Stefano Pioli and Antonio Conte are relishing the prospect of a possible Scudetto shoot-out in Sunday's Derby della Madonnina.
Inter lead Milan by one point at the Serie A summit heading into this weekend's showdown after leapfrogging their bitter rivals last week.
With nine-in-a-row champions Juventus eight points adrift of top spot, albeit with a game in hand to play, the title is looking likely to end up at San Siro this season.
Milan are seeking a first Scudetto since 2011, a year after Inter last prevailed, and Sunday's game may go a long way towards determining who finishes top come the end of the campaign.
It is the first time the sides will meet holding the top two positions in the table since April 2011 and Conte is expecting a unique derby in the behind-closed-doors contest.
"It will be different to the previous derbies because of the teams' high positions - first and second," Conte said at a news conference on Saturday.
"This is very satisfying for the city of Milan. There is a lot at stake, certainly more than just local pride.
"We have to do our best to win the game and stay top of the table. It is an important match. When the table is like this you need to be even more determined."
Milan beat Inter 2-1 in October and are seeking a league double over their city rivals for the first time since 2010-11.
However, Inter won last month's eventful Coppa Italia quarter-final tie by the same scoreline and Pioli is anticipating a cagey affair in this latest tussle.
"Tomorrow we will play a derby like we have not seen for many years, with a lot on the line," Pioli told reporters.
"Both us and Inter have a clear identity. The derbies are always balanced matches with many goalscoring opportunities.
"It is not necessarily decisive for the fate of the championship, but it is important because we have been in the lead all season."
The big talking point from the most recent meeting between the sides was the coming together of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku.
But Conte, who won three titles during his time in charge of Juventus, does not believe tempers will flare this time around.
"It's going to be a match with two teams trying to win and surpass each other," Conte said.
"We must never forget that, even if this is a big game and a derby, it remains a sport. I don't predict much tension in the atmosphere.
Ibrahimovic has scored 10 goals in all competitions in this fixture, including eight for Milan, and Pioli would not swap his striker for Inter star Lukaku.
"I respect Lukaku, but I prefer Ibra," Pioli said. "Tomorrow's game must be a collective effort; we must play as a team. It is the collective that highlights the qualities of the individual.
"We have to play well because we know how to do it, we have the technical qualities."
Asked how his Inter side plan to deal with Ibrahimovic, Conte said: "You neutralise threats by working as a team and reducing the errors.
"Ibrahimovic is a top player who is doing very well for Milan. He has already scored against us this season, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will score again."
Milan have lost three league games since the start of 2021 - one more than over the whole of 2020 - and were held 2-2 by Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League on Thursday.
Pioli, who has constantly played down his side's title aspirations, accepted an improvement is required on the back of some below-par displays.
"We did not raise our levels against Red Star - even the defensive phase did not see us as solid and compact," he said.
"Tomorrow we must be very careful and determined. Our goal is to give the best, then we'll see what we've achieved at the end of the season."
Edwards urges Luton Town to ignore scrutiny on relegation battle
Rob Edwards is keen for Luton Town to ignore the scrutiny surrounding them in the relegation battle as they prepare for another big game against Wolves.
The Hatters sit one point from safety in the relegation zone after back-to-back 5-1 defeats against Manchester City and Brentford.
While Nottingham Forest also lost last weekend, being beaten 2-0 by Everton, Burnley beat Sheffield United to move them two points behind Luton.
Asked how he is handling the pressure of the relegation battle with only four games left, Edwards said: “The stakes are high already, we all know what it means and it's really important to everyone that's in this at the moment, a number of clubs that are still fighting to try and avoid it and be in the league next season, it's so important.
“Everyone wants to try and stoke the fire I think. We've got a title race on at one end and obviously, there's a relegation battle we're involved in. It's exciting, it's good that we're in the fight, and we've got a chance to get out of it, but really, all I am concerned about right now is our performance tomorrow.”
Glasner challenges Crystal Palace to extend winning run
Oliver Glasner is hopeful that Crystal Palace can maintain their recent winning run when they travel to Fulham on Saturday.
After a run of five games without a victory, the Eagles have won each of their last three games, beating Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle United.
Their 2-0 win over the Magpies on Wednesday also secured their Premier League safety for another season.
Glasner has given credit to his team’s attitude in turning around their recent run of form but does not want them to slow down despite reaching their goal.
He said: “The players give us confidence because they are listening. Every day we were sitting here and having a meeting and showing them videos and nobody was sleeping, so that gives us good feedback!
"Now we have 39 points and I think it shouldn't be our target to say ‘39 points, oh well done, staying in the Premier League’ because then I would say 'come on guys, go wherever you want and take vacations' – but no.
"We want to improve, we want to win games, and we have the next chance tomorrow at Fulham."
Columbus Crew v CF Montreal: Nancy proud of resilient Champions Cup performance
Wilfried Nancy was delighted with the spirit and grit his Columbus Crew team displayed as they sealed a 2-1 CONCACAF Champions Cup win over CF Monterrey.
The Crew are in a great position to progress to the Champions Cup final after their first-leg win in midweek.
Now, Nancy will turn his focus to a league clash with his former club CF Montreal, but he stressed his pride with his team for their performance against Monterrey.
“I'm really proud of the guys,” said Nancy.
“Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also, and we were able to unbalance them.
“We try to convince [the squad] that when we play high-level sport, it's a game of mistakes.
The idea is no matter what happened, can we find a way to bounce back? So we work on that during the practice, but at the end of the day, you have to live this situation. And I think that we've worked upon in the past. So now they’ve been better and the chemistry is better. And they were able to sort it out.”
The Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions, though they have drawn their last three league fixtures.
While Columbus sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, Montreal are three points back in 10th place.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Columbus Crew – Cucho Hernandez
Hernandez scored his 34th MLS goal (including playoffs) in the Crew’s draw on Saturday. Only the Philadelphia Union’s Daniel Gazdag (36) has more goals than Hernández since he made his MLS debut in July 2022.
CF Montreal – Ariel Lassiter
Lassiter put CF Montreal ahead against Orlando on Saturday with an 88th-minute goal, only to see the Lions equalize in stoppage time. It marked just the second time in club history that Montreal scored a go-ahead goal after the 75th minute but failed to win the match, also doing so against the Fire in 2017.
MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS WIN
Montreal have lost 17 of their 25 away matches in all competitions (W5 D3) dating back to the start of last season, being outscored, 56-21, in those games.
Columbus are unbeaten in 17 straight regular-season home matches (W12 D5) following a pair of draws with D.C. United and the Portland Timbers. The only longer run in club history was a 22-match streak in 2008—09.
Columbus won both of their matches against Montreal last season after winning just two of the previous eight (D2 L4). Montreal (2-1 in August 2022) are one of two visiting teams to record a win at Lower.com Field since June 2022.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Columbus Crew – 56.4%
CF Montreal – 18.6%
Draw – 25%
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
