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Sep 23Despite the longstanding rivalry between Inter and Milan, there have been dozens of players who have represented both halves of the city.
The list includes the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Patrick Vieira and Leonardo Bonucci, but only a select few have actually appeared for both the Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri in this historic fixture, which is celebrating its 237th edition at San Siro this Tuesday as Stefano Pioli looks to mastermind a famous Champions League semi-final comeback.
Below are 10 of the most famous names to have donned the red and the blue in the Derby della Madonnina.
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Roberto Baggio
One of the greatest Italian players of his generation, Baggio enjoyed a stop-start two years at the Rossoneri during a period when he found regularly found himself in and out of the side, but managed to win the Scudetto under Fabio Capello.
However, he still managed to score in both derby games against Inter in the 1996/97 season, although it was a season to forget for defending champions Milan, who finished the campaign 11th.
After joining Inter following a spell at Bologna, Baggio faced Milan four times, netting crucially in the second leg of a Coppa Italia quarter-final to knock his old employers out.
Sulley Muntari
Muntari will be fondly remembered in England by Portsmouth fans, but the bulk of his impressive career was spent in Italy, where he first represented Udinese before joining Inter.
There, he won all three games he featured in against Milan, including providing an assist for Dejan Stankovic's screamer in a 4-0 thumping in August 2009.
After winning back-to-back Serie A titles and a Champions League crown under Jose Mourinho, Muntari handed in a transfer request and landed up at Milan following a loan spell at Sunderland, but wasn't able to replicate the trophy-winning he had previously enjoyed.
Antonio Cassano
In an eclectic career, the majority of Cassano's success occurred at Roma and Sampdoria, despite representing both Milan giants.
His only goal in the Derby della Madonnina came in April 2011 when he converted a 90th-minute penalty to complete a 3-0 win having been fouled by Javier Zanetti.
The victory proved crucial for Milan as they saw off Inter by six points to claim the Scudetto that season - their first title in seven years.
Hakan Calhanoglu
When it comes to winning trophies, Calhanoglu has somewhat made up for lost time, scooping the Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles since swapping Milan for Inter in 2021.
The latter of those Supercoppa titles came against the Rossoneri in January, while the Turkey international did give Simone Inzaghi's lead from the spot in the first Derby della Madonnina of last season, earning a penalty after catching Franck Kessie dawdling, before providing the assist for Lautaro Martinez's winner in the return league fixture this term.
However, it is the bitterest of ironies that Calhanoglu left Milan the year before they won the Scudetto - and joined Inter the year after they last won it under Conte.
Christian Vieri
Vieri enjoyed a ludicrously prolific six-year spell at Inter, scoring 123 times in 190 games across all competitions, including finishing as Serie A's top scorer in 2002/03 with 24 strikes.
However, he only had the 2005 Coppa Italia in his personal trophy cabinet to show for that red-hot form - and surprisingly only scored twice against Milan in that time, although one of those was the winner in a league clash in March 2002 and the other proved crucial in knocking the Rossoneri out of that Coppa Italia at the quarter-final stage two years earlier.
By comparison, Vieri's time at Milan was extremely short-lived, although one of his 14 appearances under Carlo Ancelotti was a 15-minute cameo in a 3-2 defeat to Inter.
Hernan Crespo
Crespo's career took him to Inter, then Milan, and then back again (via a spell at Chelsea).
However, he didn't feature in the majority of derby games during his time with the Nerazzurri, although the one he did score in was arguably the best of the current century as Inter snatched a 4-3 victory, with Crespo leaping to head in Dejan Stankovic's free-kick for the opener in a season that saw the Argentina international - and Inter - win the first of three successive Serie A titles.
Despite scoring in that barely believable Champions League final against Liverpool, the striker's time at Milan was less memorable and he failed to net against Inter as Juventus went to clinch the Scudetto - before being stripped of the title due to their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal that engulfed Italian football.
Mario Balotelli
Balotelli burst onto the scene for Inter aged 17, but played a limited role in three games against Milan before heading to Manchester City in 2010 having won three straight Serie A titles, a Champions League, a Coppa Italia and a Supercoppa Italiana.
When the striker returned to Italy with the Rossoneri two-and-a-half years later, he went on to make five appearances against the Nerazzurri and only recorded one assist in those games, although that assist was a brilliant whipped free-kick that was headed by Nigel de Jong for what proved to be the winner in May 2014.
A much-travelled player, Balotelli now plies his trade for Sion and has scored five goals in 10 matches for the Swiss Super League side.
Clarence Seedorf
A legend of the game, Seedorf moved to Inter from Real Madrid in 2000 and scored a wondrous free-kick winner against Milan in the first leg of the Coppa Italia quarter-final that year before setting up Roberto Baggio's ultimately decisive equaliser in the return fixture to take Marcello Lippi's men through.
The former Ajax midfielder also provided the assist for Hakan Sukur's opener in the league the following season, lofting a perfect pass into the path of the Turkey international's path.
However, it is the 10 years and 432 appearances he enjoyed at Milan for which Seedorf is most well remembered, a stint that included twice knocking Inter out in the Champions League knockout phase, supplying the pass for Andriy Shevchenko to deal the killer blow in the first of those ties, as well as teeing up winner for Kakhaber Kaladze in 2006 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's equaliser in the Coppa Italia final five years later, which Massimiliano Allegri's side won.
But his crowning glory in this fixture was a 35-yard scorcher to win an enthralling league game 3-2 in February 2004 as Milan went on to win the Scudetto by 11 points.
Seedorf ended up with two league titles - seven years apart - two Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, one Club World Cup, one Coppa Italia and one Supercoppa Italiana with the Rossoneri. A rare talent.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
A phenomenal athlete with incredible strength and a ridiculously powerful shot, Ibrahimovic is currently in his second spell at Milan aged 41.
He first featured in the derby for Inter though, converting a rapid breakaway after clinical combination play with Dejan Stankovic in October 2006 to make it 3-0 in that classic 4-3 Inter victory, before steering home the winner from Julio Cruz's cutback in the reverse fixture in what was to be the first of three successive title-winning seasons for the Swede under Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho.
Ibrahimovic also provided the knockdown for Stankovic's decisive strike in February 2009 during a campaign in which he was Serie A's top scorer with 25 goals, before moving on to Milan following a spell at Barcelona.
The striker's predatory instincts were just as well honed with the Rossoneri against the Nerazzurri, netting the winner from the spot in October 2010 after being brought down by Marco Materazzi and equalising from ex-Inter midfielder Clarence Seedorf's square pass the following year in a 2-1 Supercoppa Italiana triumph.
Two goals in a hotly contested 2012 derby - including an impudent dink - proved in vain as Inter roared back to win 4-2, but Ibrahimovic wasn't quite done yet as, despite leaving that year, he returned in the 2019/20 following spells with Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy.
The 6'5'' magician picked up where he left off, setting up Ante Rebic with a towering header and then nodding home at the back post to put Milan ahead, only for Antonio Conte's Inter to turn things around as the Nerazzurri won 4-2 once more.
Not to be outdone, his quickfire brace the following campaign proved the difference, before fashioning a yard of space to slid in off the post in 2021 Coppa Italia quarter-final, only to then get himself sent off for two yellow-card offences as Inter mounted a comeback thanks to Romelu Lukaku and a 97th-minute winner from Christian Eriksen.
Having secured his latest Serie A title last year, Ibrahimovic's trophy cabinet for Inter and Milan combined currently stands at five Scudetti and three Supercoppa Italiana crowns. Who's to say there won't be more?
Ronaldo
Nicknamed O Fenomeno, Ronaldo's agility, fleet of foot and devastating finishing ability had defenders worldwide quaking in their boots.
He first cropped up in Serie A for Inter in 1997, scoring 59 goals in 99 appearances across all competitions for the blue half of the city during five years regularly disrupted by injury.
This included four Derby della Madonnina strikes, including two penalties, while wonderful improvisation in a league fixture in March 1998 made it 2-0 in a 3-0 triumph.
Ronaldo then produced a deft piece of control and a stabbed finish to open the scoring in November of that year, only for the game to finish 2-2, but after half a decade playing for the Nerazzurri, the Brazilian only had a UEFA Cup to show for his efforts.
After a legendary spell at Real Madrid, Ronaldo spent 18 months at Milan, scoring in his opening game against Inter for the Rossoneri with a piercing left-foot strike to put Carlo Ancelotti's side ahead before Zlatan Ibrahimovic inspired a comeback.
Ronaldo in Milan - much like wherever he played - was enormously dangerous when he was on the field.
However, mounting injury problems took their toll and severely limited his impact, even if his career is still the envy of almost all his team-mates.
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