It is the one fixture many Juventus fans look for before any other, particularly with Torino struggling in Serie B, the so called Derby of Italy between Inter and Juventus. The term, like most in Italian football, was coined by the great Gianni Brera to note the two teams never relegated from Serie A. Since the Calciopoli scandal of 2006 it has grown into perhaps the most intense inter-city rivalry in the peninsula - although most Tuscan’s would disagree.
The origins of the derby stem from the early 1960’s when the two were Italy’s most successful clubs. A pitch invasion during an Inter win led to the league forcing a replay, Inter President Angelo Moratti (father of Massimo) protested by fielding his Primavera players and Juve won 9-1 to win the title in controversial fashion.
Since then the match-up has witnessed a number of incidents, culminating in Juventus being forced to play a match behind closed doors for the allegedly racist 'se saltelli, muore Balotelli' chants. The last few matches have seen heated on-field battles too, with notably intense duels between Giorgio Chiellini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic followed by Gigi Buffon and Thiago Motta.
Historically Juventus enjoy the better of the rivallry, with 94 wins in 214 games - including three of the last six - with 53 draws and 67 Inter victories, but all that will count for little on Saturday night, which should once again be one of the more intriguing games of the weekend.
The arrival of Claudio Ranieri at Inter was supposed to steady the ship and, despite a slight wobble, he has done just that, winning four of the seven games since taking charge just over a month ago. Inter remain, despite this positive change, in the bottom half of the table, a fact that only serves to highlight quite how poor they were under previous coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
While the table-topping Juventus now rely on a balanced and intelligent midfield trio of Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal, the real key to this match may well be the back four of Inter. They say the more things change the more they stay the same yet, when it comes to their defence, there has been little new blood introduced since Roberto Mancini was at the club.
In recent matches the Nerazzurri have fielded the Brazilian duo of Maicon and Lucio as well as Japanese star Yuto Nagatomo with either Walter Samuel or Cristian Chivu rounding out what was as recently as eighteen months ago, Europe's most fearsome defensive unit. Since that European Cup and treble-winning season the players seem to have suffered a serious decline, none moreso than previously excellent goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Yet looking closer at his performances this season a very different pattern emerges. In six appearances he has kept three clean-sheets including one in each of the last two games prior to the draw with Atalanta, both of which were won by a single goal. Those three blanks however are the clubs only ones this term, showing a serious departure from their previous solidity.
Key in those two wins has been the return of Wesley Sneijder, so often the match-winner for Inter over the past few seasons. The last home match in particular - against Chievo - saw him put on the kind of display that fans of the Dutchman have grown used to, completing 95% of his passes including an assist for Thiago Motta's winning goal.
Despite the apparent disparity between the teams in the league table, the two teams are remarkably close statistically speaking with almost identical numbers for pass completion, shots, corners, throw-ins and success in aerial duels. The one area the Bianconeri have been vastly superior is in terms of possession, Antonio Conte's men enjoying a league leading 60% while Inter have held on to just 51%. This dominance stems from the relentless pressing demanded of the team by their new coach, seeing Juve win more tackles and interceptions than the San Siro giants as they strive to win back the ball quickly.
It is that defensive effort that saw a win over Inter's city cousins Milan on the first weekend of October, and they will look to create perfect Calcio symmetry with another triumph here over their former coach.
