Juve are afraid of losing to Inter - Ranieri

Posted Sunday, March 25, 2012 by Supersport.com

Inter Milan manager Claudio Ranieri believes his former club Juventus are afraid of losing when the two sides meet in the so-called "Derby of Italy" on Sunday and says the pressure will be on the hosts in Turin.

Juve go into the fiercely-contested fixture chasing AC Milan at the top of the table and trailed the league leaders by four points going into the weekend games.

Inter are down in seventh and three points off a European qualification position as well as seven behind Lazio in the third and final Champions League berth.

But despite the difference in league positions, Ranieri says traditional rivalry means Juve would view losing their unbeaten run to the nerazzurri as a worst-case scenario.

"I think Juventus are more under pressure because if they lose then they'll fall further away from Milan," said Ranieri. "And I think they also have the terror of losing their unbeaten run to Inter in their new stadium.

"We're playing Juve now and Milan in our penultimate match, I think they will fight to the end for the title so we can tip the scales."

Although Inter have been on a disastrous run recently with just one win in their last nine league matches, Ranieri believes his side are feeling less strain going into the match.

"We've been lighter in the last few games, we're ready to take on a Juve team that's doing very well," he said.

"We're not starting as favourites and that's disappointing but it's a big match and, as ever, we have to try to win it.

"But it's not entirely true that we have nothing to lose, these are always must-win games.

"I would have preferred to be in their position and as (Inter president Massimo) Moratti said yesterday (Friday), I hope tomorrow's game will give us the spark to do well until the end of the season."

Inter's recent form may be terrible but Juve only have two wins in their last eight in Serie A.

However, they did beat AC Milan in midweek to reach the Italian Cup final.