Resurgent Milan, buoyed up by their win over Barcelona, meet an Inter side mired in a mid-season crisis in tomorrow night’s Serie A derby which also features maverick striker Mario Balotelli facing his former club.
The mood in the two camps could not be more different with Inter, who at one stage were one point behind leaders Juventus, in a slump and their rivals on a high after Wednesday’s 2-0 win in the Champions League.
Milan have also enjoyed a resurgence in the league, helped greatly by the signing of striker Balotelli who has scored four goals in three games since his move from Manchester City.
The wildly unpredictable “Supermario” will be facing the club where he spent four seasons and made his top-flight debut.
Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni has emerged victorious from both his previous meetings with Milan and badly needs a third win to rescue his side’s season.
On Thursday, Inter beat Cluj 3-0 in Romania to join the Last 16 in the Europa League.
The Milan rivals have undergone a role reversal since the start of the year with Milan, whose early-season struggles led to weekly speculation over the future of coach Massimiliano Allegri, now ahead of Inter.
Milan have taken 23 points from 10 games since the start of December and are third with 44 points, one ahead of Inter.
Inter have taken 15 points in the same period and have suffered three bad defeats since the start of the season, at Udinese, struggling Siena and a 4-1 thrashing by Fiorentina last Sunday.
Former youth team coach Stramaccioni was promoted to Inter coach late last term and their 4-2 win over Milan ended their rivals’ hopes of winning the title. They also won this season’s first meeting 1-0.
“The good and bad thing about being coach of Inter is that this pressure is on me from the first day I took charge of this great team,” said Stramaccioni.
“There is a lot of pressure, as we lost 4-1 on Sunday and it’s only normal to be criticised, but I think we did well against Cluj. We will go forward.”
Juventus, four points clear at the top, face relegation-threatened Siena while second-placed Napoli have a difficult match at mid-table Udinese on Monday.
Tomorrow, Cagliari will have to host Torino behind closed doors after the latest saga involved their scandal-plagued Is Arenas stadium.
Cagliari have agreed to host Torino behind closed doors after president Massimo Cellino was arrested last week on charges of embezzlement and false representation over the rebuilding of the stadium.
The Sardinians moved to Is Arenas, which had previously hosted third-tier matches in the 1980s, at the start of this season but, with only one permanent stand, they have had trouble from the outset.
Today’s match between strugglers Palermo and Genoa features two sides who have employed six coaches between them so far this season.
Palermo incumbent Alberto Malesani has had two stints at Genoa, the second last season lasting less than one month, while Genoa’s Davide Ballardini spent most of the 2008-09 season with the Sicilians.
Fxtures
Serie A - Playing Today
Palermo Vs Genoa 20.45
Tomorrow – 15.00
Atalanta Vs Roma
Bologna Vs Fiorentina
Cagliari Vs Torino
Inter Vs Milan 20.45
Juventus Vs Siena
Parma Vs Catania
Monday
Udinese Vs Napoli 19.00
Lazio Vs Pescara 21.00
Standings: Juventus 55; Napoli 51; Milan, Lazio 44; Inter 43; Fiorentina 42; Catania 39; Roma 37; Udinese 36; Parma 32; Torino (-1) 31; Sampdoria (-1), Chievo 29; Cagliari 28; Atalanta (-2) 27; Bologna 26; Genoa 25; Siena (-6), Pescara 21; Palermo 19.
Serie B
Played Yesterday
Juve Stabia Vs Grosseto 2-1
Spezia Vs Novara 0-6
Today – 15.00
Cesena Vs Ascoli
Cittadella S Livorno
Crotone Vs Ternana
Empoli Vs Padova
Lanciano Vs Reggina
Modena Vs Brescia 18.00
Pro Vercelli Vs Bari
Verona Vs Varese
Vicenza Vs Sassuolo
Standings: Sassuolo 58; Livorno 51; Verona 47; Varese (-1) 43; Empoli 39; Juve Stabia 38; Modena (-2) 36; Padova 35; Brescia, Novara (-4) 34; Ascoli (-1) 33; Spezia, Cittadella 32; Cesena 31; Ternana, Crotone (-2), Lanciano 30; Reggina (-2) 29; Bari (-7) 26; Vicenza 25; Pro Vercelli 17; Grosseto (-6) 16.