Remembering one of football's iconic moments from an ill-tempered Milan derby in 2005

Image Credits: Twitter/@Sporf

On April 12 in 2005, one of football's most iconic pictures had emerged from the Champions League quarter-final clash between AC Miland and Inter Milan at San Siro that was forced to be abandoned due to a rowdy crowd throwing flares onto the pitch.

Exactly 15 years ago, the two teams of the Italian city were drawn into the last-eight clash of the Champions League.

AC Milan took an edge in the quarter-finals after clinching a 2-0 win over Inter Milan in the first-leg.

Milan continued their momentum in the second-leg as well, taking an early 1-0 lead to go 3-0 up on aggregate on April 12 in 2005 at San Siro. It is then Inter fans got so furious that they started throwing objects on to the field after Esteban Cambiasso’s goal was disallowed. 

However, the situation turned more intense when AC Milan goalkeeper was hit by one of the fireworks, prompting the referee to call a temporary halt to the game.

After players returned to the field from their respective dressing rooms following a 10-minute break, Inter fans continued their ill-temper and hurled objects.The clash was eventually forced to be abandoned after 73 minutes of play.

One of the most iconic pictures that emerged from the match was Inter's Marco Materazzi and AC Milan's Rui Costa standing on the field and watching the fireworks together with Materazzi keeping his hand on Costa's shoulder 

Later, AC Milan stormed into the Champions League semi-final with a 3-0 win, 5-0 aggregate win, while Inter Milan was handed a fan by the UEFA and ordered to play next four clashes in empty stadium.