The History of the Milan Derby in Coppa Italia

On Wednesday, AC Milan vs. Inter will be the 243rd Milan derby in all competitions in history: 81 Rossoneri wins, 70 draws and 91 Nerazzurri wins.

In Coppa Italia, the Milan Derby has been played 27 times, with 10 AC Milan wins, 9 Inter wins and 8 draws.

AC Milan and Inter have eight previous meetings in the Coppa Italia knock-out phase before the final and both teams have four wins each (the most recent went in favour of the Nerazzurri in 2021/22, in the semi-final).

This will be the fifth time that the Milan Derby will be a cup semi-final, after meetings in Coppa Italia in 1984/85 and 2021/22 and also in the UEFA Champions League in 2002/03 and in 2022/23: after AC Milan came up tops in the earlier two fixtures, Inter have triumphed in the last two.

THE LAST MEETING: THE 2022 SEMI-FINAL

The last time that Inter and AC Milan met in Coppa Italia dates back to three seasons ago. In 2021/22, the Nerazzurri met the Rossoneri in the semi-final: the double-header was particularly heated and it remained goalless in the first-leg, with AC Milan at home. It was also the last two-legged game that Inter played with the away-advantage rule: in the return leg, the Nerazzurri had to win to make the final in Roma. The second-leg of the semi-final was played 49 days later at San Siro: Inter's Argentinian attacking duo, Lautaro and Correa, gave the Rossoneri defence a torrid day. El Toro scored two great goals in the first half, the first was pure power, the second, a classy finish. After the break, Robin Gosens scored his first for Inter, sealing the deal: it finished 3-0, with Inzaghi's team going on to win the final, beating Juventus 4-2 and lifting the Coppa Italia for the eighth time in Nerazzurri history

ERIKSEN'S FREE KICK

The year before, Inter and AC Milan also faced off in Coppa Italia in the quarter-finals on 26 January 2021. On that day, Inter got into the semi-final thanks to a determined win, with goals coming from Lukaku from the spot, Ibrahimovic then responded before Christian Eriksen sealed the win in the 97th minute with a great free kick. It was a goal that immediately became memorable for Nerazzurri fans and it also marked a turning point in a season that finished in winning our 19th Scudetto.

2000: BAGGIO SECURED THE WIN IN THE QUARTER-FINAL DOUBLE-HEADER

Again in the quarter-finals: in the 1999/2000 season, there was a two-legged fixture to earn a place in the semi-finals. At the time, the Coppa Italia quarter-finals were decided over two legs. That year, Inter earned success thanks to a 3-2 win in the first leg, with goals from Vieri (a great strike from Recoba's assist), Mutu (his first goal for Inter) and Seedorf (a beautiful free kick), before 1-1 in the second leg, with Roberto Baggio's goal in response to Shevchenko's opener.

THE DOUBLE WIN IN 1994

In 1994/95, Inter played AC Milan in the third round of Coppa Italia. The two sides faced each other at the start of the season in October: both games finished with the same result, 2-1 to Inter. In the first game, with AC Milan at home, the Nerazzuri responded to Lentini's opener with goals from Orlandini and Bergomi. The second game was very similar: the Rossoneri got ahead through Donadoni, but the Nerazzurri came back through Ruben Sosa and once again Pierluigi Orlandini, who was a key part of Inter's triumph.

BERGOMI'S FIRST INTER GOAL

Let's look back to the time that teams faced off in 1981/1982. Inter and AC Milan met in the first round of the competition which was then won by the Nerazzurri (against Torino in the final). It was in this Milan Derby that finished 2-2 that Giuseppe Bergomi scored his first goal for Inter. Of his 28 Nerazzurri goals, Bergomi scored two against AC Milan, both in Coppa Italia. On 6 September 1981, his goal secured the draw for Inter, after goals from Novellino, Altobelli and Jordan.

THE ONLY DERBY OF 1980/1981

With AC Milan in Serie B, in 1980/81 there was only one Milan Derby which was on 7 September 1980, in the second round of Coppa Italia. Inter won 1-0 thanks to Altobelli's goal.

MAZZOLA'S LAST GAME

It was a sad day, but it was full of love for one of Inter's all-time greats. On 3 July 1977, the last Coppa Italia final between Inter and AC Milan was played. This game was one 2-0 by the Rossoneri but it was also Sandro Mazzola's last game of his career. Inter's captain ended his career with us after 565 appearances, 161 goals and eight trophies won: two Champions Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups and four Scudettos. Despite these numbers, they can't fully tell the story of his legendary career at Inter as Mazzola remains one of the Nerazzurri's most symbolic players in history, representing the values of our Club.

1973/74: 4 NERAZZURRI DERBY TRIUMPHS

The first win in a Coppa Italia derby was sealed by Roberto Boninsegna and it dates back to 23 January 1974. This game finished 1-0: the return-leg, in a group of four teams, was then played in May and it was once again won by the Nerazzurri, this time 2-1 (Mazzola, Boninsegna). This season, Inter played their rivals four times between the league and Coppa Italia and they won all four. The standout player of these games was definitely Bonimba, who scored in all of the games we played against AC Milan, between Serie A and Coppa Italia.