AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli is anticipating that the derby against Inter tomorrow will be a significant challenge for his team.

Speaking in a press conference today, as reported by FCInterNews, the Italian tactician praised the Nerazzurri’s quality and singled out midfielder Marcelo Brozovic as a player whose influence he will want his team to try and counteract.

The Nerazzurri go into tomorrow’s derby seven points behind their city rivals, but the derby is often a match where league form matters little, and in this season the table arguably doesn’t tell the entire story for either team.

The Rossoneri have managed to drop points only once in their first eleven matches, but the Nerazzurri have both the quality and the ample motivation to try and break this extremely strong run, and Pioli believes that tomorrow’s clash will be one of the most difficult challenges that his side will have faced this campaign.

Pioli described Inter as favourites for the Scudetto “because they won the last one by quite a clear margin and they know what it takes to keep winning. We are fine, the season is long, but it is clear that Inter are a very strong and compact team.”

He went on to praise the Nerazzurri’s “Technical, tactical, and physical qualities, they have players who can always find the right solutions in a game.”

And identifying the Nerazzurri player he believes could be most decisive, Pioli stated that “Brozovic is a very important and dynamic player for them, very good at driving them forward. He is to be closely watched if we want to break up their play.”