Meetings between AC Milan and Inter Milan have traditionally been infused with a glittering array of superstars, prestige and the knowledge that whoever won would more than likely be considered title contenders. Unfortunately, such meaning has been lacking of late.
In recent years, Juventus have dominated the Italian football scene, with five successive Scudetti leaving the Milanese clubs trailing in their wake. As a result, the Derby della Madonnina has had an air of desperation about it, as two former giants clash in an attempt to recapture former glories.
This Sunday, Milan and Inter meet again. But, in line with the past few seasons, the match is unlikely to herald the birth of a genuine title challenge from either side. Instead it will be about local bragging rights, restoration of pride and a gloriously bright and loud one-upmanship.
While not suffused by the overt hatred seen in the rivalries of other cities, the Milan derby is nonetheless an incredibly intense experience. It is therefore surprising that an abundance of players throughout history have dared to turn out in the colours of both teams during their careers.
Here, Bleacher Report takes a look at these players before picking a best XI to have represented both Milan and Inter.
Before Gianluigi, there was Lorenzo.
The Buffon name has been associated with great goalkeeping since Juventus and Italy’s current No. 1 first arrived on the scene as a fearless teenager in the 1990s with Parma. However, almost half a century previously, a cousin of his grandfather's by the same surname starred for Milan.
Lorenzo Buffon represented the Rossoneri for a decade, earning a reputation as one of the finest shot-stoppers in Europe during the 1950s. While prone to eccentricity, he was also a committed and acrobatic ‘keeper who relished being in the thick of the action.
He won four Scudetti with Milan before moving on to be replaced by Giorgio Ghezzi and, after a short spell with Genoa, found his way to Inter.
Although Buffon enjoyed an excellent career and won 15 caps for Italy, he was perhaps unfortunate to miss out on playing for both Milanese sides when they ruled the continent under Nereo Rocco and Helenio Herrera in the 1960s.
Timing also played an important role in Fulvio Collovati’s career.
With bushy hair and a slim frame that belied his teak-tough defensive solidarity, astute positional sense and assertive marking, the centre-back came through Milan’s youth academy to replace Roberto Rosato in the starting lineup, but he would leave after winning just one Scudetto.
The Diavolo’s involvement in the Totonero betting scandal saw them relegated to Serie B in 1980 and, after another demotion from Italy’s top tier in 1982, Collovati opted to leave the club for their city rivals.
As a consequence of his departure, he would miss out on Milan’s glory years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition, it was he who Mark Hateley towered over on October 28, 1984, to power Milan to their first victory in the Derby della Madonnina in almost six years.
Alongside Collovati in the centre of defence would be Christian Panucci, a player who was far less iconic but equally effective.
Although primarily a classic right-back with a mixture of sound defending and decent offensive traits, Panucci was also capable of operating in the centre of defence when called upon.
He signed for Milan in 1993 as the long-term replacement to Mauro Tassotti and quickly emerged as one of the brightest young talents in Fabio Capello’s team.
His debut season at the San Siro culminated with him starting the 1994 UEFA Champions League final as part of a makeshift back four due to the suspension of both Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta. Despite the absences, the Rossoneri kept a clean sheet and picked up the trophy with a stunning 4-0 win over Barcelona.
After three-and-a-half seasons with the club, Panucci left to reunite with Capello at Real Madrid before returning to Italy with Inter in 1999. His replacement at right-back for Milan came in the form of Denmark international Thomas Helveg.
Having guided Udinese to an impressive third place in Serie A in 1997-98, Alberto Zaccheroni was appointed head coach of Milan and tasked with returning the club to the apex of Italian football after two years spent in mid-table obscurity. He was helped in achieving this by the addition of two players he had worked with in Udine.
One of these players was prolific German striker Oliver Bierhoff; the other was Helveg.
An attack-minded right-back or wing-back, Helveg’s move to Milan made him the most expensive Danish footballer of all time with a transfer fee of £6 million. He was an integral member of the Scudetto-winning side of 1998-99 and continued to feature frequently until he followed Zaccheroni to Inter in 2003.
With him alongside Collovati and Panucci protecting Buffon, this combined Milan/Inter defensive line is completed by left-back Francesco Coco, a technically gifted, truly modern full-back who came through Milan’s youth academy before leaving for Inter in 2002. The deal that saw him switch sides was a part exchange that meant Clarence Seedorf moved in the other direction.
It was a deal the Rossoneri got the better out of.
Seedorf was a versatile creator who went on to become a key player within Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan side, winning two Scudetti, two Champions Leagues and one Coppa Italia among many other trophies.
Ancelotti was able to maximise the Dutchman’s abilities within a midfield filled with lustrous passers and subtle playmakers. One such playmaker was Andrea Pirlo, who also played for both Milanese clubs.
While he would go on to achieve recognition as one of the finest registi of his generation, if not all time, the bearded Flero native initially struggled without clarity as to what his best position was. Inter failed to utilise him properly and after a loan spell at Brescia saw him deployed well in a deep-lying midfield role, Milan moved in to sign him in June 2001.
Pirlo would flourish at the base of Ancelotti’s midfield in a number of different systems, aided by the snarling Gennaro Gattuso, the indefatigable Massimo Ambrosini and the more experienced Seedorf. Over 10 wonderful years he proved Inter wrong time after time, winning individual awards as well as team trophies before departing for Juventus.
In this team it would have been possible to partner Seedorf and Pirlo with either Patrick Vieira or Edgar Davids, both quality ball-winners with underrated passing ability. However, neither player was particularly successful during their time with the Diavolo.
The same cannot be said of Victor Benitez.
A quick, relentless midfield dynamo, the Peru international first joined Milan in 1962 and helped the club to European Cup success in his maiden season, performing well to keep out Eusebio for much of the final against Benfica. He would return to the club after a brief spell with Messina before appearing eight times for Inter in 1967-68.
Unlike Benitez, Giuseppe Meazza enjoyed far greater renown with Inter than with Milan. During his time with the Nerazzurri between 1927 and 1940, he hit a remarkable 284 goals in all competitions, cementing his place as one of the greatest attackers Italy has seen.
No other Inter player has come close to his tally, though he did change sides, pulling on the red-and-black jersey for two years in which he scored 11 times but failed to secure silverware.
On February 9, 1941, in the minutes before his first derby since switching sides, Meazza cried in the dressing room, openly distressed at the thought of playing against his old team in such an important fixture. Still, formidable forward that he was, he went on to notch the equaliser for Milan in a 2-2 draw.
In his retirement, the San Siro would be renamed the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as a tribute to his efforts for both clubs.
Since Meazza, many notable attackers have swapped Rossoneri for Nerazzurri or vice versa, including Christian Vieri, Roberto Baggio and more recently, Mario Balotelli. However, when it comes to the impact they left in Milan colours, none of these players compare to Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Hernan Crespo.
The latter had just one term with the Rossoneri, though it was a successful one from a personal standpoint. Having been allowed to leave Chelsea on loan, he scored 18 goals for Milan, two of which came in the haunting 2005 UEFA Champions League final defeat to Liverpool.
Like Crespo, Ibrahimovic spent more time with Inter, but he achieved a higher strike rate during his time with Milan, where he scored 55 goals in 85 appearances across all competitions. One of his most memorable was a match-winning penalty in a Derby della Madonnina.
Now with Manchester United, the Swede hasn’t failed to remind fans of which Milanese club left an impression on him. “Perhaps it [Manchester United] is the biggest club I’ve played at,” he said in August, per Metro's Lee Thomas-Mason. “The only one I can compare it to is Milan.”
With those words, it's only fitting that Ibrahimovic gets the nod ahead of Ronaldo—who was closer to his clinical best with Inter—to lead the line for this combined Milan/Inter XI.
Bleacher Report’s Combined Milan/Inter XI (4-3-1-2): Buffon; Helveg, Panucci, Collovati, Coco; Seedorf, Pirlo, Benitez; Meazza; Crespo, Ibrahimovic.