Many Inter fans hate being reminded of Mark Hateley's goal. The moment "Attila" took up jumping (and scoring) to surge past World Cup winner Fulvio Collovati and help Milan win the first derby of the 1984/85 season 2-1, the Englishman entered calcio lore forever -- a constant reminder to Inter that they could lose this most infuriating of games at any time, even after their rivals had recovered from two relegations to Serie B.
As symbolic as it was (and is, to this day), the idea of celebrating an ultimately meaningless game between two forgettable teams has never appealed to some. For some reason, the mind turns much more favourably towards more prestigious meetings, even if they eventually ended in defeat.
As uneventful as it was, the 2002-03 Milan derby Champions League semifinal saw one of the greatest strikers of the modern era, Andriy Shevchenko, cut inside Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and smash the decider past Francesco Toldo. They may have lost, but Inter did so to the best, and on the big stage to boot.
This contrast makes it hard to ignore how the present situation mirrors that 2-1 defeat to Inter's detested "cousins", as they're known in Italy. Back in the mid-80s Milan were in limbo between their double demotion to Serie B and the arrival of a certain Silvio Berlusconi -- who would ultimately bring eight Scudetti and five Champions League titles.
While upstarts Hellas Verona would win the '85 title under future Nerazzurro Osvaldo Bagnoli, Inter came third, Milan fifth, with both making it to Europe. It says a lot about how this derby has declined that this outcome would be satisfactory to both clubs come May: they've not played European football in the same season since 2013, the Champions League since 2012.
Most important of all, Hateley's goal was a way for angry Rossoneri to release years of pent-up anger, for David to prove that he can beat Goliath. It's testament to Inter's recent decline that they should incontestably enter this game as underdogs, despite splurging nearly €130 million in summer to build a contender.
While the Nerazzurri's midfield has often looked both toothless and chaotic, the Rossoneri's has been cohesive, despite being assembled from inferior talents (Juraj Kucka), young lads fresh out of the box (Manuel Locatelli), and a player who prefers to be lined up on the wing (Giacomo Bonaventura). Surprisingly, Vincenzo Montella tends to line Kucka up behind the strikers, where he can both press the opposition ball-carrier and make insidious runs.
In attack, Carlos Bacca has netted six goals, while M'Baye Niang and Suso have been working overtime to impress the San Siro faithful, enthusiasm oozing out of every pore. In the blue corner, Antonio Candreva has offered quantity not quality, his counterpart Ivan Perisic the opposite, but in exceedingly small doses. Even goalscorer Mauro Icardi has nobody in his entourage sensible enough to tell him that antagonising the fan base is a stupid idea. How does he even get to the San Siro on time?
And yet, for all the bad news, being the David ahead of a derby is no mean thing. That's pretty much what rivalry games are for, in fact.
Inter themselves stunned a pundit or two a by holding on to beat Milan 2-0 in the second derby of their 2010 Treble season, despite going down to 10 men and spending most of the game in their own box. The Diavolo had previously handed Jose Mourinho his only derby defeat thanks to a reinvigorated Ronaldinho.
Inter have other reasons to be optimistic: for all the cynicism displayed by Montella this far, the Nerazzurri have themselves hired someone far more pragmatic in Stefano Pioli to manage things. Unsuccessful in Roman derbies, the Parma native has amassed five wins, three defeats, and only one draw against Montella.
The cynical yet superstitious fans are only too happy to point out that the referee in charge of this game, Paolo Tagliavento, was officiating when Milan had Sulley Muntari's famous "ghost-goal" chalked off against Juventus in 2011/12, an incident many of Inter's rivals will (wrongly) credit with determining the fate of the title race.
Speaking of Bacca, the Colombian has been blowing hot and cold this year, too. For all the talk of his fantastic start, the 30-year-old has now not scored for club or country since early October, even being dropped by Los Cafeteros as they faced Chile in his native Barranquilla.
Romagnoli is also very unlikely to make the game because of a thigh strain: without his partnership with Paletta, the Rossoneri have looked leaky, conceding three goals in a wild affair against Sassuolo (4-3).
Nerazzurri fans worried about Pioli resting Ever Banega have reason to cheer, too: at least Pioli will go into this game with fresh players (Marcelo Brozovic returned to training on Monday), enough to harry the inexperienced (but very talented) Manuel Locatelli into making mistakes.
Had this game been played in September, as it had last season, the pressure would have been on Inter to justify their lavish spending. Now, there are no more illusions to maintain, hopefully freeing the biscione to focus on playing clever football. Hopefully.