INTER MILAN travel south to the Tuscan town of Siena tomorrow looking to wrap up their fifth consecutive Serie A title and, in the process, set themselves up ideally for next Saturday’s Champions League Final clash in Madrid with Bayern Munich. For Inter, who have already defeated arch-rivals AS Roma in the Italian Cup final, this weekend could see them collect the second leg of an historic and much-desired treble.
Unlike last season when Inter had their 17th Italian title all wrapped up by the third last day of the season, this year’s contest has gone right down to the wire. Inter come into the final game two points clear of Roma and may need to win against little Siena to be fully certain of lifting the title.
Were Inter to draw and Roma to win their final game away to Chievo, both sides would be tied on 80 points. In a past era, this would have led to a title play-off but in these times of overcrowded fixture lists, the Italian Federation has opted for the “head to head” count which favours Roma since they held Inter to a 1-1 draw in Milan last November whilst they then beat them 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Rome in March.
In all probability, Inter’s impressive Champions League campaign probably opened the league “back door” for Roma. As Inter battled with Chelsea, CSKA Moscow and Barcelona, they took their eye off the Serie A ball, losing twice and dropping 14 points in a miserable eight-match February-March run.
In the meantime, Roma, under ex-Chelsea “Tinkerman” Claudio Ranieri, hit a terrific run of form, going 24 matches unbeaten to not only wipe out a 14-point deficit with Inter but to actually overtake them to lead Serie A for two heady weeks. The Roma run came to a painful stop three weeks ago when they were beaten 2-1 in Rome by Sampdoria thus letting the revived Inter back in front.
It seems unlikely Inter will let this title slip from their grasp again. The comprehensive nature of Inter’s Cup final win against Roma suggests Inter coach, José Mourinho, has worked a minor masterpiece, producing a side that look mentally, physically and tactically stronger now than at any time in the season.
Roma can only try to win their game away to Chievo and then hope for a miracle from already-relegated Siena. When the sides met at the San Siro in January, Siena were still leading 2-3 in the 88th minute and lost out only to two late Inter goals in a 4-3 defeat.
Italian police will be taking extra security precautions this weekend. In particular, police are worried about motorway cafes on the A1 autostrada where Inter fans travelling south to Siena might just “bump into” their Roma rivals travelling north to Verona.
