For a country that has its fair share of derbies, the Milan derby stands above all others. The Derby della Madonnina represents the marquee fixture in the Italian club calendar. Yet it’s never a derby in the traditional sense.

There isn’t the same bitterness that extends to other rivalries throughout the peninsula. In fact, you’ll often see both sets of fans joking with each other en route to the game, exchanging pleasantries and light jesting. 

In contrast to the Roman or Genoese derbies, the Madonnina is less ferocious in nature. This, in itself, epitomises Milan as a city within Italy: the fashion capital of the world where sophistication is the name of the game.

There have been some brilliant battles between the pair down the years, but it’s hard to beat the October 2006 fixture.

A look down the list of names on either side represents a who’s who of the world game in the middle of the decade. Former transfer record holders on one side; and the soon-to-be best player in the world on the other. 

Rarely has a Milan derby been this star-studded on both sides, and what they produced that night almost makes calcio diehards misty-eyed for what used to be.

Milan, the ‘home’ side, stepped out to a crackling atmosphere at San Siro containing the likes of Alessandro Nesta and Cafu in defence; Andrea Pirlo and Rino Gattuso in midfield with Clarence Seedorf and Kaka supporting Pippo Inzaghi.

Inter, meanwhile, had arguably the best squad in a Juventus-deprived Serie A. Roberto Mancini had a young Maicon in defence along with Marco Materazzi and Ivan Cordoba, as tough a duo as you could find in Europe at the time.

Javier Zanetti, Olivier Dacourt and Patrick Vieira started in midfield, with Dejan Stankovic playing in behind Hernan Crespo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

So strong was Inter’s bench that it contained Luis Figo, Walter Samuel, Julio Cruz and Francesco Toldo.

Inter took advantage of the Calciopoli saga to poach Ibrahimovic and Vieira from Juve, making them the strongest team in the land in the process. There was no excuse now not to bring home the Scudetto.

Yet Milan were still in that period where they were the team to beat in Europe. Champions League Winners in 2003 and finalists two years later, both Liverpool and Barcelona had beaten them en route to glory in the past two seasons. Most of Carlo Ancelotti’s side were ageing, but there was still enough fight in those weary legs. In Kaka, the Rossoneri had a player about to hit the absolute prime of his career.

The game was only 40 seconds old when Milan should’ve been in front. Pirlo’s free-kick cross from the right-hand side was headed into the path of left-back Kakha Kaladze, and the Georgian blasted over from five yards out with the goal gaping. In fairness, of all the players Ancelotti would’ve wanted in that position, Kaladze was probably the last.

Milan were made to pay shortly thereafter. Stankovic stood over a free kick in a central position but slightly to the right. The Serb arched his set piece perfectly into the middle of the penalty area. The ball landed on the head of Crespo, who guided Stankovic’s cross into the bottom corner of Dida’s goal to put Inter in front.

Crespo had a point to prove in this game. He’d spent the 2004-05 campaign on loan at Milan from Chelsea, but the club failed to sign him on a permanent basis after supposedly promising to do so in a season where he scored 17 goals in all competitions and a double in Istanbul. The Argentina International then returned to Chelsea, where he picked up a Premier League winners’ medal before requesting a return to Italy.

Inter said thank you very much and Crespo would go to produce the last productive campaign of his career in 2006-07, rattling in 20 across three competitions.

Five minutes later and Inter were two up. If Crespo’s goal was about precision, the next was all about power. Stankovic, creator of the opener, received a pass inside from Maicon just outside the Milan penalty box. The Serbian took one touch to steady himself and unleashed a rocket with the next that flew into the top left-hand corner of Dida’s goal. The away side were flying.

Stankovic remains a somewhat underrated figure in recent calcio history. A smart midfielder with exquisite technique, he rarely gets the credit he deserves but was one of the best midfielders in the league throughout the 2000s.

Now 2-0 down, Milan pushed forward in search of a way back into the game, and twice Kaka tested Julio Cesar, only for his efforts to be saved by the Brazilian. Ibrahimovic then tested Dida’s palms with a stinging free-kick from distance towards the end of the half.

Ancelotti had a lot of work to do at half-time and likely would’ve spoken at length, but it didn’t seem to do any good, as Milan went three down within a minute of the second half.

The move started and finished with Ibrahimovic. The Swede poked the ball away from Kaladze to Stankovic in the centre circle and sprinted towards the Milan goal. Stankovic, who’d been at the heart of everything good about Inter, raced into an ocean of space. Crespo was to the left; Ibrahimovic to the right, and it was three on two. 

He slid the ball back to the former Juve striker, who delicately dinked it over the sliding Nesta with his first touch and volleyed it home with his second. The ball bounced under Dida’s arm and into the net.

Ibrahimovic was still growing as a player and was nowhere near the finished article here. In his third season in italy, this was arguably his best goal to date.

3-0 Inter. The game was done. Or so we thought.

Three minutes later and Milan had a foothold in the game. Seedorf scored some screamers in both colours in the derby during his time in Serie A, but this wasn’t one of them. Kaka cut in from the left-hand side and fed Alberto Gilardino just inside the box.

The Italian returned the ball to Kaka, but the ball was taken off his toe at the last minute by Cordoba. The ball fell to Seedorf just outside the box, and you didn’t have to ask him twice. His shot took a wild deflection off Materazzi and looped over Cesar. 

You’d think that Milan would pile on the pressure to get back into the game, but Inter would in fact add a fourth. Figo had come on for Dacourt, and the 2000 Ballon d’Or winner floated in a cross from a free kick straight to the head of Materazzi, who made it four. In classic Materazzi fashion, he was shown a second yellow card for his over-exuberant celebration, and was sent off.

Yet his work was done.

Now facing 10 men with 16 minutes remaining, Milan found a way back into the game. Gilardino had been denied a a diving header earlier in the game for a correct offside decision, but two minutes after Materazzi’s dismissal the former Parma man had his goal, and this time it was given.

Rising highest to meet Cafu’s cross, Gilardino planted an extraordinary header past Cesar from a full 12 yards out into the top corner. It was arguably the goal of the game. 

Milan now turned the screw, and Cesar produced two stellar saves to deny first Cafu and then Seedorf in quick succession. The Dutchman then powered a free kick at the Inter stopper, which was also repelled as Milan sought to restore some pride.

Kaka then added a third for Milan with a deft finish. Cafu once again was causing damage down the right-hand side with his crossing. 

The Brazilian floated another one into the proverbial ‘mixer’, only for Cesar to come out to try and meet it. All he could do was palm the ball out to the edge of the area in the direction of Kaka, who hit it back to hence it came, guiding the ball over everyone in the congested penalty area and into the rood of the net via the desperate attempts of Stankovic on the line.

Milan then had one final chance. Gattuso floated a perfect cross into the back post, but Nesta and Ricardo Oliveira, bought as a ‘replacement’ for the recently-departed Andriy Shevchenko, got in each other’s way and the Brazilian’s header went just past the post with two minutes left on the clock. That was the chance, and it went begging.

Inter, despite being 4-1 up at one stage, had to hold on for the win. 

With the opposition decimated either through Calciopoli-inflicted penalties (Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio) or in Serie B (Juventus), the Serie A title was Inter’s for the taking. Only Roma could mount something resembling a challenge, yet the Giallorossi lacked the squad Mancini had at his disposal. 

Inter finished on 97 points, some 18 points ahead of Roma in second place. It was Inter’s first title since 1989, but the attention was taken away by Milan winning the Champions League weeks later.

Kaka inspired the Rossoneri to gain revenge over Liverpool for Istanbul in Athens, with the Brazilian scoring 10 goals in the competition and later winning the Ballon d’Or for 2007, the last player from Serie A to do it.

Milan’s derbies haven’t been rolled in glitter that much since. A time when calcio was still home to some of the world’s best.