Former Inter and current Italian national team head coach Roberto Mancini believes that the Nerazzurri are the team to beat in the Scudetto race this season.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, the Italian tactician gave the view that Inter are in the driver’s seat in Serie A while AC Milan and Napoli are their main rivals.
The Nerazzurri have grown in form since the beginning of the season, putting a few early wobbles behind them to win their last seven matches before the winter break while playing a dominant and complete brand of football.
This has left them four points clear of city rivals the Rossoneri and seven clear of the Partenopei, with the two teams having had a seven-point gap over them as recently as November.
Mancini believes that while the Scudetto race is far from sewn up, the Nerazzurri deserve the status of favourites to come out on top.
“At the beginning I was convinced that Juve were the team to beat,” he reflected. “But they have had some early struggles.”
He went on that “Inter have brought in Dzeko who is a great player, and Dumfries is also excellent – today they are the favourites for the Scudetto.”
“But Milan, Napoli and Atalanta are not out of it at all,” he added. “It’s a four-way race.”
