Derby della Madonnina

Scene of a Derby della Madonnina in 1915

On 13 December 1899, Alfred Edwards and others founded the Milan Cricket and Football Club. 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 Italian 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.

Brothers Giuseppe (left) and Franco (right) Baresi face each other in the 1979–80 Milan derby

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

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.

Since 2011–12, both Milan teams have 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. Despite this, Inter have been the better of the two in derby matches, with eleven wins (including one in the 2020–21 Coppa Italia), six draws and five losses (including one in the 2011 Supercoppa Italiana and one in the 2017–18 Coppa Italia). Inter would then win a nineteenth title in 2020–21, overtaking Milan's total.

As of 19 April 2022

Top goalscorers

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	José Altafini	Milan	7
	Alessandro Altobelli	Inter
	Roberto Boninsegna	Inter
	Benito Lorenzi	Inter
	Louis Van Hege	Milan
11	Aldo Boffi	Milan	6
	Aldo Cevenini	Milan (4) Inter (2)
	Attilio Demaría	Inter
	Sandro Mazzola	Inter
	Diego Milito	Inter
	Pietro Serantoni	Inter

Most appearances

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 Milan	33
	Mario Corso	Inter
14	Marco Sala	Milan (31) Inter (1)	32
15	Clarence Seedorf	Inter (7) Milan (24)	31
	Luigi Perversi	Milan

• Total: Milan with 39 higher finishes, Inter with 47 higher finishes, and 1 equal finish (as of the end of the 2020–21 season). No head-to-heads in 1981 and 1983, since Milan was in Serie B.

Notes:

• Both teams qualified for the final round of 8 teams in 1946
• 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.

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
Giuseppe Meazza	FW	1927–1940	348	241	1940–1942	37	9
		1946–1947	17	2
Enrico Candiani	MF	1937–1946	187	71	1949–1950	22	8
Aldo Bet	DF	1967–1968	8	0	1974–1981	144	0
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
Taribo West	DF	1997–1999	44	1	2000–2001	4	1
Ronaldo	FW	1997–2002	68	49	2007–2008	20	9
Andrea Pirlo	MF	1998–2001	22	0	2001–2011	284	32
Dario Šimić	DF	1999–2002	66	3	2002–2008	82	1
Christian Vieri	FW	1999–2005	143	103	2005–2006	8	1
Clarence Seedorf	MF	2000–2002	64	8	2002–2012	300	47
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
Zlatan Ibrahimović	FW	2006–2009	88	57	2010–2012	61	42
					2020–	55	31
Mario Balotelli	FW	2007–2010	59	20	2013–2014	43	26
					2015–2016	20	1
Mancini	FW	2008–2010	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
Leonardo Bonucci	DF	2005–2006	1	0	2017–2018	35	2
		2006–2007	0	0

Milan, then Inter

Player	Pos.	Milan			Inter
		Tenure	Apps	Goals	Tenure	Apps	Goals
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
Lorenzo Buffon	GK	1949–1959	277	0	1960–1963	79	0
Fulvio Collovati	DF	1976–1982	158	4	1982–1986	109	3
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
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
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
Antonio Cassano	FW	2011–2012	33	7	2012–2013	28	7
Matteo Darmian	DF	2006–2010	4	0	2020–	45	5
Hakan Çalhanoğlu	MF	2017–2021	135	22	2021–	12	2

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"