[Internazionale is Inter Milan. For better reading it will be changed to inter milan next chapter]
For any AC Milan player, you could put in a poor showing for an entire season, but in the Milan Derby, you had to perform.
Otherwise, you could expect the full force of the Milan supporters' fury.
Equally, a strong performance in the Milan Derby made it far easier to win the approval of those same supporters.
Why did former Milan legend Shevchenko earn the devotion of the Milan faithful so effortlessly?
Because he scored 14 goals in the Milan Derby.
On 25 January, AC Milan hosted Internazionale at home.
Although both clubs shared the same stadium, there was still a distinction between home and away.
You could tell simply from the numbers of supporters on each side.
In the first derby of the season, AC Milan had lost two nil to Internazionale away from home.
In this second meeting, AC Milan could ill afford another defeat.
That was especially true for Inzaghi.
Despite having the backing of the club's management, if they lost the Milan Derby again and lost it badly, the Milan supporters would absolutely explode.
Under that kind of pressure, it seemed unlikely Inzaghi would be able to hold on to his position as head coach.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Wake up. This is the Milan Derby."
"You're starting a goalkeeper from the youth team?"
"You cannot be serious."
When Galliani saw AC Milan's starting lineup before the match, he was completely beside himself.
Handing a starting berth in the Milan Derby to a young goalkeeper who had never played a single minute in a top-flight league, was he certain his head was still screwed on straight?
Galliani felt a surge of frustration that was difficult to contain.
This looked very much like a man who had given up entirely.
"I know exactly what I am doing."
"With Leon in goal this match, getting the win will not be a problem."
Inzaghi had not given up at all.
On the contrary, he looked genuinely animated.
A few days earlier, Inzaghi had called Leon in for a lengthy one-on-one conversation and subjected him to a rigorous testing session.
The result left Inzaghi with the shock of a lifetime.
Something was seriously off about Leon's physical assessment figures.
When Inzaghi ran the tests himself, virtually every single data point came back nearly double the original readings.
Double.
What truly drove Inzaghi over the edge was what happened on the training pitch, where he stepped out personally to take one-on-ones against Leon, and Leon saved every single one.
Yes.
Inzaghi's physical condition had declined sharply since retirement.
But his finishing instincts and technique had not left him.
He was, after all, a forward whose entire game had been built on reading the moment.
In an unchallenged one-on-one situation, Inzaghi's ability in front of goal had not diminished all that greatly from his peak.
And yet, no matter what Inzaghi tried, Leon stopped every single one.
He exhaled sharply.
Hearing about something is one thing.
Even video footage could be misleading.
But when Inzaghi had tested it himself and seen the result with his own eyes, nothing could have been more real.
So Inzaghi made the decision without a moment's hesitation: Leon would start.
Seeing that Inzaghi had made up his mind, Galliani had nothing further to say.
What left him even more lost for words was that assistant coach Tassotti was equally supportive of Inzaghi's choice.
That was rather unusual.
Was Leon Feng truly that remarkable?
Galliani found himself no longer entirely sure.
The atmosphere in AC Milan's dressing room felt somewhat strange.
Leon sat in a corner, a small notebook open in front of him as he wrote his notes.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Agazzi was staring at Leon with a look of open hostility.
After Diego López's injury, Agazzi had expected to be promoted into the starting position, only to find himself beaten to it by this 18-year-old upstart.
It was more than Agazzi could easily stomach.
But Agazzi himself carried little weight in this Milan squad.
Since Leon had been personally selected to start by Inzaghi, all Agazzi could do was glare.
This season, AC Milan had begun to lose the foundations that had once defined the club.
In truth, the thread of continuity had started to fray from the moment, several seasons ago, when AC Milan had declined to renew the contract of club captain Ambrosini.
This season's club captain was Montolivo.
But Montolivo had suffered an injury right at the start of the season that would keep him out for four to five months, and he was only now beginning to return to rehabilitation work.
In the current Milan squad, it was the club veterans like Abate, Bonera, and Abbiati who still carried the most influence.
Yet within a few more seasons, even those veterans would all be gone.
The thread of continuity would be completely severed.
Abbiati had no particular objection to Leon starting.
Ten years ago, Abbiati would certainly have fought for the starting goalkeeper spot.
But now, he simply wanted to see out his playing days at Milan and call it a career.
The players currently holding starting positions in the squad this season, among them Menez, Bonaventura, Suso, Torres and others, were too new to the club to have strong feelings about it, with many having only transferred in that very season, and so they did not have much of an opinion on Leon specifically.
They did, however, harbour considerable doubt about the wisdom of handing him the starting goalkeeper role.
The goalkeeper position, after all, was one that demanded experience accumulated over time.
Most goalkeepers did not reach their true peak until after the age of 30.
Using an 18-year-old goalkeeper from the East as the starter in a match like this, was that really a sensible idea?
More than a few AC Milan players felt deeply uncertain.
"Knock knock."
Inzaghi rapped on the door and walked in.
"Right, lads. We are winning this match."
Inzaghi drew on the tactics board, and every player's attention snapped to it immediately.
In all fairness, for all that Inzaghi's results this season had been underwhelming, his grip on the dressing room was genuinely beyond question.
The man had a natural personal magnetism.
And in terms of the tactical approach, it was expansive and free of excessive restriction.
To put it plainly, it was play-what-you-feel football.
That kind of low-demand management style was clearly something the players appreciated.
"I know you are all surprised to see Leon starting in goal."
"But when this match is over, you will be just as astonished as I am."
"Right. Get yourselves ready."
"Win the Milan Derby."
Inzaghi's voice suddenly rose, and it carried an immediate charge through the room.
Raw and full of fire.
"Win the match!"
"Let's bury Internazionale!"
Every AC Milan player roared along with him.
To be frank, if passion alone were enough to win matches, AC Milan would have been sitting at the top of Serie A long ago.
When it came to the most impassioned head coach in the league, if Inzaghi claimed second place, nobody in Serie A would dare claim first.
But passion alone does not win football matches.
Leon drew a deep breath, lifted his head, and walked out through the players' tunnel and into the San Siro.
"Milan! Milan! Milan!"
"Always Milan! Fight with us!"
The moment Leon stepped onto the pitch, a wall of sound hit him.
The San Siro, with a capacity of up to 80,000, was packed to every seat that evening.
Even if this season's Milan Derby had become a contest between two struggling sides, in the hearts of both sets of supporters, it remained a sacred fixture.
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