With a place in the final of the Champions League at stake, the city of Milan will come to a standstill tonight as two of its best battle it out when AC Milan takes on arch-rivals Inter Milan at the San Siro Stadium. This will be the fourth derby that Inter and Milan will be playing out this season with both teams recording one league victory a piece; the Rossoneri were 3-2 winners back in September, while the Nerazzurri edged February's contest 1-0. Milan, who deposed Inter as Italian champions last year but have since been toppled from their throne by their Champions League quarter-final victims Napoli, were runners-up in Group E during the autumn; improving on a group-stage exit in 2021, which came after a seven-year absence from the Champions League competition.

AC Milan then went ahead to eliminate English giants Tottenham in the round of 16 before frustrating Serie A champions Napoli in the last eight to book themselves a semi-final ticket against their city rivals. Reflecting their resilience throughout the knockout stages so far, Stefano Pioli's side conceded only once across those four games - Victor Osimhen's late strike at Stadio Maradona, when the tie had essentially been decided - and they are likely to take a similar approach against Inter. AC Milan's most recent UCL triumph came back in 2007 when they earned themselves a slice of revenge against Liverpool following their epic clash in Istanbul two years earlier. They overcame their city rivals at the quarter-finals stage en route to their 2003 Champions League triumph. Milan will be aiming to shake off some staggering Serie A form as they seek to sweep past their old foes once again.

Inter Milan are in top form and will kick off tonight's fixture on the back of a five-match winning streak. Since a tantalizing 3-3 draw with Benfica that sealed passage into the Champions League semi-finals, they have brushed aside Empoli, Lazio, Verona, and Roma by scoring 14 times and conceding just once, in addition to Derby d'Italia victory over Juventus in the Coppa Italia. However, they have lost 11 times already this season and are yet to secure a top-four finish that will guarantee them participation in Europe's most coveted club competition. Their prowess in cup competitions can not be doubted, however. In addition to reaching the Coppa Italia final in which they will face off with Fiorentina next month, they qualified from a tough Champions League group also featuring Bayern Munich and Barcelona, eliminating the latter to set up a last-16 clash with Portuguese powerhouse FC Porto. 

In addition to defeating FC Porto in the last 16 tie, they went ahead to eliminate yet another Portuguese giant Benfica in the quarter-finals of the competition yet again proving their prowess in European football. Inter Milan have also overcome Napoli, Milan (twice, including January's Supercoppa triumph) and now both Rome clubs following a 2-0 win against Roma last weekend. Inter, just like their semi-final opponents have kept three clean sheets in their knock-out rounds so far with ex-Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana playing a similarly important role to that of Mike Maignan for Milan. Inter are three times European champions and their last success came back in 2010 under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho. Inzaghi aims to add the ultimate prize to two Supercoppas and a Coppa Italia he has lifted since succeeding Antonio Conte at the helm of the club. Whatever the outcome of tonight's match between AC Milan and Inter Milan will be, football fanatics will be in for a treat of thrilling football before a repeat of the same is occasioned in the next six days.

(Image: The Sun)