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Fabio Capello (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)
Fabio Capello feels that if Inter win their next three league matches, Milan will have no chance whatsoever of catching them at the top of the Serie A table despite their victory in the Derby della Madonnina over the weekend.
Milan did the double over Inter in the league this season, confirmed after their 1-0 victory against Cristian Chivu’s table-topping side in San Siro on Sunday night.
Inter still have a seven-point lead at the top of the Serie A table with 10 games to go, but questions have been asked as to whether Milan have any realistic chance of catching them in the final few games of the 2025-26 campaign.
“Inter have never seemed unbeatable this season, even in the best moments. It’s no coincidence that they’ve lost several direct clashes,” wrote Capello in his La Gazzetta dello Sport column on Tuesday.
“Over the last few months, Chivu has been very good at regenerating a dressing room that was discouraged by the Champions League final they lost to PSG, but now he will have to show even more skill.”
Capello believes that Inter’s biggest ‘risk’ between now and the end of the season is a psychological one.
“The derby, or rather the two losses in the derby this season, are the real danger in the race for the Scudetto. To win it, Cristian has to remove the memory of the defeats against Milan from the heads of Barella and his teammates. I’d go into the dressing room and remind them: ‘Guys, we’re the strongest. Let’s go back to having fun’.”
Capello on Inter’s decisive run and Milan’s Scudetto chances
Inter have a decisive run of fixtures coming up against Atalanta and Fiorentina over the next two weeks and then the Champions League contenders Roma and Como immediately after the international break.
“Inter have to immediately reconnect, and to deal the decisive blow in the league this season, they have to get through their next three matches with momentum: Against Atalanta, Fiorentina and Roma, their riskiest opponent,” Capello says.
“As for Milan, if Inter return to their authentic selves, the Rossoneri will not have the opportunity to attempt the overtake in the Scudetto race. It’s a matter of arithmetics.”
Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri has always maintained that Champions League qualification, not the Serie A title, is Milan’s goal this season.
“Allegri knows the calculations well, but with his experience and with his Scudetti, he knows that the pressure is all on Inter and sometimes the weight of needing to win at all costs can play tricks on you,” Capello continued.
“Max knows best how to motivate his players and will convince them to try until the very end, even if it’s just to guarantee qualification for next season’s Champions League well in advance, the goal he had heralded in the summer. It seems like an impossible mission, but there isn’t always logic in the last few metres of the race.”
ByPeter Young
Peter Young is a Senior Reporter with Football Italia.
