Supporters and rivalries

Milan is the third most supported football club in Italy with around 16.4% of Italian football fans supporting the club (according to the Doxa Institute-L'Expresso’s research of April 2006).[19] Historically, AC Milan was supported by the city of Milan's working-class and trade unionists, a section of whom were migrants from Southern Italy. On the hand rivals Inter, the other big club from the city was mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class.
One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football; Fossa dei Leoni came from AC Milan.Currently the main ultras group is Brigate Rossonere and has been since the mid-1970s. Politically Milan ultras have never been very far on either wing, the media previously associated them with the left-wing, until recent times under the Silvio Berlusconi presidency where they are considered more right-wing.

A Milan ultras' banner saying "Inter, the true comedy since 1908", accompanied by a caricature of Dante
For more details on this topic, see Derby della Madonnina.
Twice every season the Milan Derby or the Derby della Madonnina as it is known in Italian is played between Milan and Inter. These are regarded as two of the most important derbies in football, and are always highly anticipated events in the Italian sports calendar. Occasionally there have also been derbies in the Champions League, Coppa Italia, Super Coppa Italiana and the Birra Moretti Trophy. Currently, Milan lead Inter with 104 wins to 89 in total respectively. However Inter has a better record in Serie A with 59 wins to Milan's 56. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere within the San Siro with numerous (and often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the match which are specifically made each year for the match. The use of flares by the clubs ultras is also a frequent sight. However whilst this derby is usually played in a reasonably friendly atmosphere, it has also had more than its share of controversy, most notably the Champions League quarter final of 2004–05 which was abandoned after Milan keeper Dida was struck on the head by a flare thrown from the Inter supporters section.