Inter eyeing chance to put pressure on title rivals Milan

Inter Milan visit Sassuolo this weekend with the chance to stretch their lead at the top of the Serie A table to eight points with title rivals AC Milan not in action.

Cristian Chivu’s men extended their unbeaten run in the league to 11 matches last week, a streak which includes 10 wins, by seeing off Cremonese.

With AC Milan unable to use the San Siro this weekend due to the stadium hosting the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, Inter can extend their advantage in the title race when they visit Sassuolo on Sunday.

Inter are bidding to win back the Scudetto after Napoli’s triumph last year, but striker Lautaro Martinez insists they can not be complacent despite their excellent form.

“It’s not a message to the rest of the league, it’s a message to ourselves,” said Martinez after their win over Cremonese.

“There’s still a long way to go and it’s a very evenly-balanced division.”

Inter are still fighting on three fronts after beating Torino 2-1 on Wednesday to reach the Italian Cup semi-finals.

They also take on Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League knockout play-off round later this month.

“We had a busy January and will have an even busier February,” Chivu said after the Cup quarter-final victory.

“I’m not talking about league titles, trebles, or the Champions League – we just want to be competitive and be the best version of ourselves.

“We want to fight on all fronts.”

Milan, despite not playing in Europe and being out of the Cup, will play three games in 10 days later this month due to the Olympics.

But Rossoneri coach Massimiliano Allegri says this week’s break will be beneficial to his players.

“It was important for us to get to 50 points for the season because our goal has always been to reach the top four,” he said after their 3-0 success at Bologna on Tuesday.

“We’ll enjoy this break, because we’re not playing on Sunday, and will hope to have all our players available again.”

Third-placed Napoli, nine points adrift, visit Genoa on Saturday looking to keep their slim hopes of defending their title alive despite being hit by a raft of injuries.

Juventus have revived their season under Luciano Spalletti to climb into the top four and host a Lazio side struggling for any consistency.

Fiorentina will bid to bounce back from successive league defeats when they take on Torino.

Paolo Vanoli’s men are still languishing in 18th place, one point from safety, and remain in serious danger of dropping out of the top flight for the first time since 2003/04.