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Milan derby pits best team in world against Italy's best

The best team in Italy will take on the best team in the world in the eagerly anticipated Milan derby this weekend.

Inter Milan sit seven points clear at the top of Serie A and appear to be unstoppable in the defense of their Scudetto title.

AC Milan, however, are champions of both Europe and the world and in beating Boca Juniors to win the Club World Cup last Sunday established themselves as the most successful club side in international competitions.

It all bodes well for an exciting clash at the San Siro tomorrow.

Surprisingly, though, Inter are considering themselves as the underdogs, despite holding a 22-point lead over their cross city rivals in the league standings.

"They are the favorites. They're the world champions and we need to play at their level," Inter center-back Marco Materazzi told Sky Sport. "It's really motivating to play the best team and to try to prove we are as good as them. We can be their equals."

Materazzi was being surprisingly generous towards Milan given how dominant Inter have been over the last two years in the league.

Last season they finished 22 points clear of the field and 36 points ahead of Milan. That would have been 28 points had Milan not been deducted eight points for match-fixing and many will claim that even that figure was unrealistic given that the points deduction effectively ruled Milan out of the title race before the season began.

But the reality is that Milan won their opening three games of last season, while Inter drew one of theirs, and the gap between the pair at that stage was just six points -- hardly an insurmountable deficit.

Milan then took only 10 points from their next 10 games and that was what knocked them out of the Serie A chase.

And despite their success on the continental and world stage -- they have won 18 international titles, one more than Boca Juniors and three more than both Real Madrid and Independiente -- there is no doubt that domestically over the last two seasons Inter have been head and shoulders above everyone else.

They also beat Milan home and away last season with Materazzi scoring the winner in one of the matches that finished 4-3 and in which Inter were totally dominant.

Materazzi still has fond memories of that game, when he gestured to his son after scoring his match-winner.

"That was special because my son had asked me to dedicate a goal to him and I think it is really difficult for a defender to score in any match, never mind a derby," the World Cup winner said. "I also think it was a sign of destiny. I hope that once again I can produce something special for this derby."

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti also believes that his side's recent Club World Cup success in Japan will help carry his side to victory on Sunday.

"Coming to the derby off the back of bad defeat would certainly have been a big blow for us, but instead we are arriving with confidence, optimism and serenity," he told Sky Sport.

In other matches, second-place Roma host Sampdoria today while third-placed Juventus entertain Siena tomorrow.
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