Inter Milan 3-2 Juventus – Beyond the Red Card: Why We’re Missing The Real Story Of Derby d’Italia

This was open, attacking, high-quality football between two teams that came to play, even if one of them is currently 15 points behind the other in the table.

Let’s give Juventus some credit: Spalletti’s team showed up to win. They played well, and with courage even when they lost a player.

They exposed vulnerabilities in Inter’s backline and scored to goals exploiting Inter’s defensive weaknesses.

For a team trailing the league leaders by 15 points, they didn’t play and sit deep and hope for a point. They came to win, and brava Juve for these efforts.

But here’s the context that I have difficulty to understand: Inter leads Juventus by 15 points and sits at the top of Serie A.

The Nerazzurri have built a strong lead not through luck or favorable referees, but through consistency and the ruthlessness of winners.

Second-place AC Milan seats in second positions at 8 points from Inter. Think about that for a second. Albeit with a game in hand.

This kind of dominance is not random. It’s reached based on discipline, hard work, and yes, the ability to win even when not playing your best football.

Inter Milan 3-2 Juventus – Bianconeri Are No Victims

Saturday’s match perfectly showed this. Inter suffered two goals and showed weakness at the back and Inter’s coach will have to work harder to fix this.

And yet again, Inter won, and created many goals opportunities. That’s what champions do. Inter win the matches where they’re not playing their best football.

They win when the opponent plays well. They win even when circumstances, controversial or not, could give easy excuses.

Inter’s three points on Saturday was a demonstration of the mentality that has them running away with the Scudetto.

The media’s fixation on the red card does a disservice to both teams and to Serie A football fans around the world.

It reduces Juventus‘ performance to that of victims, when they actually played a really good match. It hurts Inter’s achievement by suggesting their victory was not deserved.

Red Card Controversy Shouldn’t Ruin An Amazing Match

Most importantly, it robs neutral observers and fans alike of the chance to celebrate what was really great football.

Were there refereeing mistakes? Absolutely. Are there refereeing mistakes in every single match played across every league in the world? Absolutely.

The question is whether we allow one bad decision to ruin 90 minutes of quality football.

The Derby d’Italia delivered drama, five goals, technical football, and the kind of intensity that makes these type of matches amazing.

Juventus proved they’re not giving up despite the points gap and being 5th in the table. Inter proved they have the winners’ mentality and can win even when they are not perfect.

And they weren’t.

That’s the story that should be told by the media.

The red card will be forgotten by next week. What I will remember is the quality of this match, and what it showed about the talent of both teams.

Everyone should remember this match as “un fantastico derby d’ Italia.”

By: Andrea Zanon

Andrea Zanon is the co-founder of Confidente. He is an international advisor who has worked for financial institutions and entrepreneurs on sustainability, international affairs and development.