ROME (AP) — For AC Milan, it could be the only way to qualify for Europe.
For Inter Milan, it’s the least important of the three competitions that the Nerazzurri are still competing in this season.
The rival clubs are in completely opposite forms entering the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal on Wednesday.
Milan was virtually eliminated from contesting for the Champions League spots with a 2-1 loss at Napoli in Serie A on Sunday that left the Rossoneri in ninth place — nine points behind fourth-place Bologna, which faces Empoli in the other semifinal on Tuesday.
Winning the Italian Cup guarantees a Europa League spot.
“It’s very frustrating, because we didn’t deserve this defeat,” Milan coach Sergio Conceicao said, referring to how Milan nearly equalized with some late fight at Napoli. “We want to change the outlook and on Wednesday we have the chance to do so.”
It will be the fourth derby of the season after Milan won the first two, followed by a draw.
Milan’s 2-1 win in Serie A in September served as a wakeup call for defending champion Inter, which now leads the Italian league. Then in January Milan came back from two goals down for a 3-2 win over Inter in the Italian Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia. The most recent meeting was a 1-1 draw in Serie A last month.
Milan hasn't won much else of importance this season, having been eliminated from the Champions League playoffs by Feyenoord last month.
Inter visits Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals next week and coach Simone Inzaghi recently raised the prospect of a treble like the one that Inter achieved under Jose Mourinho in 2010.
Although now he’s going one step further, adding the Club World Cup starting in June in the United States as another season goal.
“It’s more accurate to say four,” Inzaghi said of the possible number of titles that Inter can win.
Inter held on to its Serie A lead with a 2-1 win over Udinese on Sunday despite missing injured striker Lautaro Martinez, who picked up a knock with Argentina during the international break.
Lautaro will likely be unavailable again, although key defender Alessandro Bastoni could return from injury and link up again with Federico Dimarco on the right flank. Dimarco set up both of Inter’s goals against Udinese.
Milan will likely have Rafael Leao back in the starting lineup after the Portugal winger came off the bench against Napoli.
But Milan will still be without midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who underwent an appendectomy on Sunday.
Bologna faces Empoli in the other semifinal
Bologna has won five straight matches in Serie A and is on course to qualify for the Champions League for a second consecutive season.
Empoli eliminated Juventus in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
Bologna's only two Italian Cup titles came in 1970 and 1974, while Empoli has never won anything better than its three Serie B titles.
VAR decisions to be explained inside the stadiums
The Italian league will test in-stadium announcements explaining VAR decisions during the Italian Cup matches.
It will be the first time such a system is used in Italian soccer although it has already been trialed in England and Germany.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
