Juve have matched Inter since I arrived: Zaccheroni

Juventus coach Alberto Zaccheroni admitted Inter Milan have been better than his side this season but said the Old Lady of Turin has matched the champions since his arrival in January.

Inter host Juve on Friday night in a match crucial to both teams’ aspirations this season with Jose Mourinho’s men going for the title and Zaccheroni’s aiming for fourth place.

And just to stoke up the heat before the game known here as ‘the derby of Italy’ Zaccheroni claimed his team have been as good as the champions since he joined the Turin giants in late January.

“This year Inter have proved better than us but since I arrived, in the last 12 matches, we’ve earned the same number of points,” he said.

“Unfortunately for us the weight of our poor league position affects the way we’re judged and our victories are belittled, like last Sunday against Cagliari.”

Zaccheroni is right in what he says as both teams have picked up 18 points from their last 12 matches, but that should mislead no-one as it is due solely to Inter’s stuttering recent form.

Three wins from their last 11 games has seen their once seemingly unassailable lead not only wiped out but they now come into this game in second place, one point behind AS Roma.

Zaccheroni’s assertion that he is being unfairly judged by Juve’s poor league position is not backed up by the facts.

Under his leadership Juve have earned 1.5 points per game, but prior to his arrival they were averaging a slightly higher 1.57 points per game.

He has not improved Juve’s form, Inter’s has simply dropped that far.

Zaccheroni does have an interesting history with Inter, though, having been the Lazio coach when the nerazzurri lost 4-2 in the capital on the final day of the 2002 season to miss out on the title to Juventus.

But repeating that feat does not interest Zaccheroni.

“Do I want to deny Inter another title? No, I’m only interested in getting points for the Champions League,” he said.

“We’re coming up against a team that is second in the league and in the semi-finals of the Champions League and certainly won’t be prioritising one over the other.

“I saw them Tuesday against Fiorentina and against Chelsea and they don’t seem to be struggling.

“But maybe recently they’ve lacked a bit of intensity in games that seemed less important.”

Juve are sixth in Serie A and need to make up three points on both Palermo and Sampdoria above them in the standings if they are to snatch that crucial fourth place.

But as well as the trip to Inter on Friday, they will also return to the San Siro on the final day of the season to face AC Milan in a run-in that looks much tougher than their two immediate rivals’.