Juventus against Milan sits rather oddly in the pantheon of titanic Serie A clashes. 

Despite having 55 Scudetti, nine Champions Leagues and every other European trophy between them, there isn’t the heated rivalry one would expect from clubs of their calibre. 

Inter was, and remains, the enemy for both. Between Juve and Milan, there is an air of respect, an acknowledgement of each club’s brilliance and legacy as beacons of the Italian game. 

While Inter were often mocked for being ‘Pazza Inter’, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s, the same barbs were never thrown at the Rossoneri and Bianconeri. These were two regal institutions who demonstrated the best in what Serie A had to offer.

Even in the years when the two contested for the Scudetto, 2004-05 as a prime example, or when they vied for the signature of Roberto Baggio in the opening months of 1990 or when they squared off in the all-Italian Champions League final in 2003, there has always been a lack of needle.

Such has been the harmony down the years that both clubs have often traded players: Baggio was sold directly to Milan in the summer of 1995, as was Pippo Inzaghi six summers later. Edgar Davids, Leonardo Bonucci, Gonzalo Higuain and Andrea Pirlo have all gone one way or the other over the last three decades.

This Sunday, however, might be very different and all because a couple of old faces will return to north-western Turin.

Max Allegri and Adrien Rabiot will find themselves on familiar turf. Allegri, twice Juve manager, has never gone back as an opposing boss. Rabiot, meanwhile, is also returning for the first time as a player since leaving in the summer of 2024 as a free agent.

Both could be on the receiving end of frosty receptions. Allegri’s second stint in Turin did not come close to matching the brilliance of his first.

Hampered with a laundry list of internal problems and a club suffering from the effects of the pandemic, his three year-spell was best symbolised by his volcanic outburst at the end of the Coppa Italia final in Rome, an act that saw him sacked despite Juve winning the trophy.

Rabiot, meanwhile, spent five years at Juve, making over 200 appearances and scoring 22 goals, without ever making a massive impact bar his oddly exceptional 2022-23 campaign.

A player who is good at everything but stellar at nothing, Rabiot was one of Allegri’s most-trusted lieutenants. Yet many felt the Frenchman played within himself, just doing enough to get by in an era where he was one of the club’s highest-paid players.

Fifteen months after his departure he returns as one of Allegri’s automatic starters in a revamped Milan midfield alongside the age-defying Luka Modric

Rabiot has, to his credit, been a fantastic addition. Considering the inexperience of many around him, the 30-year-old adds a calming presence and an assurance that had been lacking in the last couple of years.

“I’m happy to return to the stadium. We’re top of the table, it’ll be a great match,” Rabiot said on his Instagram account in sight of the game against his old side.

“It’ll be exciting for me, I spent five years there and I had a great time. Now I’m at Milan and I hope to win here.”

While Allegri may receive applause from the Bianconeri faithful on the back of his all-conquering first stint, it’s doubtful whether Rabiot will get the same treatment.

From the players mentioned earlier only Baggio, remarkably, was booed upon a return to Turin, and it would not be surprising if Rabiot was met with the same.

Yet he and Allegri will hardly care, as Milan travel to Piedmont top of the table after surpassing all expectations in the opening weeks of the season.

Few had Milan at the summit in early October following a summer of major upheaval. 

Yet Allegri, as he always has done, is getting results. The determined win over Napoli at San Siro was the Tuscan laying down an early maker that the Rossoneri are to be taken seriously this season.

Milan dug in with 10 men for more than half an hour against the champions after Pervis Estupinan was sent off. Milan battened down the hatches as Napoli lay siege to Mike Maignan’s goal, but they hung on to hand the champions their first defeat in the league since February.

“Let’s just say we got a good defensive workout,” laughed Allegri after the Napoli win. “It shows that when you defend in a certain way, you rarely concede goals.”

Playing once a week, like Napoli last season, suits Allegri down to the ground. The lack of European football means more time working on tactics and having the likes of Rafael Leao and Christopher Nkunku back at full fitness.

Juve, by comparison, have to handle the pressure of competing on multiple fronts. 

Igor Tudor’s men started the season brightly, but have drawn their last four games, conceding a staggering eight goals along the way.

Tudor has an abundance of quality in attack, and this is proving problematic as his system is not maximising the talent in the squad.

Moreover, Juve’s defence is far from watertight, and there are calls for the Croat to shift away from the 3-4-2-1 he has used for the majority of his short reign as coach in the name of defensive solidity.

Whether Tudor will take heed remains to be seen. But with the former Juve defender’s side conceding goals at a rate of knots and now faced with too many attacking choices, the pressure is beginning to mount following the 2-2 draw with Villarreal in the Champions League.

“I’m sorry, it’s part of the game. You can’t lose a game in the last seconds from a corner like that. We’ll take this point and move on,” remarked Tudor.

Now all attention turns to Milan.

Juve’s last win of any kind came against Inter in the Derby d’Italia. Can they resurrect their early-season form against the other giant in Milan?

Allegri, who won 13 games against Milan as Juve boss, now has the chance to turn the tables and pick up a win against his old side for the first time since November 2012 when he was manager of, Milan.

“It’s a bit odd, as I’ve played this game on both sides. I was at Milan first, then Juve, now back to Milan again,” said Allegri this week. 

“It’s a marvellous fixture, anyway.”

He’s not wrong.