Inter Milan and Juventus meet on Sunday in a clash between the two Serie A favourites and their historic rivals, as Walter Mazzarri begins his reign at a struggling Napoli.
Two points ahead of Juve after 12 matches, leaders Inter have had a dream season so far as they look comfortably Italy’s best team and have ensured passage to the Champions League knockouts with two matches to spare.
Now they begin a series of brutal matches against a Juve team that has the concentrate of Massimiliano Allegri’s hyperpragmatic taste of football: eyes and even harder to break.
While AC Milan and champions Napoli are struggling, Juve are Inter’s closest rivals and have the advantage, thanks to last season’s accounting controversies, of not having European football saturating their calendar.
Meanwhile, Inter face Juve in Turin before traveling to Portugal to face Benfica and then Napoli – certainly a less daunting prospect than last season – with Udinese, Real Sociedad and then Lazio in the next three weeks.
Simone Inzaghi’s team have the league’s best attack with 29 goals, led by Lautaro Martinez’s incredible tally of 12 in 12, and the best defence with just six conceded.
And with Juve’s sharpest scorers, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, stuck on four goals since September, their warring sides appear to lack the firepower to hurt an Inter team that, according to Roma coach José Mourinho, “should win the league by 20 points. “
Inter’s CEO Giuseppe Marotta meanwhile has tried to shift the focus onto Juve given their continental commitments, trying to dampen expectations after their last two title challenges fell flat.
“In the medium term, Juve are the favourites because participating in European competitions allows better planning of educational sessions and means less physical strain for the players,” Marotta told reporters on Tuesday.
“We have a team, a strong coach and strong owners, we have everything to win trophies. That’s what we did last year, let’s do the same this season. “
Already 10 points off the pace, Napoli have a tricky trip to Atalanta on Saturday as Walter Mazzarri tries to get a derailing title defence back on course.
Napoli have been a club in disarray almost since the season started, with Rudi Garcia quickly proving an unsuitable replacement for Luciano Spalletti, and president Aurelio De Laurentiis turning to a relic of the past has not inspired confidence.
Mazzarri has not worked as a coach in 18 months and has long been a living meme for his excuses for defeats, such as players having diarrhoea, it being Edinson Cavani’s birthday, and the rain.
But Napoli were unable to attract a top name and the 62-year-old does at least have happy memories as the man who guided southern Italy’s biggest club back to the upper echelons of Serie A over a decade ago.
Napoli are just about in the Champions League positions but an Atalanta win would move them into the top four at the champions’ expense.
With Victor Osimhen on the Bergamo bench, Raspadori will once again lead the Napoli line after helping Italy qualify for Euro 2024.
Raspadori has scored three goals and provided assists in six games in all competitions since replacing the injured Osimhen in mid-October.
And the 23-year-old will do battle with one of his key rivals for a starting spot in Italy’s European title defence next summer, Gianluca Scamacca set to line up in attack for hosts Atalanta.
2 – Inter’s league lead ahead of Juventus
11 – Like the number of problems Napoli had at the same level last season.
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