The inter-city clash between Juventus and Milan has a rich history, contested for over 120 years.
Through the years, the rivalry has produced many classic contests, with plenty of goals and controversy along the way. .
Ahead of Saturday’s match at the San Siro, Old Juve looks at our Perfect Ten moments against Milan, starting right at the beginning…
1. Milan 0 - 2 Juventus (22nd March 1903)
Well, not quite the beginning. Sadly, the first ever encounter between Juventus and Milan saw victory for the Rossoneri, winning 3-2 in Turin on 28th of April 1901.
Juventus would get revenge two years later, defeating them 2-0 in Milan, with goals from club founders Luigi Forlano and Umberto Malvano.
That season saw Juventus reach their first Italian Championship Final, losing 3-0 to Genoa. It was another two years before Juventus lifted their first Scudetto, beating Genoa and U.S. Milanese in a round robin in 1905.
2. Juventus 1- 0 Milan (8th May 2005)
In 2005, the battle for the Scudetto saw both sides level at the top with 76 points each, with four games left of the season. The San Siro was the venue for a clash between two sides absolutely brimming with the world’s top players.
The only goal of the game is a moment etched in the memory of every Juve fan. Del Piero attempts a cross in the 39th minute, but it’s blocked by Gennaro Gattuso. Del Piero refused to allow the ball to bounce back on the ground, pulling off an audacious overhead kick. The trajectory left the Milan backline (including Jaap Stam and Paolo Maldini) bamboozled. David Trezeguet slipped in between the defenders, getting his head on the looping ball to nod it past Dida for 1-0.
At full time, the Juve bench ran on to the pitch in celebration. They had dealt a fatal psychological blow to Milan in the title race, everyone knew the title was coming back to Turin. With three games remaining, Juve were now three points clear, with the easier fixture list (Parma, Livorno and Cagliari.) The title was arithmetically confirmed the following week when Juve triumphed over Parma 2-0 at home whilst Milan drew 2-2 away to Lecce.
The victory was the last great battle of the Serie A’s golden era. Next season, Juventus were relegated after Calciopoli, with the league going into terminal decline. Italian football has struggled to reach the sheer star power on display in this match since.
3. Juventus 4 - 0 Milan (9th May 2015)
The Stadio Olimpico hosted the 2018 Coppa Italia final, as Juventus lay waste to Milan 4-0 to lift their 13th Italian Cup.
Juve took the lead on 56 minutes when Medhi Benatia headed home a Miralem Pjanic cross. Five minutes later, Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had a howler failing to stop a Douglas Costa pearoller from going in for 2-0.
On the 65th minute, it got worse for Donnarumma, spilling a header from Mario Mandzukic, with Benatia tapping in for his second of the game. Fourteen minutes from time, a corner from Miralem Pjanic was headed into his own net by Nikola Kalinic to make it 4-0.
Juventus completed the double a few days later, winning their seventh league title in a row with a 0–0 draw away to Roma on the penultimate matchweek.
4. Juventus 8 - 2 Milan (10th July 1927)
The biggest margin of victory in the fixture, unfortunately, belongs to Milan, who defeated Juve 8-1 on the 14th January 1912.
Juve did put eight past Milan fifteen years later though, in an 8-2 win.
The clubs were competing that season in the Divisione Nazionale for the first time, formed after the Fascist government added clubs from Southern Italy to the Northern League to make a twenty-team national league.
There were hat tricks for Hungarian Ferenc Hirzer and future matinee idol Pietro Pastore, with single goals for Antonio Vojak and Federico Munerati. Savelli and Ostromann grabbed the goals for Milan. It remains a record Juventus victory in the tie.
Neither Juve or Milan were champions this season, instead won by Torino. Their title was then revoked the following season, after allegations of match fixing.
5. Milan 0 - 2 Juventus (11th November 2018)
The summer of 2018 was an exciting one for Juventus fans, with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo to Turin.
One person less than delighted was Gonzalo Higuain, as El Pipita found himself punted out to the Rossoneri on loan to make way for Ronaldo.
When the two sides met in Serie A for the first time that season, Higuain had a point to prove against his parent club.
Juventus took an early lead in the eighth minute. Alex Sandro floated a long cross in from the left for Mario Mandzukic to head home for 1-0.
Five minutes from half time, Milan were handed a lifeline, getting a penalty for handball. Higuain stepped up to take the spot kick, but his limp effort rolled straight to keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
In the 81st minute, Juventus doubled their lead when Ronaldo hit home a rebound after Gianluigi Donnarumma parried Joao Cancelo's shot.
Two minutes later, Higuain’s frustrations boiled over after colliding with Medhi Benatia for a foul. Higuain was then booked for his protests.
Instead of curbing Higuain’s anger, it just made him more angry and he was sent off, restrained by his teammates as he raged at the referee and several Juve players, including Ronaldo, as Juventus ran out victors.
6. Milan 1- 3 Juventus (6th January 2021)
The previous decade saw Juventus reign supreme over Calcio, but on this night, they found themselves in an unfamiliar situation at the San Siro.
Milan were top of the league. Ten points clear (albeit having played a game more than Juve), Stefano Pioli’s men were undefeated in Serie A after 15 rounds.
It was possibly the best performance of manager Andrea Pirlo’s short tenure as gaffer, with Federico Chiesa announcing himself to the world.
Juventus hit the injury-stricken Milan side hard from the get-go, taking the lead on eighteen minutes. Having already hit the post earlier, Chiesa gave Juve the lead with a low finish after an exquisite backheel flick from Paulo Dybala.
Davide Calabria pulled Milan back level minutes before half time, as they went down the tunnel locked at 1-1.
In the second half, Chiesa linked up with Dybala yet again. Getting on the end of Dybala’s great pass, he cut inside on the edge of the box then fired into the bottom corner for 2-1.
Substitute Weston McKennie added the icing on the cake with a third late on as Pirlo’s Juve side handed Milan their first loss in the league that season.
7. Juventus 0 - 0 Milan [Milan win 2 - 3 on pens.] (28th May 2003)
2003 saw the two sides contest the biggest game in club football, the UEFA Champions League final, in the first (and to date only) all-Italian final.
It was one for the purists at Old Trafford as two stout defences meant the sides could not be separated, goalless after 120 minutes of action.
Even in the penalty shootout, the sides struggled to score. Goalkeepers Gianluigi Buffon and Dida put on a masterclass, with five of the first seven spot kicks being saved.
Alessandro Nesta and Alessandro Del Piero then both duly scored before Andriy Shevchenko stepped up to slot away the deciding final penalty.
It may have ended in heartbreak for the Bianconeri, but the match remains the biggest Milan-Juve match of all time, the night Calcio went global.
8. Milan 1-1 Juventus (25th February 2012)
A fiery clash, possibly the most famous of the last fifteen years.
Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino gave the Rossoneri the lead in the San Siro and it looked like Sulley Muntari had made it 2-0, his header entering the Juventus goal before being pushed back out by Gigi Buffon.
Instead, linesman Roberto Romagnoli waved play on, despite replays afterwards showing the ball quite clearly passing the line completely.
Alessandro Matri then nearly sparked a riot, equalising late on as Juventus robbed a point from the San Siro.
The result, gallingly, saw Juventus become the first side to complete the season undefeated in a 38-game league season in Italy.
Years later, Nocerino lamented about the “ghost goal” on a podcast, claiming that Milan would have won the Scudetto if the goal stood, kept their big players, and went on to win even more league titles.
At time of print, Old Juve’s tiny violin is in the shop being repaired.
9. Juventus 1- 0 Milan (30th October 1994)
October 1994 saw Juventus lay down a marker for the future, as a sea change was approaching in Calcio.
Fabio Capello’s all-conquering Milan side had won three consecutive Serie A titles between 1992 and 1994, as well as reached back-to-back Champions League finals in 1993 and 1994, winning it in 1994.
Milan travelled in October to the Stadio delle Alpi to face a resurgent Juventus under new manager Marcello Lippi.
Roberto Baggio was the difference maker, scoring the only goal of the game on the 43rd minute. “Il Divin Codino” wedged himself in past Alessandro Costacurta, before rising above both of them to head the ball home.
It was a statement win that propelled Juventus on to their first title in a decade. Juve finished 10 points ahead of their nearest rivals Parma and Lazio, whilst Milan finished the season in lowly fourth place.
10. Milan 1- 6 Juventus (6th April 1997)
After Juve’s triumph in 1995, Milan won the Scudetto in 1996, only for manager Fabio Capello to leave in favour of a move to Real Madrid.
Milan re-hired the legendary Arrigo Sacchi for what would be a disastrous second reign. Now no longer the imperious rulers of Italian football, Sacchi struggled to re-impose the system which had brought him innumerable success the first time round, with an aging squad of misfits and relics.
Marcello Lippi’s Juventus travelled to the San Siro in April top of the table, 13 points clear of Milan. Juve had already claimed the Intercontinental Cup and UEFA Super Cup that season.
Goals from Vladimir Jugovic, Zinedine Zidane, Christian Vieri and Nicola Amoruso saw Juventus hand Milan their biggest ever Serie A home defeat. Milan won Serie A the previous year while conceding just 24 goals in 34 games, had let in a quarter of that total in this single game.
Not even a consolation wonder goal from Marco Simone could cheer up the home fans, who had been thoroughly humiliated, 6-1. The game signalled the end of the line for veteran defenders Franco Baresi who retired at the end of the season and Pietro Vierchowod, who left for Piacenza.
It also spelt the end for manager Arrigo Sacchi. Milan finished 11th in the 18-team Serie A that season, their worst campaign since 1982. Sacchi was sacked at the end of the season and never found another major job in Italy again.
Milan had won four of the previous five Serie A titles. It took Milan 25 years to win another four after this, with Juve winning 13 of them in that time, including the 96/97 crown.
Who knows what Saturday has in store… perhaps another San Siro massacre? Another mouth-foaming controversial goal? Maybe even a tantrum from a former Juve player? We can only hope. Regardless of the outcome, Italy’s biggest fixture guarantees to be eventful.