Milan give Silvio Berlusconi theatrical farewell but will he really leave stage?

Silvio Berlusconi was not the first person to describe San Siro as ‘La Scala del Calcio’, but you always got the impression that he enjoyed this nickname more than most. There are many great and grand football stadiums in the world, but only one that is routinely associated with Europe’s most famous opera house.

Perhaps that comparison was on his mind as he arrived at the ground on Sunday night. A throng of journalists awaited him, all with the same question: would this be his final derby as president of Milan?

Why they were asking was not entirely clear. The answer had already been printed in every major newspaper and sports magazine. After three decades at the helm, Berlusconi reached an agreement earlier this year to sell the club to Sino-Europe Sports – a Chinese investment group. The transaction was set to be finalised on 13 December.

As kick-off approached, ultras in the Curva Sud unveiled a breathtakingly vast choreography in tribute to their outgoing owner. Covering the full three tiers, it showed Berlusconi surrounded by the trophies the club has won under his leadership – five European Cups, eight scudetti, a World Club Cup and so much more.

This display delighted him. And yet, instead of acknowledging any imminent exit, Berlusconi reminded us of that most famous operatic metaphor about waiting for the fat lady to sing. Was this truly his final Derby della Madonnina, shouted the reporters as he passed. His reply: “I don’t believe so.”

What exactly did Berlusconi mean by that? This was a night to be wary of jumping to conclusions, on the pitch as well as off it. Milan held an eight-point advantage over Inter in the standings, and were looking to deal their neighbours an early knockout blow in the race for a Champions League berth. And yet, for the first 40 minutes, they were comprehensively outplayed.

Nobody had known quite what to expect from Inter in this, their first game under Stefano Pioli. The circumstances surrounding his appointment as manager had hardly been ideal. Pioli arrived with the firm backing of the sporting director, Piero Ausilio, and yet his hiring had been delayed, and other candidates interviewed, amid talk of competing factions within the club’s leadership.

Once confirmed, he made an immediate effort to restore a link with Inter’s own more glorious past – naming the former treble-winner Walter Samuel as his assistant. The new management team did not drastically alter Inter’s shape for this game, lining up on Sunday with a familiar 4-2-3-1, but Pioli did shake things up by handing Geoffrey Kondogbia a first start in two months, pushing João Mário forward to play as a No10, and moving Gary Medel to centre-back.

Early returns were encouraging. As half-time approached, Inter were dominating possession and creating the better chances. Ivan Perisic placed a free header off target at the back post, before Mauro Icardi fluffed his first touch after running on to a mishit shot from Antonio Candreva near the penalty spot.

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And then, Milan scored. Breaking rapidly after another Inter attack, Giacomo Bonaventura fed the ball to Suso. The Spaniard cut in from the right flank and delivered an elegant strike into the far corner.

Buoyed by this breakthrough, Milan started the second-half looking sharper. But they, too, would be caught cold at the moment when they seemed to be taking charge – Candreva equalising with a thunderous goal from the edge of the D. Time to retreat and regroup? Hardly. Suso restored Milan’s lead five minutes later, dancing past Jeison Murillo (a first-half injury replacement for Medel) before scoring with his weaker right foot.

In doing so, he settled a derby debt to his manager. Vincenzo Montella had been in charge of Sampdoria last May, when Suso struck twice against them in a 3-0 Genoa win.

The player declared during an interview with Il Giornale last week that he would walk the nearly 30 miles back to his home if he could repeat the trick against Inter. In the event, he wound up revising that promise. Quizzed about his travel plans at full-time, Suso said he had only ever intended to make such a gesture if his goals helped Milan to win. And that, in the end, was not how things played out.

San Siro’s fat lady must at least have been warming up vocal chords by the time Samir Handanovic sprinted forward to join Inter’s attack for a 92nd-minute corner. The goalkeeper did not succeed in getting his head to João Mário’s cross, but Kondogbia did, diverting it into the path of Perisic, who slotted home at the far post to seal a 2-2 draw.

The Croatian, presumably as cheesed off as the rest of us by the decision to let both teams play in home kits whose heavy black lining made them hard to tell apart from certain angles, ripped off his shirt to celebrate. This was a result that Inter both needed and deserved. Pioli has much work yet to do, but both the combativeness and creativity of this first performance offered grounds for encouragement.

When emotions cooled, Milan, too, could feel content. Montella’s young team finished the weekend joint-second in the table, and with that eight-point advantage over their neighbours still intact.

“There has to be a tiny bit of satisfaction in seeing your opponents, who built a team to win the scudetto, celebrating a draw snatched in injury-time as though it were a win,” said Montella. “It’s not that I see the glass as half full – I see it as completely full. The league standings are beautiful.”

Berlusconi was more measured, congratulating his players but expressing some disappointment with the team’s tactics. Montella could reasonably be criticised for withdrawing both Carlos Bacca and M’Baye Niang – inviting Inter’s pressure by diminishing his team’s threat on the counter.

The owner’s most intriguing remarks, though, regarded his future association with the club. According to La Repubblica, he dined at the Hotel Bulgari after the match, before stopping to expand on his ambiguous pre-match remarks.

“The Chinese are insisting that I remain as president,” Berlusconi is reported to have said. “I told them that I could not consider the idea of being a president in somebody else’s club. They offered me the position of honorary president, but without having a separate executive president as well.

“I think a situation like that could happen, but I would need to have the power to intervene in the transfer market and on matters relating to what happens on the pitch. If I have this power given to me, I will try to accept the honorary presidency.”

The fans said farewell at La Scala del Calcio. But it appears that Milan’s great soloist might not yet be prepared to leave the stage.

Talking points and results

Atalanta’s extraordinary run continued, as they came from behind to beat Roma. That’s 22 points from the last eight games now, and for all that the Giallorossi were complicit in their own collapse, it feels more appropriate this morning to pay tribute, again, to the brilliant young group that Gian Piero Gasperini is nurturing in Bergamo. There is a certain swagger to this team, embodied by the powerful midfield pairing of Franck Kessié and Roberto Gagliardini - 19 and 22 respectively, but fearless for it. The latter player was likened by his manager recently to a “white Paul Pogba”, and it says everything that – whilst stressing that the Manchester United player is a class apart – Gagliardini did not shy away from those words, saying: “I see myself in him”.

On the subject of precocious youngsters, Moise Kean made his much-anticipated debut for Juventus on Saturday – becoming the first player born in the year 2000 to feature in a Serie A match. It was, to be truthful, a brief and unremarkable cameo. After replacing Mario Mandzukic in the 84th minute, Kean had time to give a couple of balls away and then win a corner, but he will certainly be one to watch in the weeks and months ahead. His scoring rate in Juve’s youth teams has been outlandish, and his explosive athleticism is plain to see.

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Juve’s lead is up to seven points now, and their consistency in dealing with smaller sides is such that even dwelling on the gap feels a little pointless. We may not have a real title race in 2016-17, but if nothing else the fight for Champions League places intrigues, with two points separating second-placed Roma and Milan from sixth-placed Napoli. Lazio and Atalanta are sandwiched in-between.

Just behind that group are Torino, for whom Andrea Belotti remains in exceptional form. He grabbed both goals in a 2-0 win away to Crotone, and according to Opta is now the only player in Europe’s top five leagues this season who has scored three goals with his right, three with his left, and three with his head.

Sassuolo blew a two-goal lead for the third time this season – and this might have been the most dramatic yet. They did not concede their first goal at Sampdoria until the 84th minute, but wound up losing 3-2. “Tomorrow I’m going to read about a great Samp team,” vented the Sassuolo manager, Eusebio Di Francesco, at full-time. “But I think we were a bunch of bollocks.”

Fiorentina remain an enigma – flat as a pancake many weeks, but occasionally rampant. A 4-0 win over Empoli means that exactly half of their 18 league goals this season have been scored in just two games.

What a difference a healthy Mattia Destro makes to Bologna. The Rossoblu were winless in five games since he went down injured in early October. On his first start since returning, he scored within 20 minutes and then helped to set up the second in a 3-1 win.

Results: Chievo 1-0 Cagliari, Udinese 1-2 Napoli, Juventus 3-0 Pescara, Sampdoria 3-2 Sassuolo, Atalanta 2-1 Roma, Bologna 3-1 Palermo, Crotone 0-2 Torino, Empoli 0-4 Fiorentina, Lazio 3-1 Genoa, Milan 2-2 Internazionale