A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words 1 :Milanese Flares

Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi and AC Milan's Rui Costa watch on together, as a sea of flares rain down upon the San Siro pitch. Materazzi rests his right elbow upon the left shoulder of Costa, in what was a rare showing of camaraderie between the two teams in this Champions League clash.

April 12th 2005, and two of Italy's giants faced off for a place in the Champions League semi-finals. The stakes do not get much bigger. Two weeks prior, AC Milan had run out winners in a 2-0 victory over Inter after goals from Jaap Stam and Andriy Shevchenko. Inter were faced with a mammoth task. If there were to have any hope to overturn the first leg deficit, they would need their fans in full voice to push them to victory.

As the match kicked off, the San Siro erupted. The volume only increased after Shevchenko seemingly headbutted, Inter defender Materazzi in just the second minute. Materazzi fell to the floor clutching his head, in typical Italian fashion. Inter's Ivan Cordoba sprinted towards German referee Markus Merk, pleading for him to send the Ukrainian striker off. Merk did not, but already it seemed that the match was destined to become a battle, played out in a gladiator's colosseum.

Despite, most of those inside the San Siro cheering for Inter, Milan looked dominant and comfortable, as Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo controlled the midfield, whilst Kaka broke through Inter's midfield of Cambiasso and Veron, running at their vulnerable defence throughout the first half. Milan's inevitable breakthrough came in the 30th minute. Shevchenko rifled home a left-footed shot from the right-hand side of the box, which flew past Toldo, into the bottom-left hand corner of the net. 1-0 Milan, and 3-0 on aggregate. Inter needed to score four without reply if they were to progress. No doubt, the Inter's fans aggrievement increased following the Ukrainian's goal, as they felt that he should have not even be on the pitch after his earlier headbutt.

Into the second-half, and Inter became more dominant, as they pressed for an equaliser. However, their powerful talisman, the prolific Brazilian goalscorer, Adriano, was forced off in the opening minutes of the second period. Milan's centre-back, Alessandro Nesta had constantly been crunching into the Brazilian throughout the match, and his aggression eventually told as the bulky Brazilian crumpled to the floor, following another challenge near Milan's left corner flag. Inter fans no doubt had further reason to be enraged.

Despite, Adriano's injury, Inter continued to dominate. Milan looked to gain a foothold once more through the substitution of Rui Costa for Hernan Crespo in the 69th minute, as their midfield failed to replicate the controlling first-half performance.

However, it seemed that Milan's substitution had failed to neutralise Inter's constant attacking waves.

A 71st minute corner was met by the head of Inter's Esteban Cambiasso, the ball bounced into the net. A comeback may be on the cards. 19 minutes to play and three more goals, the San Siro was rocking. The joy was short-lived, however. Seconds later, Merk blew his whistle, as he saw a foul on Milan's, Brazilian goalkeeper Dida. Inter and Cambiasso were incensed, the Argentine raced over to Merk, wide-eyed and shouting, whilst pinching his fingers in protest of the referee's decision.

Inter's fans were similarly enraged. As Dida was readying himself to take the resulting free-kick, the Ultras behind the Milan goal hurled water bottles onto the pitch. However, bottles soon turned to flares, as a sea of smoke began to engulf the air near Dida's goal. One flare smashed into the Brazilian's right shoulder, prompting him to roll on the floor in agony. His team-mates dragged him away from the goal, which now resembled a battlefield, the San Siro had truly become a colosseum. Whilst Dida was being treated for bruising and 1st degree burns, the players of both sides stood and watched, as the smoky flares covered the San Siro turf. It is at this point where the photograph of Materazzi and Costa looking on at the smoke-ridden pitch would have been taken.

Half an hour later the match resumed, with Milan substituting Dida for Christian Abbiati. Unsurprisingly, flares continued to be thrown on the pitch, and the match was abandoned after just one additional minute. UEFA awarded AC Milan a 3-0 victory and fined Inter £132,000 and forced them to play their next four European home games behind closed doors.

"Two or three hundred hooligans were involved in throwing the flares." Milan police spokesman Paolo Scarpi said: They have been caught on video camera - they were the usual hotheads from the Inter sector."

This match perfectly symbolised the state of Italian football in 2005, and something that remains prevalent today. Large parts of the game were filled with attacking class and defensive brilliance- a game including the likes of Nesta, Cordoba, Maldini, Cambiasso, Cafu, Seedorf, Adriano and Shevchenko to name a few, meant it was not a surprise to see such quality. What is more though, is the crowd trouble and controversy which has always gone hand-in-hand with Italian football. Although it may display the passion of the Derby della Madonnina, it harms the prestigious legacy of Italian football.