Stefano Pioli declared that league titles "are not won in December" but challenged Milan to raise their game when they face Napoli on Sunday.
Inter moved four points clear of the Rossoneri at the top of Serie A by hammering Salernitana 5-0 on Friday.
The champions have soared to the summit with six consecutive victories, while Milan dropped to second after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Udinese, after crashing out of the Champions League with a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
Pioli says it is too early for talk of Inter running away with it, highlighting that Milan topped the table for much of last season before falling short.
The Milan head coach said in a press conference on Saturday: "I don't think we can talk about an escape, I think Inter are demonstrating the qualities they had already shown.
"Championships are not won in December. We were in the lead for a long time last year and we know how it ended. We have to improve ourselves.
"The first year we had 66 points starting from a difficult position. The second year 79 points.. This year's goal is to do better, especially in the second round [of fixtures]."
He added: "We are having a very good first round, there are still two games to go. I would like to surpass last year's 43 [before the break].
"Tomorrow's opponents have great qualities and an excellent coach, we certainly need to raise the level of performance.
"We are not racing against anyone, but only with ourselves. The last two performances weren't optimal, we must try again to bring our qualities into play with strength and conviction."
Milan have only won one of their last 13 Serie A games against Napoli, but at least it came recently – a 3-1 success in November 2020. Over that period they have had five draws and suffered seven defeats.
Neither team can point to particularly strong recent form, despite both sitting in the top four going into the San Siro game. After setting an electric pace in the early weeks, Milan and Napoli have been steadily reeled in.
Since the beginning of November, Milan have picked up eight points from six games and Napoli have managed only five, ranking them 10th and 16th respectively in Serie A across this period.
Milan's forwards may be interested in the fact Napoli have faced 28 shots on target in their last five league matches (5.6 on average per match), whereas they had faced 11 in total in their previous five (2.2 on average per game).
Pioli will check on Theo Hernandez for the clash with fourth-placed Napoli as the France left-back has been suffering with illness.
Malacia makes Man Utd comeback after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Malacia makes injury comeback for Under-21s after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Taylor pleased with Man City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino were on target in the second half at the Joie Stadium, moving them three points clear at the top of Group D.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
The hosts dominated for large parts of the encounter, ending with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.75 from their 16 shots, while also accumulating 73.6% possession.
But Taylor was happy with his side's display and explained the physical test against the Swedish champions was something his players will benefit from moving forward.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad.
Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the Women's Super League, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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
