Two of the world game’s biggest clubs have brought an authentic European football atmosphere to Perth as AC Milan and Inter Milan brought a taste of Italy down under.

Calcio Italiano, Perth’s festival of Italian football, opens on Wednesday night with a blockbuster, rare ‘Derby della Madonnina’ outside of Italy as footballing superpowers Inter and AC Milan’s storied, century-old rivalry came to Australia for the first time.

And while all the focus in the lead-up was on the stars on-pitch, like Milan’s legendary Croatian midfielder Luka Modric and Inter’s engine room generals Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu, those off-pitch did themselves proud.

The State Government announced less than 2000 tickets were left before kick-off, and there is plenty more to come, with Italy’s most successful team — Juventus — arriving in Perth on Thursday ahead of their matches against Inter on Saturday and Palermo on Tuesday.

Supporters assembled at their team-assigned hubs well before kick-off, with Rossoneri (AC Milan) fans pitching up at the Merrywell, while Nerazurri (Inter) rubbed shoulders with club legends Christian Vieri and Javier Zanetti in Brookfield Place.

Closer to the Burswood peninsula, Optus Stadium’s surrounds became a hive of activity even three hours before kick-off as fans poured in post-work and school pick-up.

Punters clogged the arteries around the heart of the precinct as football fans piled onto the northern oval — normally reserved for staff parking — in the hours leading up to kick-off.

As the game neared, the stadium precinct increasingly turned black, red and blue as fans made their way towards the venue as the air hung heavy with the unmistakable scent and billowing smoke of flares.

Inter Milan approached from across the river, turning the Matagarup Bridge into a runway as they filled the air with their voices and drums.

Their bitter rivals approached from Burswood way and in vast numbers, as the pavement similarly overflowed with banners and noise.