Two street artists from rival sides have created a mural depicting last month's clash between AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku, with the aim of encouraging a peaceful derby between the teams on Sunday.
Artists SteReal and KayOne -- real names Stefania Marchetto and Marco Mantovani -- painted the huge image on the side of a building next to the San Siro Stadium, the venue for the tussle between Serie A's top two sides.
They have re-created the moment Ibrahimovic and Lukaku clashed heads during the Coppa Italia meeting between the rivals on Jan. 26, a match that got so heated it resulted in the Italian Football Federation opening an inquiry.
"I'm a Milan fan and he's an Inter fan, so for us it was already a derby doing this mural with four hands belonging to two different teams," Marchetto told Reuters.
"Our message is definitely a positive one. We hope that this mural can also encourage these champions towards a peaceful encounter in front of the mural [on Sunday]."
The street art, which overlooks the stadium on Via dei Piccolomini, includes the phrase "Face to Face, Heart to Heart", in conjunction with another recent significant date.
"We decided to dedicate this mural to Inter and Milan around Valentine’s Day," Mantovani added.
"It was important to make a positive message from it to leave to the city of Milan, reconsidering this iconic image of these two great champions who square off on the pitch, but not in life.
"Face to Face, Heart to Heart, inspired by the 1980's hit by The Twins, comes from a desire to leave a trace on the city of Milan that is about the desires around sport, the desire to win of these two champions who are clashing with intensity, but also out of loyalty."
Swede Ibrahimovic and Belgian Lukaku are top goalscorers for their respective sides this season, with Inter leading the Serie A standings on 50 points, one ahead of their great rivals ahead of Sunday's eagerly-anticipated encounter.
(Reporting by Peter Hall; editing by Clare Fallon)
