For more than 90 years now, Enrico Vanzini has been a diehard football fan, with most of that period spent supporting Italian side Inter Milan.
Vanzini will be among the 75,000-plus fans at the San Siro Stadium on Wednesday who will watch the Milan Derby as Inter faces their neighbours, AC Milan, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
The return fixture is scheduled for May 16. Despite his longtime support for Inter, Vanzini first went to San Siro in 2022 to watch his team play.
He told Reuters that he began supporting Inter when he was seven years old, but had no money to purchase match tickets.
As he waits to watch Inter-AC Milan clash later Wednesday, the former Italian army soldier said: “I prayed to God to give me the joy of Inter winning.”
Vanzini was among the Italian soldiers captured by the Germans as prisoners of war in 1943. He, however, survived the trying period.
He then returned to Italy, where he worked as a bus and truck driver until his retirement. Vanzini is an admirer of Inter Milan head coach, Simone Inzaghi, whom he says has made “very few mistakes”.
The centenarian says Inter, who have three Champions League titles, will likely succeed past AC Milan if they don’t “get too tired in the first half”, and if every player remains “in their place”.
“I would do anything [to ensure Inter Milan wins], including [giving up] my small pension,” he said.
As a show of appreciation to Vanzini for extending his support to the club, Inter Milan gifted the ex-soldier a jersey when he turned 100 years recently.
Mouthwatering clash
Inter and AC Milan will square it off at the San Siro Stadium in their fifth face-off in the Champions League history.
The previous occasions that the two clubs played against each other in the Champions League were in May 2003 (two times) and April 2005 (also twice).
In the 2003 encounter, which was a semi-final clash, AC Milan advanced to the finals on away goals after 1-1 tie in the second leg, where Inter was the home team. The first leg had ended in a goalless draw. Milan went on to win that season’s trophy by beating Juventus on penalties.
In their next face-off – April 2005 – which was coincidentally their last clash until this season, the crosstown rivals met in the Champions League quarter-finals.
An immensely talented AC Milan beat Inter 2-0 in the first leg and 3-0 in the return leg to advance to the semi-final 5-0 on aggregate.
Milan would lose the final to Liverpool in post-match penalties. The English side triumphed 3-2 on penalties after coming from 3 goals down to draw 3-3 at the end of regulation time.
Liverpool’s comeback was nicknamed The Miracle of Istanbul. Whereas Inter have three Champions League titles, AC Milan have seven to their name.
Inter won the tournament in 1964, 1965 and 2010. Milan, on the other hand, were champions in 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003 and 2007.
In the current Serie A season, Inter are in fourth position with 63 points while AC Milan are fifth with 61 points. Both teams have played 34 matches each.
Before securing a slot in the Champions League for the first time in seven years (in 2021) Milan had missed out on Champions League action for seven years.
In the 2013/2014 Champions League, Milan, which boasted big name players such as Kaka, Mario Balotelli, Keisuke Honda, Nigel de Jong and Philipe Mexes, were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Atlético Madrid.
Team news
AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli said he’d wait until the final moments before making a decision about Rafael Leao’s participation following the Portuguese winger’s muscle injury.
Leao has been phenomenal this season, with 13 goals and 10 assists in all competitions.
Pioli said they have had an “outstanding” run in the Champions League this season, and is hopeful the team will advance to the finals.
“We want to try to overcome this last step before winning a Champions League final, something that hasn’t happened to all of us.
"Motivation is at its highest,” he said. Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi is giving strong prominence to this match, seen as the biggest between the two sides in nearly 20 years.
“It’s not a derby, it’s the derby,” Inzaghi told Italian reporters recently.
“We know what it means for us, the club, our fans and myself. But I’m feeling calm because I’ve seen that the boys are very concentrated,” he said.
“We need to use our heads and show heart. I have no doubts concerning the heart. And we have to use the head in a clever way because this tie is decided over 180 minutes.”
Inter, which last won the Champions League in 2010, when they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the final in Spain’s Madrid, come into the showdown on a run of five straight wins, and with a previously misfiring attack suddenly banging in goals.
The two sides have met 235 times previously in all competitions, with Inter Milan winning 87, including their last two in the league and Italian Super Cup. AC Milan have 79 wins, while 69 matches have ended in a draw.
