Former Italy striker Christian Vieri believes Inter‘s midfielders are better than Manchester City’s and feels Milan don’t have four strikers who can score at all times, like the Nerazzurri and Juventus.
Inter and Juve will meet at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Sunday next week in a key Serie A fixture. The Nerazzurri are the current table leaders, two points ahead of their harshest rivals, coached by Max Allegri.
“Inter are playing great football. The anomaly is in the points they dropped against Sassuolo and Bologna. With two points more, the gap would be more realistic,” Vieri said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“However, the Bianconeri never give up because it’s not easy to stay close to this Inter side.”
Juventus have scored ten fewer goals than Inter and have conceded seven times against the Nerazzurri’s six so Vieri was asked if this is enough to win the league.
“These are the numbers, but the points earned are also numbers,” he noted.
“Surely, European clubs rely on a different style, like Inter. You always play to win, attack and create goal-scoring opportunities.
“Like it or not, Allegri likes results over clear-cut chances, but they still have four strong strikers and perhaps, they’ll buy more. If Juventus buy somebody, it will be a strong player to win titles.”
Nevertheless, Vieri believes Inter have the best team in Italy.
“Nobody has a deeper squad. All new signings are potential starters: Pavard, Carlos Augusto, Frattesi, Sanchez, Arnautovic,” he said.
“I like Lukaku. He makes the difference as we can see at Roma, but Inter signed Thuram. I hadn’t realised he was this strong. Congratulations to those who signed him.
“De Vrij was benched six times in 12 Serie A games, but he’d be a starter in any other team,” Vieri continued.
“However, I believe games are won in central midfield. I had already said Inter midfielders are better than Manchester City’s and this season they have Frattesi plus Asslani who has gained experience. Everyone can score and it becomes difficult for the opponents because you never see them coming. That’s where Inter’s solidity starts. If you keep the ball, you run fewer risks.
“To me, Inter, Juventus and Milan are obliged to win and play well. I’d like to see Juventus play better football, see seven of their players inside the opponents’ box at minute 95, trying to score. They have done it already, and they can do it again.”
Contrary to Inter and Juventus, Milan won just one of the last five league matches and are currently six points below the Bianconeri and eight from Inter.
“They lack something in attack. There is too much responsibility on Leao and Giroud, who is working miracles,” said Vieri.
“Inter and Juventus have four strikers who can score, Milan don’t.”
Last but not least, Vieri spoke about Gianluca Scamacca and Italy’s chances to qualify for Euro 2024 with the Azzurri preparing for the last qualifying game against Ukraine on Monday. Will Luciano Spalletti’s men earn a spot for Germany 2024?
“I refuse to think otherwise. Spalletti is a great coach. We are in his hands,” said Vieri.
“Scamacca? I could tell him to work hard but he will surely do so with Gasperini. In today’s football, there is just one player who can afford not to run for the entire game, he’s called Messi.”