the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal, Inter continued to dominate, winning each league up until the 2009–10 season in which they secured the title on the last day of the season. That season had also seen Inter become the first Italian side to win a treble. In addition to their league title, Inter also secured the Coppa Italia and their first Champions League title since 1965. The following season, however, Milan, with the acquisition of several players that included former Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, recaptured the Scudetto, their 18th overall, leading the league standings from as early as November until the end of the season. That season also saw Milan win both derby matches, keeping clean sheets in both fixtures.

Between the 2011–12 and 2019–20, both Milan teams lagged behind Juventus in Serie A, with a disappointing ninth-place finish for Inter in 2012–13 and a difficult campaign for Milan in 2014–15, finishing tenth. However, Inter ended Juventus' nine-year streak by winning their 19th title in 2020–21, overtaking Milan's total. Milan tied Inter's total by winning their own 19th title in the following season.

The two clubs met once again in the semi-finals of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League; the tie was their first European derby in 18 years, as well as being both clubs' first appearances in the semi-finals since winning the trophy in 2007 and 2010 respectively. Inter won the tie, defeating Milan 2–0 in the first leg and 1–0 in the second, reaching the final.

As of 16 September 2023

Top goalscorers

As of 16 May 2023

Below is the list of players who have scored at least six goals in official meetings.

The Rossonero Andriy Shevchenko, the top scorer of the Milan derby (14), and Giuseppe Meazza, the highest scorer of the Nerazzurri (12)

Rank	Player	Team(s) (goals)	Goals
1	Andriy Shevchenko	Milan	14
2	Giuseppe Meazza	Inter (12) Milan (1)	13
3	Gunnar Nordahl	Milan	11
	István Nyers	Inter
5	Zlatan Ibrahimović	Inter (2) Milan (8)	10
	Enrico Candiani	Inter (7) Milan (3)
7	Lautaro Martínez	Inter	8
8	José Altafini	Milan	7
	Alessandro Altobelli	Inter
	Roberto Boninsegna	Inter
	Benito Lorenzi	Inter
	Louis Van Hege	Milan
13	Aldo Boffi	Milan	6
	Aldo Cevenini	Milan (4) Inter (2)
	Attilio Demaría	Inter
	Sandro Mazzola	Inter
	Diego Milito	Inter
	Pietro Serantoni	Inter

Most appearances

As of 5 February 2023

Below is the list of players who have played at least thirty games in official meetings.

The Rossonero Paolo Maldini, the record appearance-maker of the Milan derby (56) and Javier Zanetti, the record appearance-maker of the Nerazzurri (47)

Rank	Player	Team(s) (apps)	Apps
1	Paolo Maldini	Milan	56
2	Javier Zanetti	Inter	47
3	Giuseppe Bergomi	Inter	44
4	Alessandro Costacurta	Milan	43
5	Gianni Rivera	Milan	42
6	Giacinto Facchetti	Inter	40
	Sandro Mazzola	Inter
	Giuseppe Meazza	Inter (37) Milan (3)
9	Franco Baresi	Milan	39
10	Mauro Tassotti	Milan	35
11	Tarcisio Burgnich	Inter	34
12	Giuseppe Baresi	Inter	33
	Mario Corso	Inter
14	Marco Sala	Milan (31) Inter (1)	32
15	Clarence Seedorf	Inter (7) Milan (24)	31
	Luigi Perversi	Milan

Manager appearances

As of 16 September 2023

Rank	Manager	Team(s) (apps)	Apps
1	Nereo Rocco	Milan	25
2	Helenio Herrera	Inter	20
	Giuseppe Viani	Milan
4	Carlo Ancelotti	Milan	19
	Antonio Busini	Milan
6	Fabio Capello	Milan	18
7	Nils Liedholm	Milan	16
	Stefano Pioli	Inter (2) Milan (14)
9	Roberto Mancini	Inter	14
10	Giovanni Trapattoni	Milan (3) Inter (10)	13
11	Virgilio Fossati	Inter	12
	Árpád Weisz	Inter
13	József Bánás	Milan	10
	Eugenio Bersellini	Inter
	Simone Inzaghi	Inter
16	Adolfo Baloncieri	Milan	9
	Arrigo Sacchi	Milan

• Total: Milan with 40 higher finishes, Inter with 48 higher finishes, and 1 equal finish (as of the end of the 2022–23 season). No head-to-heads in 1981 and 1983, since Milan was in Serie B.

Notes:

• 1945–46 Italian Football Championship is not included in Serie A statistics.
• Both teams finished with the same number of points in 1958, and the regulation of the time did not contemplate tiebreakers: both teams finished in ninth place.
• Both teams finished with the same number of points in 1991, but Milan had better goal difference: Milan finished in second place, Inter in third.

Note: Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. Player names in bold are still active for one of the two clubs. Updated per 16 September 2023.

Inter, then Milan

Ronaldo's Inter Milan away jersey (left) and A.C. Milan away jersey (right) in the San Siro museum. He played for Inter from 1997 to 2002, and A.C. Milan from 2007 to 2008

Player	Pos.	Inter			Milan
		Tenure	Apps	Goals	Tenure	Apps	Goals
Mario Cevenini	DF	1915–1916	3	0	1916–1919	4	2
		1919–1921	36	1
Pietro Bronzini	FW	1915–1916	?	?	1916–1917	4	0
					1919–1926	139	5
Eugenio Negri	MF	1918–1919	0	0	1919–1920	1	0
Luigi Binda	GK	1912–1913	0	0	1919–1922	48	0
					1923–1925	2	0
Antonio Da Sacco	DF	1920–1922	36	0	1923–1925	14	0
Orlando Bocchi	MF	1925–1926	?	?	1930–1932	35	2
Enrico Rivolta	MF	1922–1933	265	54	1936–1937	0	0
Renato De Manzano	MF	1933–1934	14	2	1936–1937	11	0
Elpidio Coppa	MF	1932–1934	1	0	1938–1939	11	2
Carlo Villa	MF	1936–1937	23	1	1944–1945	14	0
Umberto Guarnieri	FW	1938–1942	52	25	1944–1945	20	6
Giuseppe Meazza	FW	1927–1940	348	241	1940–1942	37	9
		1946–1947	17	2
Celso Battaia	DF	1938–1940	4	0	1946–1947	13	0
		1941–1943	29	0
		1943–1944	11	0
		1944–1945	12	0
Enrico Candiani	MF	1937–1946	187	71	1949–1950	22	8
Narciso Soldan	GK	1949–1951	42	0	1956–1959	36	0
Giorgio Ghezzi	GK	1951–1958	186	0	1959–1965	123	0
Saul Malatrasi	DF	1964–1966	22	0	1967–1970	67	0
Antonio Angelillo	FW	1957–1961	113	68	1965–1966	11	1
					1967–1968	3	1
Aldo Bet	DF	1967–1968	8	0	1974–1981	144	0
Egidio Calloni	FW	1968–1970	0	0	1974–1978	101	31
Massimo Silva	FW	1968–1971	0	0	1976–1977	20	4
Giorgio Morini	MF	1967–1968	0	0	1976–1981	75	4
Oscar Damiani	DF	1968–1969	0	0	1982–1984	55	17
Adelio Moro	MF	1972–1975	61	9	1981–1982	19	1
Tiziano Manfrin	MF	1973–1974	0	0	1982–1983	17	0
Nazzareno Canuti	DF	1974–1982	130	1	1982–1983	35	0
Giancarlo Pasinato	MF	1978–1982	96	6	1982–1983	33	7
		1983–1985	35	2
Aldo Serena	FW	1978–1981	2	1	1982–1983	20	8
		1981–1983	21	2
		1983–1985	28	8
		1987–1991	114	45	1991–1993	10	0
Maurizio Ganz	FW	1995–1997	68	26	1998–2001	40	9
Giorgio Frezzolini	GK	1995–2001	0	0	1999	0	0
Pierluigi Orlandini	MF	1994–1996	30	4	2000	2	1
Taribo West	DF	1997–1999	44	1	2000–2001	4	1
Ronaldo	FW	1997–2002	68	49	2007–2008	20	9
Cyril Domoraud	DF	1999–2001	6	0	2001–2004	0	0
Andrea Pirlo	MF	1998–2001	22	0	2001–2011	284	32
Dario Šimić	DF	1999–2002	66	3	2002–2008	82	1
Marco Varaldi	GK	2000–2003	0	0	2003–2008	0	0
Christian Vieri	FW	1999–2005	143	103	2005–2006	8	1
Clarence Seedorf	MF	2000–2002	64	8	2002–2012	300	47
Luca Ceccarelli	DF	2002	0	0	2003	0	0
Salvatore Ferraro	DF	2002	1	0	2003–2008	0	0
Hernán Crespo	FW	2002–2003	18	7	2004–2005	28	11
		2006–2008	49	18
		2008–2009	14	2
Giuseppe Favalli	DF	2004–2006	49	0	2006–2010	75	2
Attila Filkor	MF	2006–2010	0	0	2010–2015	0	0
Cristian Daminuță	DF	2008–2010	0	0	2010–2015	0	0
Mattia Destro	FW	2005–2010	0	0	2015	15	3
Zlatan Ibrahimović	FW	2006–2009	88	57	2010–2012	61	42
					2020–2023	64	34
Mario Balotelli	FW	2007–2010	59	20	2013–2014	43	26
					2015–2016	20	1
Mancini	FW	2008–2011	26	1	2010	7	0
Sulley Muntari	MF	2008–2012	66	7	2012	13	3
					2012–2015	57	8
Giampaolo Pazzini	FW	2011–2012	50	16	2012–2015	74	21
Andrea Poli	MF	2011–2012	18	0	2013–2017	90	3
Matías Silvestre	DF	2012–2015	9	0	2013–2014	4	1
Diego Laxalt	DF	2013–2016	0	0	2018–2021	24	0
Leonardo Bonucci	DF	2005–2006	1	0	2017–2018	35	2
		2006–2009	0	0

Milan, then Inter

Player	Pos.	Milan			Inter
		Tenure	Apps	Goals	Tenure	Apps	Goals
Hugo Rietmann	MF	1906–1908	2	0	1909	1	0
Carlo Hopf	MF	1908	0	0	1909	2	0
Arnaldo Woelkel	MF	1908	?	?	1909	2	0
Franco Bontadini	MF	1910–1911	7	1	1911–1920	47	28
Gustavo Carrer	FW	1904–1907	2	0	1912–1913	6	0
		1909–1912	38	6
Giuseppe Rizzi	MF	1904–1907	7	3	1913–1915	20	0
		1910–1913	42	16
Aldo Cevenini	FW	1909–1912	42	15	1912–1915	51	42
		1915–1919	42	48	1919–1921	18	2
					1922–1923	22	1
Luigi Cevenini	FW	1911–1912	1	1	1912–1915	55	63
		1915–1919	7	5	1919–1921	40	54
					1922–1927	94	42
Julio Bavastro	FW	1910–1913	37	4	1913–1916	41	10
Marco Sala	DF	1908–1920	90	3	1921–1922	18	0
Cesare Cevenini	DF	1917–1918	0	0	1919–1923	12	3
					1926–1927	?	?
Carlo Cevenini	FW	1917–1920	9	2	1920–1921	16	15
		1923–1927	68	25
Francesco Soldera	MF	1914–1924	108	9	1924–1925	1	0
Guglielmo Gajani	MF	1918–1919	0	0	1927–1928	?	?
		1925–1927	18	0
Giovanni Bolzoni	DF	1924–1925	1	0	1928–1932	71	0
		1926–1927	4	0
Alessandro Savelli	MF	1923–1927	78	35	1927–1928	16	6
Emilio Gattoronchieri	MF	1934–1936	7	0	1936–1938	15	0
Bernardo Poli	DF	1933–1935	0	0	1939–1944	46	2
Oliviero Mascheroni	MF	1934–1936	6	0	1941–1942	13	3
Savino Bellini	MF	1943–1944	0	0	1945–1946	7	1
Romano Penzo	FW	1943–1944	11	4	1945–1946	27	8
Sergio Marchi	DF	1944–1945	17	0	1945–1948	88	0
Lino Grava	DF	1947–1949	3	0	1952–1953	1	0
Bruno Mazza	MF	1942–1943	3	1	1952–1955	83	7
Celestino Celio	MF	1952–1953	26	0	1955–1956	16	1
Eugenio Rizzolini	DF	1955–1956	0	0	1956–1959	4	1
Lorenzo Buffon	GK	1949–1959	277	0	1960–1963	79	0
Gaetano Salvemini	FW	1958–1959	0	0	1968–1969	0	0
Víctor Benítez	DF	1962–1963	12	1	1967–1968	8	1
		1964–1965	16	1
Dario Barluzzi	GK	1962–1967	85	0	1967–1968	0	0
Aquilino Bonfanti	MF	1964–1965	3	0	1967–1968	7	1
Nevio Scala	MF	1965–1969	11	0	1973–1975	26	1
		1975–1976	23	0
Fulvio Collovati	DF	1976–1982	158	4	1982–1986	109	3
Sergio Battistini	DF	1980–1985	162	29	1990–1994	112	10
Fabrizio Ferron	GK	1985–1986	0	0	1999–2000	4	0
Francesco Toldo	GK	1990–1993	0	0	2001–2010	148	0
Christian Panucci	DF	1993–1996	89	9	1999–2001	26	1
Cristian Brocchi	MF	1994–1998	0	0	2000–2001	15	1
		2001–2008	99	4
Roberto Baggio	FW	1995–1997	51	12	1998–2000	41	9
Stefano Lombardi	DF	1993–1994	0	0	2000–2004	0	0
Francesco Coco	DF	1995–2002	56	2	2002–2007	26	0
Edgar Davids	MF	1996–1997	19	0	2004–2005	14	0
Patrick Vieira	MF	1995–1996	2	0	2006–2010	67	6
Guly	MF	1998–2001	57	6	2001–2004	30	0
Domenico Morfeo	MF	1998–1999	11	1	2002–2003	17	1
Thomas Helveg	DF	1998–2003	105	0	2003–2004	23	0
Dražen Brnčić	MF	2000–2001	1	0	2001–2003	0	0
Ümit Davala	DF	2001–2002	10	0	2002–2004	0	0
Marco Fossati	MF	2002–2007	—	—	2007–2010	—	—
		2010–2011	—	—
		2011–2015	0	0
Antonio Cassano	FW	2011–2012	33	7	2012–2013	28	7
Matteo Darmian	DF	2006–2010	4	0	2020–present	89	6
Hakan Çalhanoğlu	MF	2017–2021	135	22	2021–present	75	12
Raoul Bellanova	DF	2018–2019	0	0	2022–2023	18	0
Francesco Acerbi	DF	2012–2013	6	0	2022–present	36	1

• József Viola (1928–1929. Inter, 1933–1934, 1938–1940. Milan)
• Giuseppe Bigogno (1946–1949. Milan, 1958–1959. Inter)
• Giovanni Trapattoni (1974, 1975–1976. Milan, 1986–1991. Inter)
• Luigi Radice (1981–1982. Milan, 1983–1984. Inter)
• Ilario Castagner (1982–1984. Milan, 1984–1985. Inter)
• Alberto Zaccheroni (1998–2001. Milan, 2003–2004. Inter)
• Leonardo Araújo (2009–2010. Milan, 2010–2011. Inter)
• Stefano Pioli (2016–2017. Inter, 2019–present Milan)

also

• Aldo Cevenini (1909–1912, 1915–1919. Milan, 1912–1915, 1919–1921, 1922–1923. Inter as player, 1916–1918. Milan as coach)
• Francesco Soldera (1914–1924. Milan, 1924–1926. Inter as player, 1922. Milan as coach)
• Giuseppe Marchi (1926–1933. Milan as player, 1942–1944. Inter as youth team coach)
• Mariano Tansini (1927–1930, 1933–1934. Milan as player, 1949–1950. Inter as coach)
• Giuseppe Meazza (1927–1940, 1946–1947. Inter, 1940–1942. Milan as player, 1946–1948, 1955–1956, 1957. Inter as coach)
• Giuseppe Viani (1928–1934. Inter as player, 1957–1960. Milan as coach)
• Italo Galbiati (1958–1960. Inter as player, 1981, 1982, 1984. Milan as coach)
• Luigi Radice (1955–1959, 1960, 1961–1965. Milan as player, 1981–1982. Milan, 1983–1984. Inter as coach)
• Lorenzo Barlassina (1965–1968. Inter, ?–?. Milan as chief executive officer)
• Giorgio Morini (1967–1968. Inter, 1976–1981. Milan as player, 1996. Milan as coach)
• Giovanni Trapattoni (1959–1971. Milan as player, 1974, 1975–1976. Milan, 1986–1991. Inter as coach)
• Osvaldo Bagnoli (1955–1957. Milan as player, 1992–1994. Inter as coach)
• Sergio Maddè (1965–1967. Milan as player, 1992–1994. Inter as assistant coach)
• Ottavio Bianchi (1973–1974. Milan as player, 1994–1995. Inter as coach)
• Massimo Pedrazzini (1969–1975. Milan as player, 1991–1996. Milan, 1996–1997, 1998–2000. Inter as youth team coach, 2000–2001. Inter as assistant coach)
• Giuliano Terraneo (1984–1986. Milan as player, 2000. Inter as sports director)
• Leonardo Araújo (1997–2001, 2002–2003. Milan as player, 2009–2010. Milan, 2010–2011. Inter as coach)
• Carmine Nunziata (1985–1986. Inter as player, 2010–2011. Milan as assistant coach)
• Beniamino Abate (1991–1994. Inter as player, 2001–2008. Milan as goalkeeper coach)
• Marco Landucci (1995–1996. Inter as player, 2010–2014. Milan as goalkeeper coach)
• Paolo Benetti (1982–1983. Milan as player, 2011–2012. Inter as assistant coach)
• Clarence Seedorf (2000–2002. Inter, 2002–2012. Milan as player, 2014. Milan as coach)
• Giulio Nuciari (1982–1988. Milan as player, 2014–2016. Inter as assistant coach)
• Siniša Mihajlović (2004–2006. Inter as player, 2006–2008. Inter as assistant coach, 2015–2016. Milan as coach)
• Cristian Brocchi (1994–1998, 2001–2008. Milan, 2000–2001. Inter as player, 2016. Milan as coach)
• Stefano Agresti (1998–2001. Milan, 2003–2004. Inter as assistant coach)
• Marco Fassone (2012–2015. Inter, 2017–2018. Milan as chief executive officer)
• Matteo Villa (1988–1989. Milan as player, 2017–present Inter as youth team coach)
• Davide Lucarelli (2016–2017. Inter, 2019–present Milan as assistant coach)
• Giacomo Murelli (2016–2017. Inter, 2019–present Milan as assistant coach)
• Luca Castellazzi (2010–2014. Inter as player, 2022–present Milan as youth team goalkeeper coach)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Derby della Madonnina.

• All about AC Milan and Inter Milan
• Inter's archive about the Milan derby
• Milan derby: chronology and statistics
• STORIA DEL DERBY DELLA "MADONNINA"