The semi-final return match of Coppa Italia tonight will write another chapter in the history of the rivalry never ending between Inter and *100010 *Juventus, two teams, or rather two worlds that collide generating polemics practically since the dawn of Italian football: from those for the black and white scudetto of ’61 to the clash between *100016 *Ronaldo and Iuliano in the key match of the ’97/’98 season, from the verbal battles between Peppino Prisco and Gianni Agnelli*100025 *, until the much more vulgar exchange between Antonio Conte from Inter and Andrea Agnelli two years ago.
Inter Primavera on the field against Juventus in ’61Inter-Juventus, the dialectic battle between Prisco and Gianni AgnelliInter-Juventus: the Ronaldo-Iuliano case and 5 MayInter-Juventus: Calciopoli and the Conte-Agnelli dispute Inter Primavera on the pitch against Juventus in ’61
When was the rivalry between Inter and Juventusborn? Complicated to answer this question, as winning teams in Italian football they have always ended up finding themselves against each other. However, we can fix the first “poison” turning point in the history between Inter and Juventus in the championship 1960-61, the nerazzurri dominate the first round, winning the match with the bianconeri. In the second leg, Juve’s decline and comeback, up to the key episode of the Comunale di Torino: there are too many people, the fans are also on the athletics track and the referee suspends the match for public order. Inter won 2-0 by default, but Juve appealed and obtained from Figc (chaired by Umberto Agnelli) that the match be replayed practically at the end of the championship: after the k.o. of Catania (2-0) Inter found themselves -2 behind Juventus and in protest decided on the order of the president Angelo Moratti to show up in Turin with Primavera. Juve rages on the kids, finishes 9-1, and celebrates the Scudetto: Juventus and Inter fans promise each other for eternity.
Inter-Juventus, the dialectic battle between Prisco and Gianni Agnelli
The battle between Inter and Juventus was often verbal, even amusing when the performers were characters from acumen and from the dialectic of Peppino Prisco or Gianni Agnelli. “When I shake the hand of a Milan fan I wash it, when I shake it with a Juventus player I count my fingers,” said the former, long-time Nerazzurri manager, alluding to the referee favors that Juve would benefit from over the years; “By now in Italy there is no longer any restraint if even my cook can buy a football team”, replied Agnelli referring to Ernesto Pellegrini, the king of canteens, who bought Inter.
Inter-Juventus: the Ronaldo-Iuliano case and 5 May
On the pitch, the thermometer of controversy reached its maximum on 26 April ’98: Juventus-Inter*100073 * is decisive for the fate of the scudetto and on 1-0 the referee Ceccarini denies a solar penalty foul for a black and white foul Iuliano*100081 * on Ronaldo the Fenomeno, to then whistle a penalty in favor of Juventus on the reversal of the action. An episode that for Inter fans represents definitive proof of Juventus’ influence on the world of refereeing.Calciopoli is still far away, first there is another key date in the rivalry between Juventus and Inter, that of 5 May 2002, the last day of the championship in which the bianconeri overtake Inter unexpectedly defeated at the home of Lazio. “May 5, I still enjoy”, the writing that Gigi Buffon will display on a banner during the 2013 Juventus Scudetto celebrations, 8 years later.
Inter-Juventus: Calciopoli and the Conte-Agnelli quarrel
With Calciopoli, Inter takes its revenge, buying some of the best players from Juventus relegated to B (Ibrahimovic, Vieira) and wins the Triplete in 2010. Not only that: she is awarded the 2006 championship, revoked from Juve together with that of 2005: since then, for Juventus fans, Inter fans have been “hardcover” because they hold a cardboard championship.
In the last decade, however, the most sparkling exchange saw the then president of Juve as protagonists in 2021 Andrea Agnelli and Antonio Conte* 100111*, a former black and white flag, which brought Inter back to winning the Scudetto that year. It’s the semi-final of the Coppa Italia, it’s played in Turin: during the match Conte bickers with the bench and also the Juve managers’ tribune, up to giving them the middle finger. Agnelli responds with a barrage of insults to his former coach, then the verbal brawl moves into the locker room. It’s the umpteenth episode of an endless rivalry: after the brawl in the first leg and the Lukaku case, let’s expect new controversies even after tonight’s match.