With Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga for the first time in 120 years, Inter Milan will have the chance to become the second team in the top five leagues to secure the title, with just one win to do so.
At 2:45 a.m. on April 23, Beijing time, the 33rd round of Serie A is about to usher in a high-profile same-city derby, with AC Milan versus Inter Milan. After Inter drew 2-2 with Cagliari in the last round of the league, they are unbeaten in 26 consecutive league games, while continuing to lead the standings with 14 points, and with six rounds remaining, the team has entered the countdown to winning the title.
In fact, if Inter beat Cagliari, they would only need a draw against Milan to win the title in advance, and now the situation has become a must-win.
In the past three seasons, the Serie A title has been won by 3 different teams, namely Inter Milan in 2021, Milan in 2022, Napoli in 2023, and now in 2024, the league title will return to Inter, and it is too late for Milan to stop it.
According to statistics, in the last 5 Milan derbies in all competitions, Inter Milan has maintained a winning record, which is also the first time in the team's history, scoring 12 goals and conceding only 1 goal, specifically:
January 19, 2023 Italian Super Cup Milan 0-3 Inter
06/02/2023 Serie A Inter 1-0 Milan
11/05/2023 Champions League Milan 0-2 Inter
17/05/2023 Champions League Inter 1-0 Milan
17/09/2023 Serie A Inter Milan 5-1 Milan
The last time the two teams met was the first league meeting at the start of the season, when Mkhitaryan scored a brace and Marcus Thuram, Calhanoglu and Frattesi scored goals each to win 5-1 over Milan, with Rafael Leao netting a goal for Milan.
In less than 24 hours, the Milan derby will begin, and Inter will need to win the 20th Serie A title in their history five games ahead of schedule.
As the president of the club, Zhang Kangyang is still in China and has no plans to go to Italy to watch the Milan derby.
In an interview during the F1 Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, Zhang Kangyang said that as long as he is the president of Inter, Inter will always try to win and compete for trophies.
Although he could not arrive at the scene, Zhang Kangyang also said.
According to the Milan Sports Newspaper, Zhang Kangyang has prepared a 3 million euro championship bonus for the Inter players, and as in the past, not everyone can get the same share of the bonus. After Inter Milan won the Italian Super Cup, the club gave players a prize of 1.5 million euros, and the prize money for winning the Serie A title was doubled.