It may end up being a tie defined by a No9 who Chelsea decided was not worth keeping against a centre forward who could begin a third spell at the club next season.
But for Olivier Giroud, still going strong at Milan approaching his 37th birthday, and Romelu Lukaku, a far from resounding success in his second spell at Inter Milan despite a recent rebound in form, this derby double-header represents far more than an opportunity to settle some scores.
Giroud already has a winners’ medal from his final season at Stamford Bridge but he only featured sporadically as a substitute for Thomas Tuchel’s team in the knockout stages and this, in all likelihood, is his final opportunity to win one as a major player.
Lukaku, on the other hand, turned down a medal from Chelsea’s first win in 2012 because he was not part of the squad that defeated Bayern Munich in the final. “I didn’t deserve it,” he said at the time. And his record in the competition since belatedly debuting for Manchester United in 2017 has been rather patchy, with 18 goals from 38 appearances but never a goal beyond the round of 16.
The 29-year-old Belgian has a reputation for fading in the biggest moments but, having suffered from injury issues in the early months of this campaign, his uptick in performances over the past few weeks means he could start instead of veteran Edin Dzeko - despite the former Manchester City star being in the XI for every game up until this point.
“Lukaku is very important,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said in his pre-match press conference. “We signed him for games like these, but he had an injury at the start of the season that meant he was unavailable for nearly four months.
“Now he is feeling very good again, he is scoring regularly and he’s helping the team, as are the other players. Clearly he’s another attacking option for us and is a very important man to have for a coach.”
Giroud’s importance is even more obvious to Milan. With five goals and two assists so far in this season’s competition, including away to Napoli in the second leg of their quarter-final, France’s record goalscorer said last night: “I am not that young anymore but still hungry … today I’m more motivated than ever.”
There remains a sense of Giroud being under-appreciated by the wider footballing public. And the opposite can be said for Lukaku, whose cumulative transfer fees total an obscene £280m.
Frank Lampard was calling time on Giroud’s ability to impact Chelsea’s team 18 months before he finally departed and since then he has become France’s record goalscorer and remains a wise old head for club and country. “I spent a few tough months towards the end at Chelsea,” he said in the pre-match build-up. “It was a bit difficult for me [with a] lack of game time and I needed a new challenge.”
Lukaku, meanwhile, has gone from one destination to another and back again without ever looking entirely convincing - with the exception of his first Inter spell, leading to Chelsea paying £97.5m to re-sign him in 2021.
If Mauricio Pochettino takes over as Chelsea’s new head coach, he is expected to give Lukaku an opportunity to prove he can fulfil expectations at the third time of asking. But many fans at the end of a shameful campaign at Stamford Bridge may ponder whether it was worthwhile keeping the wily veteran Giroud lining out in red and black a little bit longer.
