Inter Milan‘s dominant domestic season could be crowned on Monday as Simone Inzaghi’s team take on bitter rivals AC Milan knowing a win would clinch their 20th Serie A title.
Inter are 14 points clear of second-placed Milan with six league games left to play.
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The game between the local clubs, known as the Derby della Madonnina in Italy, will be particularly hard-fought given that they are level on 19 titles apiece as it stands.
“We’ve had a magnificent ride, tomorrow could be a very important day for all of us but we’re not experiencing it as an obsession,” Inzaghi told a news conference on Sunday.
“We had a dominant season, now the climb is about to end but we know what we have done.”
Inter are technically the away side for the game, though the teams share the San Siro as their home ground. For Monday’s game, Milan fans will have a much larger allocation as they look to help their team delay Inter’s title party.
Inter have enjoyed the better of the clash in recent times. In the first game between the teams in October, Inter ran out 5-1 winners, and they defeated Milan over two legs in the Champions League semifinals last season.
“The derby is always the derby, so there are excellent emotions,” Inzaghi said.
“The stakes are very high but we know well that we have won the last five derbies and they have given us great joy, they have allowed us to reach the Champions League final, but we know that tomorrow that counts for nothing.
“Victories and trophies in football count a lot. But I am happy with what we have managed to create, as a synergy, together with the club, the team, the fans.”
Historically, Inter have won 90 of the official derbies, while Milan have triumphed in 79.
Milan coach Stefano Pioli has told his players to see the derby as an opportunity.
“We can use all the terms we want: pride, responsibility and belonging. For the league table, for Thursday’s elimination, for Inter’s Scudetto, it’s a chance for redemption, for pride,” Pioli said in his Sunday news conference.
“We will need the best Milan possible. There are those who think that we have never changed in the derbies, but tomorrow we have to do everything we can so that they don’t win.
“We will need to play an exceptional game, we come off the back of five consecutive defeats against them and they have always given us problems.”
Inter’s status as champions-elect in Serie A has been established for several weeks now, with Inzaghi’s team having scored the most goals in Serie A while also boasting the meanest defence.
Lautaro Martínez‘s impressive return powered the Nerazzurri‘s attack, scoring 23 goals to be the frontrunner for the Capocannoniere, with Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu both reaching double figures.
The wing-back system employed by Inzaghi, with Benjamin Pavard, Alessandro Bastoni and Stefan de Vrij‘s stability allowing Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries to push forward, has proved more than effective in nullifying opponents.
Should Inter be held by or lose to Milan, the next chance for them to clinch the league title would be against Torino on April 28 or Sassuolo on May 5.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.