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Inter Milan mauls AC Milan, 4-0

InterMilanRomp (GettyImages)

The scoreboard says it all.

The Milan Derby wasn't much of a contest on Saturday as Inter Milan shredded AC Milan's defense in a first-half display of dominance that has Inter talking another Scudetto and AC Milan fans wondering if their team is just too old.

Inter's 4-0 win, driven by beautiful goals by Thiago Motta and Maicon, will serve notice that Jose Mourinho's men are ready to be a serious challenger to the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United for the European title. We won't have to wait long to see where Inter stands against those clubs. The reigning Serie A champions face FC Barcelona in Champions League group play on Sept. 16th.

If you missed Inter's destruction of AC Milan, here are the highlights (and Milan lowlights, including a Gattuso red card):

What did you think of Inter's performance on Saturday? See Mourinho finally leading Inter to a European title? Still think Juventus is capable of knocking off the champs? Think AC Milan will slip out of the Top Four in Serie A?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Oh, I think we all agree that the best thing in the world would be for Leonardo to get sacked and Nesta to retire the same weekend. A) Gooch probably plays and b) that elbow-throwing prick is unemployed. Just warms my heart to think about it.

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  2. Maicon’s celebration was Awesome.

    Posted by: mark | August 30, 2009 at 02:07 PM

    SENSATIONAL CELEBRATION!!!
    1:18 glorious goal! force of nature everyone watching knew was going in – like a bullet train full speed towards goal – wow
    1:28 he ran *full speed* to the other side of the field, into the stands to celebrate with his supporters!!!
    1:46 hugs teammates aggressively, grabs dude head with one hand
    1:52 still celebrating!!!

    Maicon best XI no doubt

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  3. THANK GOD that GOOCH didn’t play! If he would of played, the Milan fans & media would of been all over Leonardo for putting in an American in a vital classic!lol I just know for a fact that Gooch would have been the blamed for the mistakes on D! I think the Gooch has a good thing going right now. He will get his chances to play, and will seal a starting spot.

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  4. The 1st and 3rd goals show what the absolute biggest problem in the Milan first XI is, LB.

    The only way that I see this making room in the first XI for Onyewu is if Leonardo is forced to cover for the LB spot by sliding Thiago Silva to the right and Zambrotta over to left back, opening up a CB spot for Onyewu. He will get some time though when Milan starts in their other competitions.

    On the first goal it is possible to lay some blame on the midfield and CB’s for not disrupting the passing flow better, there is no excuse for Jankulovski to lose Motta like that. The second goal Jank had pushed up too far, but at least Gattuso had him covered some. The third goal was the most despicable though. Jankulovski was so far out of position that Pato was back trying to cover Maicon for him. Any chance of that going well?
    But hey, at least Jankulovski apparently has good teeth.

    Any chance that Milan has to compete for the Serie A, and maybe even staying in the top 4 is to act NOW in the transfer window and get another FB and another CM.

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  5. Well having watched the first half, Milan took it to Inter for the first 20 minutes. Had them on their heels. But then Inter scored, kinda against the run of play, then Gattuso’s foul (which should have been red)then everything just fell apart.

    Ronaldinho should have been taken off in the first half, he was doing nothing but losing the ball and complaining to the ref.

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  6. Randall, randall, randall. That’s a little harsh. Although there’s part of me that feels the same way.

    Anyway, it was an all around awful performance by Milan – including by the center backs. Where where the center backs on the pass where Maicon sprung Eto’o, leading to Gattuso’s first yellow when he hauled Eto’o down in the box? Nowhere to be found. And nobody was tracking Maicon when he went right through the middle to score the third goal. Terrible all around play. You also have to include Ronaldinho, Pirlo and Gattuso in that – they were all horrible. I am getting the feeling that Ronaldinho is just about done.

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  7. Okay, so maybe this only applies because I speak Portuguese, but it was almost as much fun listening to the call of the goals as it was watching the actual goals themselves.

    What passion!

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  8. Its hard to get playing time as a CB in terms of getting in as a substitution. You almost never see coaches subbing in CBs (barring injuries or expulsions) because the position is so vital to the stability of the team and you don’t want to disrupt that. Ideally you don’t want to be rotating your CBs game after game either- again for stability reasons. This is why Gooch hasn’t seen the field. When he does get his chance (and he will, sooner rather than later if the Milan Derby is any indicator of Milan’s current form) he’ll have the opportunity to lock down that spot, for years possibly.

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  9. patrick

    I understand where you are coming from but Gooch had a pretty bad preseason along with the team so it is difficult to say the back 4 would have done better collectively even with Gooch there. I really don’t think Gooch could have prevented any of the goals. Maybe Maicon’s but even that was very well taken.

    The problem is not just the defense. It’s pretty much the whole team bar Pato.

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  10. I would agree that maicon is the best RB, and possibly the best outside back period. He has been killing teams up and down the flank

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  11. @MG3

    I said SOME of the blame should fall on Leonardo.
    Gattuso got what he deserved, but if Leo makes that sub quicker Milan would have had a chance to get back in the game. Instead Gattuso gets sent off, and you are forced to play a man down the entire second half.

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  12. Gooch, Pato and Huntelaar stepped in to a tough tough situation….most of Milan’s older players have to go…they had the opportunity to clean house this summer and use the money from selling Kaka but they did not….they are in big trouble…Gooch will not be able to withstand wave after wave of unchecked players running at him from the midfield. Nobody can. It is not Leonaerdo’s fault but soon they will blame him for it. The team in total is just too old…time to reload.

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  13. japan,

    perhaps it’s more than individual play. At some point you need 4 defenders who are on the same page. After that performance I’m not sure you can say that about the starting back 4. SIlva and Nesta didn’t get beat for the goals but they didn’t break those plays up either. I think being blown out 4-0 puts the entire backline under the microscope.

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  14. As someone else said in the previous thread, the problem with Milan’s defense is not the 2 center backs, its the 2 outside backs. If Thiago Silva can play right back, he should go there and give Gooch a chance in the middle. If not, Nesta and Thiago Silva are still first choice.

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  15. Gooch is going to play because it’s obvious that Thiago Silva is just as inexperienced (in relation to the stature of the club he plays for) as Gooch, and Nesta looked *old* yesterday, especially in the 2d half. Gooch will have get his chances . . .

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  16. I’m very glad Gooch didn’t play in this game. This would have been feeding him to the wolves. Maybe he’ll start seeing some time after that pathetic effort from Milan.

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  17. Horrible defense…have to wonder why Gooch has not even gotten a sniff on the field yet? AC Milian is going to struggle a lot this season….

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  18. @Rekro

    I don’t see how the blame should fall on Leonardo. Gattuso didn’t have to make a stupid challenge in the middle of the field – his first yellow should have been a red. On a side note, Seedorf isn’t young anymore, he needs more time to warm up – Haha.

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  19. I believe AC Milan will struggle and Leonardo will not make it to the end of the serie A season. This team does not appear to be capable of challenging the elite teams of europe based on what they have shown in preseason.

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  20. There is no way Gooch was going to start a Milan derby. The old guard would have flipped out if they couldn’t start and if Gooch would have had a bad game, he would have had trouble getting back in. Now, he should get some playing time or else Milan is hopelessly in love with senior citizens.

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