Internazionale – AC Milan preview: the match of the week

On Sunday, 15 February, league leaders Internazionale host AC Milan in the Serie A. Since 1983/1984, when AC Milan most recently re-entered the Serie A, 15 players have played for both AC Milan and Internazionale in the Milanese city derby.

According to Infostrada, Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf can make his 18th appearance in the city derby having played 5 for Internazionale and 12 for AC Milan.
Hernán Crespo (Inter) and Giuseppe Favalli (AC Milan) are the only other current squad members to have represented both clubs in the city derby.
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan) and Francesco Toldo and Patrick Vieira (Inter) have represented both Milanese clubs but have not played for both sides in the city derby.

Players that have played for AC Milan and Internazionale in the Milanese city derby - Serie A last 25 years

Apps Player Nation Last club AC Inter Goals Last derby Home team

17 Clarence Seedorf NED AC Milan 12 5 2 28 Sep 2008 AC Milan (1-0)
11 Christian Vieri ITA AC Milan 1 10 1 11 Dec 2005 Inter (3-2)
10 Sergio Battistini ITA Internazionale 4 6 0 20 Mar 1994 AC Milan (2-1)
9 Christian Panucci ITA Internazionale 7 2 1 05 Mar 2000 AC Milan (1-2)
7 Dario Šimic CRO AC Milan 3 4 0 11 Dec 2005 Inter (3-2)
6 Roberto Baggio ITA Internazionale 4 2 2 05 Mar 2000 AC Milan (1-2)
6 Thomas Helveg DEN Internazionale 4 2 0 21 Feb 2004 AC Milan (3-2)
6 Ronaldo BRA AC Milan 1 5 5 11 Mar 2007 Inter (2-1)
5 Maurizio Ganz ITA AC Milan 2 3 1 08 Nov 1998 AC Milan (2-2)
5 Hernán Crespo ARG Internazionale 2 3 1 04 May 2008 AC Milan (2-1)
4 Andrés Guglielminpietro ARG Internazionale 3 1 0 21 Oct 2001 Inter (2-4)
4 Cristian Brocchi ITA AC Milan 3 1 0 04 May 2008 AC Milan (2-1)
4 Giuseppe Favalli ITA AC Milan 1 3 0 04 May 2008 AC Milan (2-1)
3 Francesco Coco ITA Internazionale 2 1 0 23 Nov 2002 AC Milan (1-0)
2 Domenico Morfeo ITA Internazionale 1 1 0 23 Nov 2002 AC Milan (1-0)

Xavi Hernández reached 100 in Europe

On Tuesday, 4 November, FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández Creus played his 100th European match. He is the fifth Spanish player to reach this total.

Xavi is the first FC Barcelona player to play 100 matches in European competition for the club, according to Infostrada.

Spanish players with at least 100 European matches
Total Name Played for Years

124 Raúl Real Madrid (124) 1995 - …
110 Fernando Morientes Real Zaragoza (7), Real Madrid (61), AS Monaco (12), Liverpool (11), Valencia CF (19) 1995 - ...
103 Fernando Hierro Real Madrid (103) 1989 - 2003
100 Xavi FC Barcelona (100) 1998 - ...
100 Manuel Sanchis Real Madrid (100) 1984 - 2001
Raúl and Morientes can add to their totals later this week.


Matches per competition – Spanish players with at least 100 matches
Total Name UCL CC/CLQ CWC UEFA ESC

124 Raúl 119 2 0 0 3
110 Fernando Morientes 89 11 5 1 4
103 Fernando Hierro 68 9 4 20 2
100 Xavi 80 6 0 13 1
100 Manuel Sanchís 31 27 6 35 1

UCL – UEFA Champions League, CC/CLQ – Champions Cup/Champions League qualifying, CWC – Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA – UEFA Cup, ESC – European Super Cup.


100+ European matches for one club
Total Player Nation Club

167 Paolo Maldini ITA AC Milan
131 Oliver Kahn GER Bayern München
124 Raúl ESP Real Madrid
122 Ryan Giggs WAL Manchester United
121 Roar Strand NOR Rosenborg BK
117 Giuseppe Bergomi ITA Internazionale
116 Alessandro Costacurta ITA AC Milan
116 Javier Zanetti ARG Internazionale
113 Paul Scholes ENG Manchester United
112 Roberto Carlos BRA Real Madrid
112 Gary Neville ENG Manchester United
110 Jamie Carragher ENG Liverpool
107 Alessandro Del Piero ITA Juventus
103 Fernando Hierro ESP Real Madrid
101 Bülent Korkmaz TUR Galatasaray
100 Xavi ESP FC Barcelona
100 Manuel Sanchís ESP Real Madrid

Maldini and Strand can add to their totals on 6 November.

Zurich - AC Milan: the usual press conference by coach Carlo Ancelotti at the Letzigrund

Ahead of the match against Zurich, valid for the second leg of the first round of the Uefa Cup 2008/2009, Carlo Ancelotti talked during a press conference:

"In tomorrow's match we start from a 3-1 result which is certainly an advantage for us, but we must not underestimate Zurich, because they will put us in difficulty.

It will be a different Milan compared to the first leg, because in the meantime the team has found a lot more balance. There won't be many changes, also because of the various injuries which prevent us from playing certain players. The most uncertain is Jankulovski, while Dida will start in goal. For the midfield there is a doubt between Ambrosini and Gattuso and up front between Ronaldinho and Pato.

We expect a Zurich team who will try to give everything at home, but Milan's objective is to go as far as possible in this competition and possibly to win the Uefa Cup, so we want to start by surviving this round."

Source: AC Milan Press

Ronaldinho confirmed in Milan squad

What a shock! Finally Ronaldinho has new club: Associazione Calcio Milan. Barcelona have agreed to sell Ronaldo de Assís Moreira to AC Milan for around 21 million euros (33, 38 million dollars).

Manchester City had offered more money but the Brazilian player prefers the Italian club, team that will play UEFA Cup since first round on September.

Ronaldinho will have as partners Brazilians Dida, Emerson, Alexander Pato, Kaká and Digão. If Ronaldinho Gaucho recover his fitness, we will able to see things like these ones: