Milan Derby: Leonardo Battered and Humiliated on his Homecoming
For 13 years prior to this day, Leonardo had been part of the Milan derby as part of the Rossoneri contingent. A hero amongst the fans during his playing days, his maiden managerial appointment arrived at his dream club last season. It ended in a disaster and Leonardo was unceremoniously ousted from the club. A story done and dusted, everyone thought that that was going to be the end of the Brazilian player-turned-tactician. 6 months later, the unthinkable happened as Leonardo crossed the great city divide, turned to the ‘dark side’ and took up the faltering cause of reviving the season of champions and hated rivals Inter Milan.
Leonardo could conjure up no magic on derby day
Branded by the media and critics as an inept tactician without any experience necessary for the big job that is Inter Milan, the verdict seemed to be out even before Leonardo had taken the Nerazzurri job. With odds firmly stacked against him, Leonardo began to achieve the unachievable: taking Inter from 7th in the league and 13 points adrift of Milan to within two points of the leaders ahead of the derby, thus garnering 37 points from 15 matches, an extraordinary feat for an inexperienced manager. AC Milan faltered on the European stage and Inter almost did too, but Leonardo’s inspirational presence was there to curb it and the Nerazzurri produced a stirring comeback in Munich. As win after win flowed for Inter and Leonardo continued to weave his magic, the media gave him a new nickname ‘Leonardo dai Vinci’ or ‘Leonardo of the wins’. The Scudetto dream, which was once all but over under Rafael Benitez, was being reignited, and the man doing the job was the man who was a fierce supporter of his team’s most hated rivals for 13 years.
As AC Milan dropped precious points against Bari and Palermo, Inter pounced on the advantage and set up an enthralling Scudetto showdown on derby day. Everyone agreed that with just two points separating the teams, the Scudetto would be decided in 90 minutes. Branded a traitor by the fans who adored him, Leonardo returned bravely to the derby scene as public enemy number one amongst the Milan faithful, to put the final nail in the coffin for his former employers whose wheels had begun to come off. The Brazilian magician, however, would not have the final say, and the derby would be decided not in 90 minutes but just 42 seconds as another Brazilian by the name of Alexandre Pato, thrust into the spotlight as attacking spearhead in the absence of the fiery Zlatan Ibrahimovic, produced a moment of magic barely a minute into the game.
Leonardo branded 'Judas', as displayed in this 'Last Supper' banner. Only supper for the Milan fans was the head of Leonardo as Pato and co. destroyed Inter
Missing his favoured center-back Lucio through suspension, it was always going to be a tough night for Leonardo. As Inter’s midfield continued to be by-passed with ease, Pato, Robinho and Boateng turned on the style and unleashed wave upon wave of attack on Inter, leaving their defenders stranded for dead often. Pazzini and Eto’o missed glorious chances to get back into the game and the Nerazzurris were made to pay heavily as Pato continued to weave his magic and made it 2-0 after half-time. Things got worse as stand-in center-back Cristian Chivu got himself sent off for a last man foul on the man at the centre of everything, Pato. As Inter continued to look weary with the numerical disadvantage, substitute Antonio Cassano drilled in the final nail into the coffin of Leonardo by winning a penalty from Zanetti (of all people!!) and coolly converting it. Just to rub it in to Inter’s deepening wounds, Cassano made a joke of himself and got himself sent off after just 12 minutes on the field, following a second bookable offence on Cordoba having been previously booked for removing his shirt during a wild celebration, maybe to have the headlines say that Inter had lost 3-0 to a team that ended with 10 men.
From hero to villain, Leonardo was now the object of ridicule at the San Siro as the Brazilian got his tactics all wrong and banners went up portraying him as Judas in the ‘Last Supper’, only this time what was served on the table for the Milan fans was Leonardo’s head. He was no longer ‘Leonardo dai Vinci’ but ‘Leonardo non Vinci’. A 3-0 thumping in the derby means all the hard work of masterminding an impressive comeback could go waste, considering that AC Milan are now five points ahead with just 7 rounds left to play. Ever the optimist, the Inter manager is not ready to give up yet, for the spirit of fighting to achieve the impossible has been the motto on which Inter’s resurgence has been built on this season.
“Is this a surrender for the Scudetto? No, certainly not that, but admittedly five points are a lot with only seven games to go”.
However, asking for another comeback from Leonardo’s men could be asking them too much. Besides, unless Leonardo sets his team’s shambolic defence right, they could very well end the season trophyless. At the moment, AC Milan look set to end their seven year Scudetto duck. Inter are down but not completely out of it, as strange things happen in football all the time. What is certain though is that we’re in for a display of cracking football in the 7 remaining rounds in the Serie A. It’s game on!