GdS: ‘Giants of San Siro’ – how Inter vs. Milan could be won in the air

The Derby della Madonnina regularly becomes a physical battle in each third of the pitch, and there are some giants ready for Sunday night.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) speak this morning about the ‘San Siro towers’, and not the big cylindrical concrete structures which are destined to be mostly torn down in a few years as part of the demolition for the stadium project.

They are referring to the human towers wearing the Inter and Milan shirts, with no expiration date other than the one printed on their contracts. They can make history with a play, a goal, or even a decisive tackle.

Bisseck, Thuram, Bastoni on one side, Pavlovic, Bartesaghi, and Rabiot on the other. Atop the world’s tallest league – with an average height of 184.7cm on the pitch – Serie A has no rivals. The giants of Inter and Milan are ready to battle it out next Sunday and potentially shift the balance in the title race.

Inter standing tall

On the pitch, as we know, the size of a giant can be expressed in various ways. Cristian Chivu’s Inter, for example, excels in the way that leads to goals.

The Nerazzurri make their height count when it comes to putting pressure on the opponent’s area and the results prove them right, since nobody in Serie A this season more headed goals than Inter (5).

A header from a 1.90m tall defender (Bastoni) opened the celebration that has seen the league-leaders consistently score for 11 out of 11 games. The specialist in the house is Thuram, the man who at 192cm is second only to Bisseck, 196cm.

When Marcus celebrated his first brace of the 2025-26 season, on his debut against Torino, he smiled as he looked towards the stands and then explained that ‘my dad Lilian and my brother Khephren often laughed at my headers’.

Marcus Thuram scored very few headers, then the tide changed: four of his five goals this season have come from his head. Lautaro, on the other hand, has always been very effective: two headed goals against Milan, one deciding a derby, despite being 174cm.

While Thuram has recently learned to exploit his height – a task also shared by Pio Esposito, 191cm tal – Bisseck and Acerbi have turned physicality into an art.

The Scudetto-winning centre-back is 1.92m tall, and has become a nightmare for opposing center forwards because he can handle tougher opponents in close quarters. Just ask Haaland, Lewandowski, and even Giroud (speaking of the derby).

The German also brings a healthy dose of courage to his management of the defence: Chivu alternates him with Acerbi for precisely this reason; no one in the squad can hold a high defensive line. Physical exuberance is part of that personality.

The diavolo’s height

Allegri is banking on Strahinja Pavlovic: at 194cm, he is the highest point in the Milan squad. The Serbian centre-back knows how to assert himself as an attacking weapon by exploiting his height but he also knows how to use his body when he needs to cover.

It’s no coincidence that the data goes in the opposite direction if we look at the crosses to goals conceded ratio. Milan are the team that have conceded the most crosses in the league (247) but have conceded just two goals out of nine from headers.

Pavlovic and his team-mates know how to respond to high balls. In the opposition’s penalty area, however, Allegri also has his own Thuram: Adrien Rabiot, a colossus at 1.91m. The Frenchman has scored 15 times with his head out of 57 club goals, and six were under Allegri.

Rabiot is a specialist in taking advantage of set pieces, while Davide Bartesaghi, 1.93m tall, takes set pieces. Despite knowing how to leverage his size, Milan’s left wing-back is often Allegri’s preferred taker for corners from the right.

On Sunday, he’ll compete with Estupinan for a spot, and he could win. He’ll have to contain Dumfries’s overwhelming physical strength and set up his team-mates – not an easy task for what would be a first derby start.