Legendary former Inter striker Diego Milito sees this evening’s derby clash with AC Milan in Serie A as an opportunity for his old side to take a big step forward at the top of the table.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, the Argentine stated that he expects a tense matchup between the two city rivals and emphasized the Nerazzurri’s opportunitiy to widen the gap at the top.
Inter currently sit four points ahead of Milan, as well as Napoli, with a game in hand on each, their biggest lead of the season but hardly an unassailable one.
Both the Rossoneri and the Partenopei will have opportunities to take points off Inter over the next two weekends, but on the other hand the Nerazzurri can start to open up a really imposing gap.
Milito sees the second possibility as the Nerazzurri’s motivation to be at their best and take three points off their city rivals.
“I expect a very tough, tense match, because there’s a lot at stake,” the former striker stated. “The table says it all, Milan must win, Inter have a chance to run away and become full of confidence. It’s an opportunity for both teams.”
On who he expects to be the decisive player in the match, he predicted “I hope and I expect that it will be Lautaro.”
“Having said that,” he went on, “Inter’s strength up to now has mostly been their overall team play, and I expect Inzaghi to continue to insist on this, but I believe that Toro is in a great moment.”
“He is in good shape, his confidence is sky-high after his performances with Argentina, and this mitigates any tiredness, believe me,” Milito explained. “He’ll have a great derby.”
As to Martinez’s greatest strength, Milito named “His mentality, without a doubt. He always wants to keep growing, he has chosen his own path, he has a clear goal and will not stop for any reason.”
“He’s a world-class striker,” he went on, “he already plays for a top team in Europe – there’s no limit to what he can achieve. Not to mention that he has the great fortune of playing alongside Edin Dzeko.”
Of the Bosnian striker as a partner for Martinez, Milito mused that “I would have also really enjoyed playing alongside someone like Edin. I really like his style of play, the constant link-ups with Lautaro.”
“The Bosnian makes things easier for his teammates,” he added, “he adapts to those around him, changes his position to suit the team and makes it difficult for opponents to read his movements.”
Milito gave the view that “Inter did well to bring him in during the summer.”
He characterized the struggles of former Nerazzurri striker Romelu Lukaku to replicate his form from last season at Chelsea as “Difficult to judge from the outside, maybe he has personal problems that we don’t know about or doesn’t fit in with someone. He remains a top player for me.”
On what the Nerazzurri have over their city rivals, Milito explained that “They have a superior squad and the experience of winning last season’s Scudetto. This means a lot, believe me – it’s reassuring to the players.”
The Argentine spoke about the comparison between this season’s Inter under Simone Inzaghi compared to last season’s under Antonio Conte as well.
“I find them to be similar in many ways,” he said. “Today’s team play more in possession, I like the fact that they always want to be in control of matches, that’s a quality that I really appreciate, while Conte’s eleven was more direct, more vertical.”
“And, looking at it from the outside, there seems to be a great atmosphere in the locker room,” he went on.
He continued that “Inzaghi focuses heavily on this aspect, in today’s football it is vital – the first to really understand it among recent coaches was Mourinho.”
Of Inter-linked Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca, he stated that “I’, familiar with him, I’ve also seen him with Genoa – I approve of this choice, Inter are right to consider him.”
Lastly, Milito looked ahead to Inter’s Champions League round of sixteen clash with Liverpool, stating that “The Reds must be respected, but I don’t see Inter as being too far off of Klopp’s team.”
“Inzaghi can make it into the quarterfinals,” he predicted, adding that “I’ll be at the stadium – I’m commentating on the match for Amazon Prime.”
