Milan and Juventus have been going head to head for more than a century now with tedious games between the two a rarity.
The first ever match in Milan between Saturday evening’s opponents saw the Bianconeri prevail by a 2-0 scoreline during the 1902/1903 campaign thanks to goals from Luigi Forlano and Umberto Malvano.
Since then, a further 78 duels have been played out at the San Siro between the two most decorated Italian clubs, with the home side emerging victorious on 27 occasions, eight more than Juventus’ tally of 19. Coupled with the matches in Turin, goals have not been hard to come by with an average of 2.70 strikes registered in every game!
The first of these high-scoring affairs came back in 1936, when a Felice Borel hat-trick and Guigliemo Gabetta strike ensured a thrilling 4-3 away win.
In 1971, the Old Lady ran riot once again in Milan with Roberto Bettega’s sumptuous backheel the pick of the bunch during a 4-1 success.
A 3-0 victory in 1984 meant that the San Siro was a happy hunting ground for Michel Platini, Paolo Rossi and Beniamino Vignola as Giovanni Trapattoni’s side punished a 10-man Milan which included a defence comprised of two of the greatest stoppers in Serie A history - Franco Baresi and Mauro Tassotti.
The Milan of the 90s was easily one of the greatest teams in the club’s history, dominating at home as well as on the European stage. But when Juventus turned up to the San Siro in 1993, it would take a special performance to dispose of Fabio Capello’s reigning champions, which they duly gave.
Marco Simone put the home side ahead after six minutes but an inspired display by Roberto Baggio, in which he assisted both of Andreas Moller’s goals as well as getting on the scoresheet himself, saw Trapattoni’s men come away with all three points in a 3-1 win.
Four years later, in 1997, Marcello Lippi’s Bianconeri inflicted one of the worst Milan home defeats in history as they ran out 6-1 winners at the San Siro. Vladimir Jugovic and Christian Vieri both bagged a brace while Zinedine Zidane and Nicola Amoruso also got in on the act as the Old Lady romped their way to a 24th league title.
Juventus’ last visit to the Giuseppe Meazza ended in a 2-0 victory with Fernando Llorente and a Carlos Tevez thunderbolt ensuring a pivotal three points towards the club’s third successive Serie A triumph.