Inter vs AC Milan: Walter Zenga & Massimo Oddo preview Derby della Madonnina

Milan derby week is here and, as expected, it's brought with it the usual debate centring around which club is better.

So with the fans all arguing with one another about which of the Milanese clubs is bigger, stronger, has the nicer jersey etc., we at 90min thought it'd be a good idea to get two Derby della Madonnina legends to try to answer all of these questions as part of our Rivals series.

The legends we chose were Inter's Walter Zenga, and AC Milan's Massimo Oddo.

Here's how it all went down:

What was it like to play for the Milan clubs?

Zenga: "I'd been at Inter since I was 10 years old, and played for all the youth teams from the Under-10s up to Under-18s.

"I spent one year on the bench when I was 22, with Ivano Bordon in goal at the time, and then I became the Inter number one. I was that for 473 games."

Oddo: "Milan was the best experience of my career.

"I was very lucky because in one year-and-a-half I won everything - the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, World Cup. Everything."

Who is the better club?

Zenga: "Milan were brilliant between 1990 and 1995, they won a lot of trophies, but we [Inter] won too.

"In the late 80s and early 90s we won the Supercoppa Italiana, two UEFA Cups and a Scudetto, and in our time that was a very difficult thing to do.

"It's not easy to play against players like Diego Maradona. The league was extremely difficult back then - all the best players were in Italy.

"I don't see AC Milan as an enemy, we [Inter] respect them. This is what's in Milan at all time.

"I'm 100% sure that they respect us in the same way"

Oddo: "For me, Milan are the best.

"I think the fact that Milan have won a lot more international trophies means Milan are better than Inter."

What was your derby debut like?

Zenga: "When I arrived at Inter [senior team] there wasn't a derby because AC Milan were in the second division. So my first derby ended up being the following year, 1983, and we won 2-0 with Hansi Muller and Serena scoring the goals.

"The game itself was the least pressurised moment for me. There was more pressure before and after the game.

"The game flies by. When the referee blew the final whistle I thought: 'is it already over?'"

Oddo: "Before my first derby I slept without any issues, but I didn't sleep after because we lost the game.

"When you win a derby you usually can't sleep either though, because you are out in the city and treated like royalty by everyone."

Do you remember your first game at San Siro?

Zenga: "When you have a long and successful career like me and Massimo have had, it's hard to remember every single moment, but there are some that you can remember.

"It's so hard to describe what the emotion was to play somewhere like San Siro with 80,000 people in the stands.

"It was unbelievable."

Oddo: "When I played against the Milan clubs at San Siro is was a huge moment because you're playing in what might be the most beautiful stadium in the Italy. It was very emotional.

"But for me it was more emotional when I went to the stadium for the first time as an AC Milan player. For me, it felt like revenge in some ways because AC Milan sold me to Verona seven or eight years prior.

"My revenge was being bought by the club for the season time, and for this reason my first game there in the Milan shirt was incredible."

How can Milan prevent Inter from winning the Scudetto this season?

Oddo: "They need to start by winning the derby.

"At the moment I think Inter has a bit more than AC Milan. They have a lot of top players who are very experienced, and right now they're playing great football.

"But the derby is a strange game. If Milan win the match at the weekend then the title race is open, but if Inter win it's all over."

Zenga: "Inter are top of Serie A right now, four points clear of AC Milan but Inter also have a game in hand.

"This season I think Inter are showing how strong they are mentally. They won the league last season but they lost Achraf Hakimi, Romelu Lukaku, Christian Eriksen and Antonio Conte and have continued to win.

"AC Milan are a good team and have nine or ten players born after 1997 in the squad. Young teams like that tend to be inconsistent.

"In my opinion, Inter are stronger than Milan, but anything can happen in the derby."