"The must watch game of the weekend in Europe" - Derby Della Madonnina

Conte vs. Giampaolo: Serial winner vs. underdog

As a metropolis, Milan is on the rise again. It has been for the past five years. 

The skyline is changing, the architecture at the cutting edge. From the World Expo in 2015 to the Winter Olympics in 2026, the city is hosting one major international event after another. 

Named top of a list of 52 places to go by the New York Times four years ago, Milan's momentum is unchecked and the past decade has been compared with the booming 1960s.

The city's football clubs are not on top of the world, but if Milan exudes confidence at the moment, it's because these bastions of civic pride are exhibiting the necessary ambition to restore themselves to their former glory. 

Run at a loss in a pre-financial Fair Play era by local fans-turned-owners who could no longer compete in a transfer market inflated with money from state-funded clubs like Man City and PSG, Milan's clubs experienced a painful transition.

Inter and Milan have changed ownership twice this decade. They are now in the "right" hands, it seems, funded by multibillion-dollar companies from China (Suning, which bought Inter in June 2016) and the U.S. (Elliot Management Company, which bought Milan in 2018). 

After years of full immersion, the newcomers to football have figured out who they want to be, what they need to do and how to be competitive. Mistakes have been made along the way, but little by little, Inter and Milan are figuring things out.

The rivals share a desire to build a new stadium adjacent to Saturday's venue, San Siro. In everything else though, Inter and Milan could not be any more different. Ten seasons on from the last of this city's 10 European Cups (only Madrid boasts more) something is stirring, making Saturday's 224th Derby Della Madonnina -- stream live on ESPN+, 9/21, 2:45 p.m ET -- the must-watch game of the weekend in Europe.

No Icardi, no problem

Milan are as glad to see Mauro Icardi leave Serie A as some elements of Inter's support. The Argentine gave them nightmares in recent editions of the Madonnina, scoring a hat trick two years ago and a stoppage-time winner last season. It's down to Lukaku to show he is up to replace a player who, statistically, ranks as one of Inter's all-time greats. (Icardi is on loan with Paris Saint-Germain for the 2019-20 season.)