Last Chance Saloon For Milanese Duo?

This Saturday evening, AC Milan take on Internazionale in a make-or-break match for both of them in the chase of champions Juventus. The Bianconeri are five points clear of Inter and eight ahead of Milan, so any points dropped for either team could prove fatal to their title bids. A draw followed by a Juve win would put them in a very commanding position with just six games left.

Both teams will be looking to bounce back from disappointments last weekend. Milan lost 1-0 at Parma, which was a huge blow to them, having beaten Juventus to pull themselves back into the race only a week earlier. Inter looked to have sewn up a 3-1 victory over Roma at the San Siro, only to throw away two points by letting the visitors score twice in the last ten minutes.

However, they did both have good results in Europe, with Milan coming away unscathed from a trip to Ajax's Amsterdamn ArenA and Inter taking a 1-0 lead to Valencia. After the Nerrazzuri had beaten his old club, Hector Cuper was delighted: "When we win I am pleased. In the second half we should have done more with the ball but we defended well. It will certainly lift us ahead of Saturday's match. [That] will be the most important game. We must get everyone back, there is a day of rest. It is an advantage when the games are all so close."

One player certainly out of the derby is former Milan defender Francesco Coco, who has a thigh strain. Milan also have injury problems, as Clarence Seedorf will miss the rest of the season with knee injury, which he picked up against Ajax: "He will need treatment for one month and a further month to recover," read a statement on the club's website. Andrea Pirlo will also miss the match, though his knee injury is much less serious and will not keep him out for long.

Paolo Maldini has admitted that the biggest winners from the derby could well be Juventus, but insisted that it will not affect how Milan approach the game: "I imagine that Juve will be cheering for us because if we win it will important for them, but we will play for ourselves. We will give everything in the derby." His defensive partner Alessandro Nesta is also in defiant mood: "What encourages me in this final run is that the group have the right spirit. For this reason I am convinced that we will not give up on even the league."

Inter skipper Javier Zanetti echoed the sentiments of his opponents: "We want to win. We're confident. We want to draw level with Juventus so we can then get right to the end. We're not giving up at all. Saturday's match will be another final, the third this week. It's the most important one." Whether or not this will be a title decider could depend on how Juve do at Bologna on Sunday, but there cannot have been many more important Milan derbies in recent years.