Crossing the Derby d’Italia divide: Eight who played for both Inter and Juventus

As Scudetto chasers Inter Milan (8/5 match favourites) host current Italian champions Juventus (17/10) this matchweek, last season’s roles have been resoundingly reversed.

With the travelling Turin team now stranded mid-table and Inter jostling for top spot, extra spice has been added to the first Derby d’Italia of the term.

Already arguably the most bitter Serie A rivalry between Italian football royalty, especially in the post-Calciopoli era, Coral experts cast an eye back over eight excellent players to have surprisingly switched allegiances. Read on to find out who made our list…

Roberto Baggio
One of the most iconic Italian attackers of the modern era. Baggio’s brilliance saw the diminutive dangerman, nicknamed the ‘Divine ponytail’, bag a Ballon d’Or while excelling with the Old Lady to also claim Scudetto and UEFA Cup medals in the early 90s.

Yet, once Alessandro Del Piero emerged from Turin ranks, the writing was on the wall for Serie A’s seventh all-time top scorer. So, Baggio packed his bags, taking in the scenery at Bologna and AC Milan, before ending up at Inter for a less successful spell.

Edgar Davids
Dutch dynamo Davids actually arrived in Italy with AC, though failed to show his true talents in Lombardy. A switch to Juve soon saw the Netherlands international settle better on the peninsula, however.

Described as a “one-man engine room” by World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi, the defensive midfielder was instrumental in three Serie A title triumphs. Though, a later return to the San Siro, this time for the black and blue half of Milan, proved unsuccessful, with Davids’ contract terminated after one term.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Swedish superstar Ibrahimovic spent two seasons with Juve but, following the Turin team being stripped of two titles and relegated to Serie B, infamously jumped ship to an opportunistic Inter.

The inspirational attacker then helped the Nerazzurri to three successive Scudetti between 2006-09, before taking his brand of acrobatic finishing off to Barcelona and then back to Milan with the Rossoneri.

Adrian Mutu
Immensely talented but decidedly lacking in discipline, mercurial Romanian Mutu made his San Siro debut in style, striking in a Milan cup derby.

Yet, the skilful schemer failed to find the net for the Nerazzurri in 10 league games and was swiftly moved on, stopping off at Parma and Chelsea, along the way to spending just one full and disappointing season with Juve.

Andrea Pirlo
Perhaps one of Inter’s biggest modern-era mistakes was letting Pirlo to move to noisy neighbours AC as a mere youngster, but the inspirational playmaker was also underestimated by the Rossoneri, who were non-plussed about allowing Juve to snap-up the pass-master on a Bosman.

Pirlo proved to be incredible value for the Old Lady, by conducting Juve to four Serie A titles on the trot, his talents returning to haunt both Milan giants.

Paulo Sousa
Now topping the Serie A summit as manager of Fiorentina, Portuguese defensive midfield shield Sousa previously plied his trade with Juventus, clinching a Champions League trophy while representing the Piedmontese in 1996.

Later, in the twighlight of his career, Sousa returned to Serie A with Inter, though made just a handful of appearances in each of his three campaigns.

Patrick Vieira
Former Arsenal midfield enforcer and Invincible Vieira returned to Italy after exiting England, but spent just a season at Juventus before leading the Calciopoli exodus.

At Inter the feisty France international marshaled the midfield to three back-to-back Scudetti, though arguably never reached his Juve or Gunners heights.

Christian Vieri
Bologna-born journeyman Vieri is undoubtedly one of the great Italian strikers to have graced the game and followed in the footsteps of another, Giuseppe Meazza, by donning the shirts of all of Milan, Juve and Inter.

The formidable predator was certainly his most potent while with the Nerazzurri, snatching 103 strikes in 143 league games, but saw his stint with the Milanese cut short due to injury woe.