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| AP |
MILAN (AP) — The king of cups is set to go toe-to-toe with the king of Serie A when Inter Milan hosts Juventus in a match that could go a long way toward deciding the destination of Italian soccer’s top prize.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has won three Italian Cup titles and lifted the Italian Super Cup five times, earning him the title of “Re di Coppe” (“King of Cups”). He also steered Inter to the Champions League final last year.
However, the 47-year-old coach has never won a league title, although he appears to be closer than ever to it this season.
But standing in his way is one of the most successful coaches in Italy: Massimiliano Allegri.
The 56-year-old Allegri has won six Serie A titles — one with AC Milan and five with Juventus — and only Giovanni Trapattoni has more, with seven.
Juve’s recent victory over Lecce moved it briefly atop the league and was Allegri’s 300th in Serie A, putting him third on the all-time list, behind only Nereo Rocco (302) and Trapattoni (352).
Last weekend, Juventus could only draw at home to relegation-threatened Empoli — following Arkadiusz Milik's early sending off — and Inter won at Fiorentina to reclaim the Serie A lead.
Inter heads into Sunday’s Derby d’Italia one point clear of Juventus and with a game in hand because of its involvement in the Italian Super Cup — which it won.
“There are still a lot of matches and the road is long,” Inzaghi said after the Fiorentina win. “Being a point ahead or two points behind doesn’t change much at the moment.
“What matters is that the team continues in this way because there are so many matches that will be difficult like tonight.”
It will also be a clash of opposite styles at San Siro, with Allegri’s Juve known for its stingy defense and rare forays forward and Inzaghi’s Inter topping the Italian league scoring charts.
However, something appears to have changed at Juventus. Before the match against Empoli, it had scored 18 goals in its five matches in January.
Much of that credit is down to a reinvigorated Dušan Vlahović, who netted six times in his four league matches last month.
No one has started the year better in the top five leagues in Europe, not even Inter’s goal-machine Lautaro Martínez, who has four in three matches and leads Serie A's scoring chart with 19.
Nevertheless, Allegri has said that Inter are “clear favorites.”
“We have in front of us a strong team, Inter, that is the favorite and has got a lot of points, they’re doing extraordinary things,” he added. “Being up against them is a source of pride for us seeing as we’re on a different path.”
Indeed, few would have imagined Juventus would be in this position after last year’s disastrous season which saw it once again mired in scandal, with the entire board resigning and the team hit by a 10-point penalty for false accounting.
If Allegri manages to steer the Bianconeri to the title it will arguably be his biggest achievement to date as, unlike in previous title-winning campaigns, his team is mainly devoid of star players and — on paper at least — Inter has a far superior squad.
“We have to try to make the impossible possible,” Allegri said.
- DANIELLA MATAR
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