Anyone who has studied the Italian language, or is a regular visitor to the Peninsula, will be aware that Italy is a country that enjoys the creative use of words. For example, did you know that when you order your cappuccino at the bar, you are asking the waiter for ‘a little Capuchin’? The popular coffee takes its name from the colour of the hooded robes worn by monks and nuns from the Capuchin order. Later in the day, you may find yourself eating some strozzapreti pasta. If so, you’ll have ordered a plate of ‘priest-chokers’. Exactly how these short twists of pasta got their name is unclear, but one legend suggests that greedy priests would eat the pasta so quickly it would make them choke.
In a country obsessed with football, it’s little surprise that Italy’s number one sport has no shortage of quirky phrases associated with it. In British football, if managers suffer a bad start to the season, we will speak of them ‘leading the sack race’. If you’re reading the sports papers in Italy, you may wonder why they’re asking if a manager will be eating panettone? Used in a headline, the question ‘mangia il panettone?’ best translates as ‘will he be eating Christmas cake?’ – will a manager be out of a job by Christmas time?
Here, I’m looking at Italian derby matches. From historic buildings and monuments to the weather, some of Italy’s biggest football games have their own memorable monikers. So, pour yourself a ‘little Capuchin’ and enjoy.
Derby della Lanterna
Our Italian journey starts at sea, arriving at the Ligurian port city of Genoa, to be precise. Our boat is safely guarded towards dry land by the Torre della Lanterna, Genoa’s iconic, ancient landmark and the main lighthouse for the city’s bustling port.
At 249-feet tall, the Genoa Lanterna is the world’s fifth tallest lighthouse. Dating back to the 12th century, it is also the world’s third oldest. It keeps a watchful eye over Genoa, its coastline and seafarers while lending its name to the city’s much-celebrated football derby.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, founded in 1893, are Italy’s oldest team. The Derby della Lanterna (the Lighthouse Derby) between Genoa and city neighbours Sampdoria is Italy’s oldest derby fixture. The Genovese derby was first played in 1902 between Genoa and Andrea Doria. It wasn’t until 1946, following a merger between Andrea Doria and Sampierdaranese, that Sampdoria were formed.
It is, perhaps, fitting that the Genoa derby is named after a lighthouse as, when the two sides meet at the city’s Luigi Ferraris stadium (where both teams play their home matches) the occasion is marked by some of the most breath-taking light shows, choreography and tifo displays, which illuminate both ends of the ground.
Derby della Lanterna classic match: Sampdoria 1-2 Genoa, November 1990
Season 1990/91 was truly memorable for Sampdoria as, led by Serbian coach Vujadin Boskov, they secured their first-ever Scudetto. Samp’s city neighbours Genoa are Italy’s fourth most successful side, with nine Scudetti to their name, though their last league title triumph came almost a century ago, in season 1923/24.
On 25 November 1990, round 10 of the Serie A calendar, Sampdoria – boasting the ‘Goal Twins’ (Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini) in attack, Atillio Lombardo on the wing, commanding defender Pietro Vierchowod and young goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca – sat atop the league table, having won six and drawn three of their opening nine matches. This included a 1-0 win at the San Siro against AC Milan and a 4-1 thumping of champions Napoli at the San Paolo. If Samp were to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches, they would need to avoid defeat in the season’s first Derby della Lanterna.
In front of a packed Luigi Ferraris, and after both curve had performed spectacular pre-match displays, Roberto Mancini kicked the first ball of the 41st meeting between Sampdoria and Genoa.
Genoa, coached by Osvaldo Bagnoli, who led Hellas Verona to a surprise Scudetto victory in 1985, didn’t appear fazed by Samp’s strong start to the season and they were the better side in the first half. A fine strike from Stefano Eranio gave Genoa the lead in the 28th minute and they went into the half-time break with a 1-0 advantage over their rivals.
Shortly after the restart, Samp levelled from the penalty spot; Mancini was brought down in the box and the resultant spot-kick was impudently dinked home by his ‘twin’ Vialli. The game’s decisive moment arrived with 20 minutes remaining, when Genoa were awarded a free-kick 25 yards from goal. In front of the Genoa fans, housed in their traditional Curva Nord end of the stadium, Carlos Aguilera laid the ball across for Brazilian left-back Branco, who thundered an unstoppable shot past Pagliuca into the top corner for the game’s winning goal.
Despite the derby defeat, Sampdoria enjoyed an outstanding campaign – losing only two more games all season – to win their first Scudetto. Among the many memorable performances on the Scudetto journey, the stand-out game was, perhaps, the 2-0 victory against Inter Milan at the San Siro in May; Pagliuca enjoyed the performance of his life against his future employers, saving a penalty from the great Lothar Matthaus. Genoa enjoyed a fine season, too, finishing fourth and qualifying for the following season’s UEFA Cup. As well as beating their local rivals, Genoa savoured victories over Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina and Napoli. The season’s second Derby della Lanterna, played on 30 March 1991, ended goalless, which was enough for Samp to hold onto top spot in the league.
Derby della Mole
From Genoa, we’ll now take a trip north-east to the city of Turin. In keeping with our destination, we’ll travel by car. Sitting at the foot of the Italian alps, Turin is the capital city of the Piedmont region and home to much of Italy’s automobile industry; Alfa Romeo, Lancia and, most famously, FIAT all have their headquarters in Turin.
One of the city’s best viewpoints is to be found at the Monte dei Cappuccini (there’s those Capuchin friars again), a Renaissance-style church built on the hillside overlooking the River Po. Enjoying a sweeping panorama of the city and the Alps, one cannot help but be impressed by the Mole Antonelliana, which dominates Turin’s skyline.
The word ‘mole’ in Italian means ‘a building of monumental proportions’, an apt description for architect Alessandro Antonelli’s work. With its distinctive aluminium spire, the Mole (which was completed in 1889, a year after Antonelli’s death) stands at 550-feet tall. Originally built for use as a synagogue, the Mole is now home to Italy’s National Museum of Cinema and is believed to be the world’s tallest museum. The next time you’re in possession of an Italian 2 Euro cents coin, you’ll see a depiction of the Mole on one side. A stylised version of the iconic landmark also featured in the logo for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, which took place in Turin.
Turin is home to two of Italian football’s most famous sides, Torino and Juventus and, twice a season (provided both clubs are in the same league), they contest the Derby della Mole. In recent decades, Juventus, Italy’s biggest and most successful club, have dominated the fixture, but Torino have their own proud history; in the 1940s, the ‘Grande Torino’ side were five times champions of Italy. However, in 1949, 18 ‘Grande Torino’ players, three coaching staff, three club officials, three journalists and five flight crew tragically lost their lives when the plane in which they were travelling crashed into a wall at the Basilica of Superga, which stands on Superga hill in Turin’s eastern outskirts.
Although the Genoa derby is regarded as Italy’s oldest, the Turin derby, first played in January 1907, is the oldest ongoing meeting between two teams based in the same city (as mentioned earlier, the Genoa derby was initially played between Genoa and Andrea Doria before Sampdoria’s formation in 1946).
Derby della Mole classic match: Juventus 1-0 Torino, November 1991
While there have, undoubtedly, been better Derby della Mole encounters than the game that took place on 17 November 1991, I have picked this match for two reasons: firstly, it was one of my earliest memories of watching an Italian league game live on TV and, secondly, I remember being amazed when Torino defender Pasquale Bruno refused to leave the pitch after being sent-off.
The game’s three decisive moments all featured Juventus striker Pierluigi Casiraghi. On 11 minutes, Casiraghi impressively headed home an Alessandro Alessio cross for what turned out to be the game’s only goal. Five minutes later, the striker fell to the ground after a clash with Bruno. The Torino defender, who had previously spent three years at Juventus, had already been booked and received his marching orders. A visibly incensed Bruno had to be restrained by his teammates as he tried to plead his case with the referee. Torino staff then made their way onto the pitch to help. As he was led towards the tunnel, Bruno tried, once more, to free himself and remonstrate with the referee, but he eventually left the scene of the crime.
The ten men of Torino reached half-time only a single goal behind. However, five minutes after the restart, they were reduced to nine men when Roberto Policano reacted to a very strong challenge from Casiraghi by swinging his left foot and kicking the Juve forward in the face.
Remarkably, despite the two-man disadvantage and largely thanks to the impressive Luca Marchegiani in goal, Torino battled through the remaining 40 minutes without conceding another goal and even had chances to equalise.
Giovanni Trappatoni’s Juventus lost only four games during season 91/92, but the 48 points they accumulated were only enough to finish second in the league table behind an unstoppable AC Milan, who completed the season without losing a single match. Juventus had to wait until season 94/95 before they could celebrate their 23rd Scudetto.
Torino went on to finish third in the Serie A table in 91/92, a position they have not bettered since. Led by Emiliano Mondonico, and with Gianluigi Lentini, who became the world’s most expensive player when he joined AC Milan for £13 million in 1992, in their ranks, I Granata enjoyed an incredible run to the UEFA Cup final, where they lost out on away goals after a two-legged final against Dutch giants Ajax.
Derby della Madonnina
Around 140km east of Turin lies the city of Milan, the capital of Lombardia. Home to over one million people, Milan is Italy’s second biggest city after the capital, Rome. It is also the country’s financial centre and widely regarded as Italy’s most prosperous city.
High above the daily rush and bustle of Milan, stands the statue of the Madonnina (the Virgin Mary), keeping guard over the city from its perch at the top of the spectacular Gothic Renaissance cathedral, popularly known as the ‘Duomo di Milano’.
The polychrome figure is more than just a statue to the people of Milan – the Madonnina represents the city’s heart and soul. By tradition, no building in Milan can stand taller than the Virgin Mary. The Madonnina statue was placed atop the cathedral spire in 1774 (construction of the Duomo began in 1386 and the final details of the building weren’t completed until 1965) and stands at a height of 356 feet. In the 1950s, when the Pirelli Tower was set to overtake the Duomo as Milan’s tallest building, a smaller replica of the statue was placed at the top of the new structure to ensure the Madonnina kept her place overlooking the city skyline. Madonnina replicas have since been added to the city’s Palazzo Lombardia and, in 2025, to the Allianz Tower, which, at 686 feet, is currently Milan’s tallest building.
On the eve of the Second World War, the Madonnina was covered in cloth to avoid its shine providing an easy target for bombers. Such is the statue’s glow that on a clear, sunny day one can catch a glimpse of the Madonnina from the top tier of Milan’s Giuseppe Meazza stadium (commonly known as the San Siro).
Famous for its trendy fashion districts, chic bars, art, and theatre (the Lombardia capital is home to Da Vinci’s Last Supper and the world famous La Scala venue), Milan is also a passionate football city. Its two biggest clubs, AC Milan and Inter Milan, are also among Italy’s most successful. Following almost a decade of Serie A dominance from Juventus – the Turin side won nine consecutive Scudetti from 2012-2020 – the Milan clubs have occupied the league’s top two spots in each of the past two seasons; Inter’s 2021 triumph was followed by AC Milan’s league victory this summer.
Both sides play their home matches at the iconic San Siro stadium, which was rebuilt for Italia 90 and captured the world’s attention with its cylindrical towers and enormous, spaceship-like, red roof at the tournament’s opening match. When the city rivals meet, the match is popularly known as the Derby della Madonnina, paying homage to the city’s watchful Mother.
Derby della Madonnina classic match: AC Milan 2-1 Inter Milan, October 1984
“It was an incredible feeling, the enormity of the derby goal sunk in almost straight away.” This is how English striker Mark Hateley described his Milan derby winning goal in an interview with the Gentleman Ultra.
Hateley’s moment of magic arrived on matchday seven of the 1984/85 Serie A season. Things could not have been more finely poised when the two sides took to the field under the autumn sunshine that afternoon. Both teams had made identical starts to the league campaign, each winning two and drawing four from the opening six rounds of matches. However, Inter hadn’t lost a Milan derby in six years – albeit their city rivals had spent two of these seasons in Serie B.
With the match only 10 minutes old, Inter’s star summer signing, German striker Karl-Heinz Rumminegge, who had arrived from Bayern Munich for £4.7 million, breezed past the Milan defence before picking out strike partner Alessandro Altobelli, whose commanding diving header flew into the Rossoneri net. However, a clever passage of play between Hateley, his compatriot Ray Wilkins, and Pietro Paolo Virdis provided the opportunity for Agostino Di Bartelomei to restore parity before the break. The former Roma captain’s emphatic finish left Inter goalkeeper Walter Zenga helpless.
With 15 minutes of the game remaining, Hateley secured his place in Milan derby folklore. As Virdis sent an in-swinging cross into the box, the Englishman timed his jump to perfection. Hateley towered over Inter defender Fulvio Colovatti and sent a header beyond Zenga’s despairing dive.
Despite ending their derby day hoodoo, Hateley’s Milan side could only manage a fifth-place finish in Serie A that year; Inter ended the campaign two places above their city rivals in third position. In a season that saw Napoli set a world-record transfer fee to bring Diego Maradona to Italy, unfancied Verona, led by Osvaldo Bagnoli, wrote their very own fairy-tale by winning the club’s first, and to date only, Scudetto.
Derby del Sole
You may have noticed that all our derbies so far have taken place in the north of Italy. The history of Italian football reflects the Peninsula’s economic divide between the rich and industrialised north and the poorer, agrarian south. The north’s ‘big three’ – Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan – have won more than 70 league titles between them. Meanwhile, capital city sides Roma and Lazio*, and Napoli can only boast seven Scudetti.
In the 1920s, Roma and Napoli were the first ‘non-Northern’ teams to be admitted to Italian football’s national league and are the country’s most popular clubs outside of the north. Though the Giallorossi have their city derby with Lazio (the Derby della Capitale is arguably Italy’s fiercest rivalry) we’re taking a look at the Derby del Sole between Roma and Napoli.
The Derby of the Sun is so called due to southern Italy’s Il Mezzogiorno moniker. Mezzogiorno means midday and the southern area earns its name due to the intensity of the midday sun in the region. References to Italy’s varied climate plays out on the terraces, too. If you have visited the San Siro for a match, there’s a good chance you’ll have heard away fans chanting C’avete solo la nebbia (All you have is fog) to poke fun at the layer of fog that often engulfs Milan.
For decades, the Derby del Sole represented the warm relationship between Roma and Napoli, due to the two clubs’ gemellagio. A gemellagio is a ‘twinning’ between teams and supporters, who are usually bound by a common cause; in the case of Roma and Napoli, the common cause was shared opposition to their more illustrious northern rivals, particularly the two Milan clubs and Juventus.
The official twinning ended in 1987, however, following a match we will hear more about later. The sunshine derby has subsequently become distinctly gloomy. In recent years, opposition fans have been banned from attending matches between Roma and Napoli, such is the potential for serious trouble between supporters. The relationship reached an all-time-low in 2014 when Napoli fan Ciro Esposito was shot and killed by Roma supporter Daniele de Santis before his side’s Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina, a match played at the capital city’s Stadio Olimpico.
On the park, despite a string of second-place finishes, neither side have been able to break the northern teams’ Scudetto hegemony. Not since Roma’s league title win in 2001 have a team outside the ‘big three’ finished first in the Italian top-flight.
Derby del Sole classic match: Roma 1-1 Napoli, October 1987
Having won their first-ever Scudetto – inspired by Argentinian superstar Diego Maradona – five months earlier, Napoli arrived in the capital city to take on Roma in October 1987 having won their first five matches of the 1987/88 Serie A season. The hosts, meanwhile, had had a mixed start to the campaign. An opening day draw at Ascoli was followed by three consecutive wins before a 1-0 defeat away to Juventus on matchday five.
The history books will state that Roma and Napoli drew 1-1, but the game, and post-match events, would go on to have a major impact on the two clubs’ relationship with each other. As discussed earlier, Roma and Napoli had enjoyed a gemellagio bond, but this cord was irreparably cut during a feisty afternoon at the Stadio Olimpico.
After a goalless first half, the game exploded into life at the start of the second period; in the 46th minute, Roma striker Roberto Pruzzo headed the Giallorossi in front. Ten minutes later, Napoli were reduced to 10 men when Brazilian striker Careca was sent-off after lashing out at Roma defender Fulvio Colovatti. A further ten minutes later, Alessandro Renica received his second yellow card for hauling back his opponent and the visitors were reduced to nine men. Maintaining their unbeaten start to the season looked to be an impossible task for the Partenopei, however, Giovanni Francini headed in an equaliser in the 67th minute and, somewhat remarkably, Napoli held on to secure the most hard-earned of points.
As pulsating as the on-field action had been, the day’s most significant event took place after the final whistle. Perhaps overcome with the emotion of the match, Napoli midfielder Salvatore Bagni performed an umbrella gesture (the equivalent of a middle-finger salute) in front of Roma’s ultras. Given the context of such a heated match, this may seem a somewhat innocuous incident to many readers. However, in a country like Italy, where huge emphasis is placed on behavioural protocols, Bagni’s actions were enough to bring Roma and Napoli’s twinning to an unceremonious end. “The end of the twinning is my fault,” Bagni said in a later interview. “I made that gesture under the Curva Sud and the friendship between the two fans has been broken ever since. I regretted it, of course, and I apologised immediately, but it was not enough.”
On a lighter note, the highlights of the above match offer a great throwback to a magnificent era for calcio. Before the game starts, we’re treated to a quick word with referee Pierluigi Magni (who would rather be elsewhere) as the Napoli players stroll past. Just after half-time, the brazen reporter confidently makes his way into one of the Stadio Olimpico lounges to hear what Roma’s big summer signing Rudi Völler has made of the action.
In the reverse fixture in March 1988, Roma triumphed 2-1 at the San Paolo. However, four defeats in their last seven matches meant the Giallorossi had to settle for a third-place finish in Serie A. Napoli led the table for most of the campaign – and looked certain to secure back-to-back Scudetti – but a home defeat to AC Milan on matchday 28 saw the Rossoneri leapfrog Napoli into top spot. Although Milan could only draw their final two matches, Napoli fell to defeats against Fiorentina and Sampdoria and the league title went back north.
*Although Rome is in central Italy, in football terms its clubs are recognised as southern.