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Perth turned on a brilliant spectacle on Wednesday night as AC Milan drew 1-1 with rivals Inter in front of a bumper crowd of 52,310 at Optus Stadium in the first of three all-Italian matches over the next week. A 52nd minute strike from Italian international Federico Dimarco was cancelled out by a late Christopher Nkunku penalty in a pre-season friendly that gave Aussie fans a taste of some serious European pedrigree. Perhaps the loudest cheer of the night came just after the hour mark as Milan emptied their bench, calling on Croatian icon Luka Modric – who recently signed a new deal at 40 years old- as well as Portuguese duo Rafael Leao and Goncalo Ramos, among others. Christian Chivu’s Inter fielded more experience from the start, with their XI headlined by the likes of Alessandro Bastoni, Benjamin Pavard, Nicolo Barella, Dimarco and Italian rising star Pio Esposito The Nerrazzuri made their own swathe of substitutes not long after their rivals, headlined by the entrance of Hakan Calhanoglu, who became infamous in Australia during the World Cup for suggesting his Turkey side would dominate the Socceroos, before going down 2-0 to Tony Popovic’s side in their opening group match. The opening goal came as Barella made a well timed overlapping run down the right of the box and delivered a pinpoint ball across the face of goal for Dimarco to tap in. Milan had their chances, particularly after the substitutes came on, with Ivan Provedel getting down low to prevent Leao’s cross from finding a teammate, who would have had the simplest of finishes to level the game. Then with seven minutes left in regular time, Modric made an impact, producing a lovely pass to send Christopher Nkunku in behind, with the forward taken down by Carlos Augusto as the referee pointed to the spot. Nkunku kept his cool and made no mistake with the resulting spot kick and levelled up the match. “Everyone saw it, it was not a penalty,” Calhanoglu told Channel 7 after the match. That goal ensured Inter’s wait for a victory over their local rivals, which dates back to the 2023/24 season. It was a special night for the bumper crowd in attendance, beginning with a beautiful tribute for late Milan icon Franco Baresi as well as a lovely rendition of Nessun Dorma. In the end, no one walked away with bragging rights as these two sides continue their preparations for the upcoming Serie A season. Milan will now head to Indonesia to take on Chelsea, while Inter will take on fellow Italian giants Juventus in Perth on Saturday night as this festival of football continues.