Calcio Weekender: Three Derbies in Lombardy

Lombardy is essentially the beating heart of Serie A football this week, so for the second successive week, we landed in Milan for three compelling derbies: Inter vs AC Milan (Women’s and Men’s) and Como’s trip to Bergamo to face Atalanta. 

In this week’s edition, you’ll read about new friendships, irresistible polenta, and torrential Bergamasca rain that makes Amazonian storms seem like a primary school drinking fountain. I can still hear the echoes of our hotel’s hairdryer, and the pungent smell of Emmet’s waterlogged shoes.

However, I’m here to (mostly) inform you about the good stuff. On that note, our trip coincided with Milan Fashion Week, and to compound the excitement, we decided to be fancy and get accomodation in the Moscova district where the streets are filled with the hippiest influencers in the city.

Flights are consistently late into Italy (I recommend allowing for a two hours for delays), so getting to Bar Moma Milano for our meet-up with two of calcio’s finest meant bumping our way to the Linate metro like a Nonna trolley-dashing during a pandemic scare.

With barely a minute to spare, Emmet and I won the prime seating position on Corso Garibaldi – Milan’s open-air catwalk for aspiring models – to meet our guests, broadcaster Adriano Del Monte and Italian Football Podcast co-host Nima T Roodsari. 

You can watch us solve all of Serie A’s problems in our podcast, which is available on YouTube.

After an hour of complaining and reminisching at the calcio round table, Nima promised us delicious pasta at a tiny independent restaurant in Navigli, Pasta Fresca da Giovanni. None of us could resist the ‘Bis’ – a second serving of tasty ravioli and tagliolini with a dash of vino rosso della casa.

Some €50 later – a bargain for this quality of cuisine in Milan’s most expensive area – we walked off the carbs with a tasty beer at a nearby pub with Juventus vs Napoli on the big screen. Yes, I realise beer means more carbs, but the Italian portion of my brain conveniently ignores what it wants. Mea culpa? I think not.

With the goalless draw leaving a bitter taste, we set off for the Superclassico. No, this is not the Novara vs Pro Vercelli blockbuster you’ve saved your pennies for, but rather the Boca Juniors vs River Plate derby, live wherever Argentinian fanatics congregate – in our case, the Offside Sports Pub in the Gerusalemme area.

The events of Sunday morning involved shaking off a footballing hangover. Yes, I caved to the pressure of watching Futebol with Irishmen; no need to elaborate, no offence intended to Irish. This is more a case of me being soft.

We met with Joe O’Sullivan, writer and content creator for the esteemed folks at Forbes and Copa 90, who also joined us for some fresh air at Parco Sempione for the Women’s Inter vs Milan derby, as delightful as it was competitive, and an experience I couldn’t recommend more.

The metro to San Siro is fairly straight forward, the green and purple lines transporting 77,000 fans to and from.

Joe joined us for some pre-game thoughts outside the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza before Emmet took his seat in the Curva Sud with Inter fans directly underneath the Milanisti. 

The Derby della Madonnina is undoubtedly amongst the top derbies on the planet, and according to Joe, comparable to Boca vs River at the Bombonera. 

Adding another layer of greatness to the evening, we stood for a minute to remember Italia 90 hero, Salvatore Schillaci, who wore the Internazionale shirt between 1992 and 1994.

Nima is one of the biggest Inter voices out there and was endowed with match accreditation. I’ve never seen someone react so viscerally to each pass, tackle and goal chance throughout a match.

Unfortunately for the debonaire polyglot from Gothenburg, he’d witnessed his beloved Nerazzurri lose their first Derby in his presence (his 13th time). Here we are, marking the occasion with Football Italia’s Lorenzo Bettoni.

Football in Italy is as much about the fans as it is about the calcio, and the Tifoserie (the two sets of fans) did their best to ensure the spectacle was as unforgettable as the result. Nobody expected a Milan win. Paolo Fonseca is safe for now.

The presser was full of journalists who wanted to throw Simone Inzaghi under the bus. He’s no slouch and knows how to read the room, admitting nothing went right for Inter, and the changes he made had no effect. Meanwhile, Fonseca and Matteo Gabbia won the plaudits. Here are some memorable images from the Derby.

Monday mornings are perfected by coffee and a copy of La Gazzetta dello Sport: Milan’s crisis is over (crying emoji). The final Serie A match of the round took us to Bergamo for Atalanta versus Como 1907. The trains were running smoothly out of Milano Centrale and it takes about an hour.

Emmet noticed an Atalanta fan sitting across from us, then stalked him when the train pulled up at Bergamo Centrale. One thing led to another. No, it’s not what you think, you dirty sods.

The brief chat with Danny transcended into bromance and, joined by his Australian companion Rob, the four of us decided to get to know each other better with lunchtime polenta and pizza.

Rob is a vintage kit dealer who was in town for Lazar Samardzić, who ordered an Atalanta Filippo Inzaghi top. Danny follows and films the best moments of Rob’s European tour, which includes matches in Paris, Milano, and Brussels.

Here’s our interview with Danny, who tells us why he’d rather sit in the away end with Atalanta fans at Stamford Bridge instead of supporting his English side, Chelsea. Our chat with Rob is on the way.

Getting to the Gewiss Stadium media entrance in pouring rain was made easier by nicking umbrellas, which were made available thanks to the Bergamaschi unwritten rule, “Chuck your umbrella on the ground for someone else who’s in need.” Over the years, I’ve picked up Italian street smarts, and on this occasion—carrying expensive work equipment—it was do or die.

The biblical rainfall didn’t let up. The Gods of Calcio spoke: Atalanta vs Como would be delayed, then cancelled and rescheduled for the next day. I can’t stress how much respect I have for away fans, in this case, Como’s, who travelled for hours two days in a row hoping their side could pull off something special against a side like Atalanta, the reigning Europa League champions.

The wait was worth it; indeed, Como produced something extra special. Cesc Fabregas got a memorable maiden win as manager (against the mighty Gian Piero Gasperini), and the Comaschi ultras were rewarded for their faith with a 3-2 comeback win.

Stories like these strengthen Serie A’s appeal and make the effort worth it for overseas fans (and neutrals), not to mention the hundreds of tales from the lower leagues on any given weekend. New friendships can be formed in the stands, even on trains with random strangers.

This is what calcio should be about: people connecting through their love of the game, reliving the old days over a bufalina pizza outside the station, expressing themselves over a macchiato.

Who would have thought that Danny, who bought an Atalanta jacket in Hull, would end up wooing a couple of blokes like us on a Monday evening? Calcio destinations are omnipresent, it would seem.

In all, three quickfire days took us to see the Womens Milan derby, the Mens Milan derby, and the renewed rivalry (two other Lombardian clubs) between Atalanta and Como. Meraviglioso.

We’ll be in Emilia Romagna this weekend for Bologna vs Atalanta, and Modena vs Sampdoria. Check out our midweek London adventure when we watched the Derby della Lanterna (Genoa Sampdoria) with Genoa Fans UK.

Read about our previous weekenders in Como and Monza, Genova, Campania and Italy’s Northern regions.

There is no better way to spend your weekends as long as the destination is calcio.