The Derby della Madonnina is the pick of the weekend’s action as Inter host stuttering rivals AC Milan at a sold-out San Siro on Sunday – and it is a match that could have big consequences.
New Milan boss Paulo Fonseca has won just one of his first four Serie A games – a 4-0 thumping of bottom-placed Venezia last week – and is coming under increasing scrutiny in the Italian press.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported, external the relationship between Fonseca and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was brought back to the club as a senior advisor in December, is “delicate”.
It comes from a mixture of underwhelming early results, including the Champions League defeat by Liverpool on Tuesday, and Ibrahimovic’s comments in the press.
“I am the boss and I am in charge, all the others work for me,” Ibrahimovic told Sky Sports Italia, external earlier this week.
But Italian football expert James Horncastle told BBC Euro Leagues podcast, external that many people are unsure exactly what Ibrahimovic’s role at the club is.
“He’s not employed by the club, he’s employed by the owner and that’s across RedBird Capital Partners’ media and entertainment businesses,” said Horncastle.
“But Zlatan only seems to be interested in AC Milan, and living in Milan, showing up at training and unveiling players they’ve signed.
“Are you the CEO? A sporting director? A technical director? What decisions do you make and what responsibilities do you have? If you tell us, we can judge you.
“It’s difficult for Paulo Fonseca to be given time and patience by the fans and by the media – people look at the club and there are all these ambiguities. People look at the club and say ‘who’s calling the shots here?’ And ‘should we trust them?’
“It makes Paulo Fonseca’s job all that harder when you don’t know exactly how the club is run.”
Milan sit 10th but are just three points behind third-placed Inter, who have won two and drawn two of their opening four games and head into the derby on the back of an encouraging goalless draw with Manchester City.
“It will be a derby. We all know what it means for the club and our fans,” said Inter boss Simone Inzaghi. “We’ll face a team of great value.”
Before that, Antonio Conte has the chance to take his Napoli side top of the table on Saturday when they visit Juventus, where Conte won five Serie A titles as a player and another three as manager.
Napoli are eyeing a fourth successive win, following their opening-day defeat at Hellas Verona, and have Romelu Lukaku on form with two goals and two assists in just two games since completing a move from Chelsea before deadline day.
However, it is Udinese who are the surprise Serie A leaders after four games, having narrowly avoided relegation last season.
On Sunday they visit Roma, who on Wednesday made Daniele de Rossi the first managerial casualty in the Italian top flight this season after failing to win any of the club’s opening four league games.
