The Greatest Derby in a UCL Knockout Ever

The day was April 12,2005. It was the 2nd leg of the UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals which pitted cross city rivals, Milan and Inter, against each other. Derby Della Madonnina was quite possibly the biggest spectacle in football back then, arguably edging out the similarly bad blooded football rivalry, El Clasico, by star power alone.

Milan of the mid-2000s was a sight to behold,a footballing powerhouse-the likes of which have since been replicated very few times.Kaka, Pirlo, Seedorf, Rui Costa, Massimo Ambrosini, Gattuso, Crespo, Maldini, Dida, Shevcehnko, Inzaghi, Nesta, Staam -with such a vast assemblage of legendary players, Milan was arguably the best European team back then. Inter was filled to the brim with world-class talents as well-Esteban Cambiasso, Dejan Stankovic, Marco Materazzi, Juan Sebastien Veron, Christian Vieri, Adriano, Edgar Davids and Javier Zanetti all were donning the black and blue stripes of Inter that season.

Although Milan had won the first leg 2–0, you couldn’t have counted Inter out of that tie.Right from the kickoff, the game was bound to get feisty.

And at the 70th minute of the match, it reached a boiling point.

The referee had disallowed a perfectly fine goal scored by Esteban Cambiasso. The goal had reignited the hopes of many Inter fans, so understandably they were incensed. However, their protests following that decision can’t be excused at all. They hurled flares,water bottles,coins at the pitch. One of the flares had struck Milan’s number one Dida and the game had to be stopped right at that moment.

The pitch was swarmed with the red light emitted by countless flares, and it made the backdrop for one of the most iconic photos in football history-the one you’re seeing below.

As the game was halted, Costa and Materazzi conversed with each other whilst looking at the chaos unfolding in front of them. The match subsequently got cancelled and Milan was awarded a 3–0 win by forfeit.

And you all probably know what happened afterwards at Istanbul, in the finals of that same UCL.