I Learned How to Watch the Milan Derby the Hard Way
I recently watched AC Milan vs Inter, the so-called Milan derby, in Milan, Italy.
The venue was San Siro, AC Milan’s home ground. For my generation, this place carries real emotional weight, since it lines up exactly with AC Milan’s golden era. It was my first time experiencing it, and I picked up several lessons along the way, so I’m sharing them here for those who come after me.
The standard route is AC Milan’s official website. (For Inter home games, it’s Inter’s official website.)
That said, season pass holders get priority on ticket purchases, not just for the Milan derby but in general, so outsiders like us end up several days behind. Then when it finally goes on sale and you try to access it, in my case it was a 45-minute wait just to get in. Once I finally got through and looked, only the top corner of the third tier on the away side was available. I hesitated, understandably, and ended up going to bed that night without deciding. That was the fatal mistake. By the next morning, everything was sold out.
A chance to watch the Milan derby doesn’t come around often. Bitterly regretting my decision to “hold off” the night before, I decided to buy through a third party. In the end I found a pretty good position near the corner of the main stand through a UK site called P1 Travel UK (https://www.p1travel.co.uk/).
That said, you need to be careful choosing a site. There are always sites that compile reviews of each ticket seller, so check several of those before deciding. In particular, avoid any site where searching “site name scam” brings up complaints.
Even so, the email said “your e-Ticket will arrive 1-3 days before,” but as expected it arrived only barely the day before. Still, that much was within expectations.
<Access (Getting There)>
For this Milan derby at San Siro, access via the metro (M5) is good. There’s zero chance of getting confused about transfers or where to get off, because there are plenty of landmarks guiding you.
The ticket voucher tells you what time to pass through the gate. Being earnestly Japanese about it, I showed up exactly at that time, but judging from the scene outside, people were pretty loose about all that. Groups were already drinking outside.
Still, getting into the stands about an hour early is by no means a bad idea. Once the match starts, everyone watches properly from their own seat, but before the match it’s not like that. Within your own category, you can go wherever you like and watch from there. Most people gather at the front railing and wait there, singing chants.
About 45 minutes before kickoff, the warm-up begins. The warm-up itself gets abnormally hyped, about five times what I imagined.
Watching the warm-up to judge which players look focused and which ones seem slightly off, and deciding who to pay special attention to that day, is quite a pleasure. The biggest advantage of watching in the stadium is being able to keep your eyes on the player you want to watch throughout the match. My pick for the day was AC Milan’s Tonali.
Once the match starts, everyone in the main stand sits and watches. I was surprised how well-behaved it was, honestly. When a chance is about to happen, everyone stands up at once.
The clearest example is when Leão gets the ball facing forward on the left side in the final third, or a good ball recovery in midfield leads into a quick counter. Everyone reads it well.
If you’re slow to stand at that moment, you can’t see anything, and occasionally you get a splash of beer on the back of your head from someone standing up energetically behind you. Ha.
So stand up every time. Squat and stretch, squat and stretch.
In the main stand, some people join in the chants and some don’t, and a small number even wear Inter (away) jerseys. But you can watch it peacefully, and everyone seems to be enjoying the football, so I do recommend the main stand.
The supporters’ section, meanwhile, looks like exactly what you’d get if you image-searched “hooligans.” The intensity in the Milan derby really is something.
If you drink too much beer during or before the match, you’ll inevitably need to go to the restroom. The smoothest window is somewhere in the 40-45 minute range of the first half. In the Milan derby, almost nobody leaves their seat partway through. You should be able to go without any trouble.
<Access (Getting Back)>
Now, this is actually where the real tips come in.
Getting back was honestly tough. San Siro’s capacity is 80,018, and naturally it was full.
If you want to take the same M5 back that you came on, you have to leave your seat before the match ends. But that’s such a waste, on such a rare occasion!
So once you rule that option out, even rushing to M5 the moment the match ends is honestly a gamble. The metro entrance also has firm entry restrictions in place.
There’s also a tram, and I believe a bus nearby too. What you need to be careful of is that these run on the roads. As far as I could confirm afterward, there was massive congestion in a roughly 3-station radius around the area. So even if you manage to squeeze onto the tram or bus, there’s a high chance you’ll get stuck somewhere.
If you’re bringing small children, a car is probably the best option. There are several parking lots right by the stadium, so you just get in the car, and since it’s late anyway and the kids will fall asleep, all that’s left is for the driver to power through.
But how do you get home by a reasonably reliable method without getting caught in the congestion?
[The Standard Way]
The standard thing many people did was keep drinking until it clears up. The metro runs until around midnight, so people just drink and make noise. The food stalls stay open in anticipation of this, so you won’t have trouble finding food or drink.
If you look around a bit, you should be able to find portable restrooms too. There was at least one near the tram stop.
[A Bit of Luxury]
Book a hotel. There were several within walking distance. People who want to take it easy will probably book one for just a single night.
[If You’ve Got the Energy]
Walk. Walking a few stations along the M5 line won’t help, since it’ll be full anyway, so walk to a station on a different line, or to a point where M5 crosses another line. In my case, I walked about 30 minutes to where M5 and M1 cross. That spread the passengers out enough that I could just sit down normally. It was tiring enough, but if you grab something to eat at a food stall and walk with a beer in hand, it should be fine. Plenty of other people were walking the same way, so I didn’t feel much anxiety about safety.
These tips might be useful depending on the situation, or they might not help at all. Even so, I’m convinced there’s no harm in knowing one case from someone who’s been there. I hope you get to enjoy the Milan derby at San Siro.
Originally published in Japanese at https://clazytech.com/2022/09/1340/. Translated with LLM assistance and reviewed before publication.