De Winter: ‘Milan trust our solid base’ against surprising Inter formation

ITALY - SEPTEMBER 20: Christian Pulisic of AC Milan celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammate Koni De Winter during the Serie A match between AC Milan and US Lecce at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 20, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Milan defender Koni De Winter insists they are not thrown by the surprising Inter tactical changes in the Derby della Madonnina. ‘We have a solid base and trust ourselves.’

It kicks off at the iconic Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in San Siro at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.

This match is also being aired live on BBC2 in the UK and on the iPlayer.

The Rossoneri have won the last three competitive meetings with their city rivals, and are unbeaten against them since April 2024, managing five victories and two draws.

De Winter faith in Milan

“We have a solid base to build on and we trust ourselves,” De Winter told DAZN Italia and Sky Sport Italia.

“We feel ready for this match and want to find the energy that we were lacking in our most recent outing.”

There is tension in the Milan camp, as they suffered their first Serie A defeat of the season, falling here 4-2 to Bologna in the midweek round.

That followed on from Europa League losses to Benfica and Bournemouth.

Inter have pulled a few surprises, as they changed to a 3-4-2-1 formation with Andy Diouf and Petar Sucic in more advanced roles behind lone striker Marcus Thuram.

“We have our own tactical principles and we trust those. If something goes wrong during the match, then the coach is always ready to see what we are missing and make adjustments,” assured De Winter.

“The coach didn’t need to motivate us for the derby, we all feel the importance of this match for the city, the players, the fans, everyone.”

The injury crisis is beginning to calm down, as Mario Gila, Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira return to the squad this evening and are thrown straight into the starting XI.

However, Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, Samuel Chukwueze, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alexis Saelemaekers and Pietro Terracciano are still out of action.