Juventus Not Fooled by Lowly Inter Standing
Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio insists the league leaders will not be fooled by Inter Milan's disastrous start to the season when the two meet in the 'Derby of Italy' on Saturday.
Unbeaten Juventus sit a point clear of Udinese and Lazio at the top of Serie A after eight matches while 2010 Champions League winners Inter are fifth from bottom.
But Marchisio, whose brace a couple of weeks ago saw Juve defeat their other traditional rivals AC Milan, doesn't believe anything should be read into the current table.
"No-one should trust Inter's position in the table, they're a huge team and they'll give their all against us," he said.
"We have to face the nerazzurri with the same desire and intensity we've shown in our last few matches.
"We want to maintain our lead in the table and we must have no fear."
Since being relegated for match-fixing in 2006, Juve have struggled to reclaim the heights they had become accustomed to.
They earned promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt and followed it with third and second place finishes.
But they finished seventh in the last two seasons and missed out on European qualification altogether last term.
Even so, Marchisio is dreaming of winning the title and a victory away to Inter would go a long way to demonstrating that Juve are ready.
"I want to win the league, this year we're not in the cups (Europe) so I really hope we do it," he said.
"My teammates, the staff, the fans and I all really believe. We've had two terrible seasons and this year we can't mess up.
"(Coach Antonio) Conte has brought us conviction and the Juve spirit, when we score he celebrates with us on the pitch.
"He fires us up, he knows the place well, he knows what it means to wear this shirt and he's brought that across well."
Inter center-back Lucio admits the nerazzurri are struggling but claims they haven't been helped by the changes early in the season.
Coach Gian Piero Gasperini was fired after just five games in charge and replaced by Claudio Ranieri.
Inter started disastrously under Gasperini, losing four and drawing one of those five games and although things have improved under Ranieri, they are still struggling to recover.
"Ahead of the game against Juventus we're under pressure," Lucio told Sky.
"We have the humility to know that we need points. This year we had a coach who came with new tactics, a different way of playing and after losing three or four games, he left.
"Everything changed, we're in a difficult moment but we have to understand that and adapt to our current situation.
"I think everyone's worried because we're used to being at the top of the league and right now we're a long way away.
"We need to play every game like a final. Right now most of the criticism is justified because we're not playing well."
In other games Milan travel to Roma with their coach chastised despite his team banging in eight goals in two games.
Milan beat Lecce 4-3 and Parma 4-1 but chief executive Adriano Galliani still felt compelled to remind coach Massimiliano Allegri that the team with the best defence, rather than the best attack, usually wins the league.
Milan are one of several teams who could end the weekend on top of the pile.
They are only two points off top, alongside Napoli who travel to Catania.
Second-placed Udinese, who host Palermo, third-placed Lazio and Cagliari, who face each other in Sardinia, are the others with top spot in sight.
Source: Agence France Presse
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