CAPITAL MEMORIES


MILAN – The Rossoneri travel to the Italian capital this weekend where they will face Roma at the Olimpico. As the countdown starts to Saturday’s match versus the Giallorossi in round 19 of Serie A, we take a look back at some curious facts and memorable moments surrounding the fixture.The first ever Roma-Milan of the Silvio Berlusconi era was on December 21, 1986 in which a brace from Pietro Paolo Virdis gave the Rossoneri a 2-1 victory.Over the years, Milan’s march towards the Scudetto has passed through a trip to the Italian capital to face Roma, starting with the 2-0 win in April 1988, which kept Milan on course for Scudetto number 11 and the first with Silvio Berlusconi as President.Six years later, and in February 1994, a 2-0 win away to Roma helped Milan wipe out the disappointment of the European Super Cup defeat at the hands of Parma and launch the Rossoneri towards their 14th Scudetto.A year later, and in September 1995, there was the 2-1 victory for Milan with Weah bursting onto the scene, not to mention Sheva’s brace for a 2-1 win in 2004 and the goalless stalemate on May 7, 2011 which clinched Scudetto number 18 for Milan.In the past five meetings between the two teams at the Olimpico, there have been two wins for the home side (2012, 2014), two draws (2011, 2014) and 1 win for Milan (2011) while so far this season, the Rossoneri have collected maximum points against the clubs from the Lazio region: Lazio-Milan 1-3 and Frosinone-Milan 2-4.Other memorable moments include Roma-Milan 0-1, the Rossoneri’s first match of 1993, which started off on the wrong foot, losing Baresi after just 6 minutes of play through a sending-off. However, and despite the numerical disadvantage, the Rossoneri dug deep to conquer the capital 1-0 thanks to Ruud Gullit's fierce and precise strike that left Cervone well and truly beaten while a more recent memory is David Beckham’s positive debut with the Milan jersey in a 2-2 draw in January 2009.