Leonardo: Inter must target title

Despite his side having yet to fully recover from a poor start to the season, Leonardo insists Inter Milan can still win the Serie A title.

The reigning champions faltered early under Rafa Benitez, who had taken over from treble-winning manager Jose Mourinho in the off-season.

Benitez and Inter parted ways on December 23, with Leonardo inheriting a team in seventh and 13 points behind league-leaders AC Milan.

Inter have won their first three Serie A games since his arrival and climbed to sixth, but are still nine points behind their fierce rivals.

But with two games in hand, Leonardo believes they can still successfully defend the title they won under Jose Mourinho last season.

And, ahead of Wednesday’s home clash with Cesena, the Brazilian – who ironically played and managed at AC Milan – has urged his players to share his faith.

“I think it is impossible for Inter Milan not to think about an important objective, regardless how difficult it is to achieve it,” Leonardo said.

“It’s like (former Formula 1 champion Ayrton) Senna having problems with the car and starting from position 25 – he would still focus on winning the race. It’s impossible not to think about it. It’s in Inter Milan’s DNA. We haven’t established it now, it has always been so. Having said that, we should focus on one match after the other.”

“The most important match for us is tomorrow’s match against Cesena, because we would have the chance to be in the position of battling for the championship. So we should play a good match. The team has understood this. They have always known this and have always done their best.”