You also wrote — something which surprised me — that the real derby for you will always be with Juventus, not A.C. Milan (I studied Italian at evening classes for three years, very enjoyably, should have kept it up).
I suppose that that’s a bit like United saying that their real derby is with Liverpool. Although personally I don’t believe that one, since we’ve got right back into the equation. In the late sixties and seventies, right through the eighties, the Manchester derbies were fierce affairs. Then as we went gradually to shit, and they assumed they could beat us almost every time, they sort of stopped taking us very seriously. That, I can assure you, has changed. They were good and bitter coming out of Wembley the other day.
By the way, some of the language you’ll pick up on here is very specific to Manchester/Lancashire. And one or two items will be specific to this forum. Most football forums in this country seem to have a few words that are only used on that forum, and would leave the rest of the country mystified.
In my case, for two/three reasons: when we were children my bro became juventino, I became an Inter fan, as also in Formula Uno we had different tastes (he liked Ferrari, I rooted for Chapman's Lotus); then because Milan is not my city, so I cannot perceive the same intensity of rivalry those inhabitans of Milan, who are Inter supporters, have against supporters of AC Milan.
Then the third reason is that AC Milan before Berlusconi's era has always been a club with many highs and lows, not at the same level of Juventus and Inter, both able, periodically, to win trophies. So to the eyes of every italian — and it was coined also an indicative way of saying by a famous journalist in the '60s — Juventus-Inter has always been the "Derby d'Italia" (Derby of Italy), because they both were the most titled clubs. So an Inter fan always aspire to achieve more and more trophies to equalize the number Juve has, a sort of a fight for the preminence. So he feels Juventus as the foe of the situation.
But my case aside, there is a "dark side" of the topic. If you ask to almost any "interista" what derby he feels more, he will (notice I use "will", not "would") say the one against Juventus, because for the average Inter fan, Juventus embodies corruption. This is the point of view of many supporters of some other major clubs (Roma, Lazio, Inter, Napoli, Fiorentina and sometimes Milan). In few words, according to a generalized but superficial vision (superficial because everyone has committed its own crimes, according to sporting codes and regulations), Juventus has always been in control of the National team, of the political choices of the federation, of referees (designations and decisions on the pitch), and also of some minor clubs.
Practically, for Inter fans, the derby against Milan is something relegated to football question, against Juventus it's a thing not related only to football, but to ethics and juridical conduct. Also for Juventus fans the real derby is not anymore against Torino, but against us, because they think Inter is the historical standard bearer of this sort of "opposition front". But it's a topic I don't like and wish to afford because it's not related properly to sport.
