Juventus is the most successful side in Italy. They have won the Serie A 27 times, the Coppa Italia 9 times, the Champions League twice, the Cup Winners Cup once and the UEFA Cup three times. While Inter have a great record, it pales into comparison of Juventus. They have only won the Serie A 17 times, the Coppa Italia five times, the Champions League twice (but not since 1965) and the UEFA Cup three times.

Make no mistake the Juventus – Inter Milan rivalry is one that means equally as much to both sides. This is what Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri had to say about a game against Inter. “We have been waiting a long time for this game and we’ll have to play a great match, with the anger that has always distinguished us. Lately we have lowered our guard a little, we are not playing like we did before, we are not the ones of before.”

Something which amped up the already intense Inter – Juventus rivalry was the Calciopoli crisis of 2006. There were a lot of allegations flying around and when the dust settled it emerged that Juventus were using undue influence off the field. This infuriated Inter who had enough of Juventus’ intimidation and arrogance. Words were exchanged, tempers got frayed and people are still harboring resentment from that time. As a result of Juventus’ relegation from Serie A, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira ended up at Inter. Both are true professionals; they loved to give it to Inter when they played for Juventus and now they have no problem giving it to the Juventus players.

The Inter-Juventus rivalry has always burned brightly and games between the two have always been intense. In 1961, the two were playing each other and there was a pitch invasion. The league originally awarded the win to Inter but on appeal a replay was called for. Incensed by the about face, Inter sent out their youth team and they were hammered 9-1.

More recently the 1998 game between Inter and Juventus was incredibly controversial. People of the Italian Parliament even came to blows as a result of it.It was late in the season and Inter were only one point behind Juventus with just three games to go. Despite the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Zinedine Zidane and Filippo Inzaghi in the Juventus team there has been allegations going the whole year that Juventus were the beneficiaries of dubious refereeing decisions. This was somewhat of a forerunner to the Calciopoli crisis but at the time, there were just innuendo.

In the early stages of the match, it was tight with neither side wanting to give an inch. Then it all broke open when Del Piero scored a 21st minute goal which just made its way past an outstretched Gianluca Pagliuca.

Inter Milan were now trying desperately to find an equalizer. Ronaldo went close with a free-kick which just went wide and then Youri Djorkaeef missed a gilt-edged chance. It was still 1-0 at the half. After the break, Inter took off from where they had left off. No matter how hard they tried they just couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net. Juventus were saved on several times by the balling hitting the post or the crossbard and after this Taribo West was denied. Then came the big talking point. Ivan Zamorano was in the box and the ball found its way to Ronaldo. It appeared as though he was destined to score only to be taken out by Mark Iuliano. With everyone looking to referee Piero Ceccarini to point to the spot, the man in black just waved play on. The ball quickly made its way to Edgar Davids who passed the ball to Zidane who then flicked it on to Del Piero. West cluttered into the striker and now Ceccarini had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. This was simply too much for the Inter players to bear. The fact that the two incidents happened no more than 20 second apart drove them mad with rage. How could one be a penalty and the other not and vice versa? Justice prevailed though, with Pagliuca saving Del Piero’s spot kick.

The short fuse which is the Juventus Inter rivalry had been lit and it was now on.

Ze Elias was shown a red card for jumping with his elbow. Again Inter players were furious with the perceived double standards as earlier in the game, Davids wasn’t given any punishment when he had earlier lashed out at Diego Simeone. Juventus won the game and with it, the title was as good as theirs. Inter were a combination of stunned, rattled and angry and that was it from them for the year. They have never forgotten the events which transpired on this day.

The Inter – Juventus rivalry is good for the game but it is important that people don’t lose perspective. This is a bitter rivalry and neither side wants to lose to the other but sometimes things are allowed to be blown out of proportion. Ultimately it is still just a game and it is important that it is played in the right spirit and that both sides respect each other.