Inter Milan and Juventus have an axe to grind

The propriety of the 2006 Serie A title, the scudetto, remains a heated issue with Inter, not least ahead of tomorrow’s Derby D’Italia against Juventus.

The Derby D’Italia between Inter Milan and Juventus is expected to be another fiery affair tomorrow.

MILAN // Inter Milan, treble winners last season and Italian Super Cup holders, are currently in possession of so many trophies that you might imagine the loss of an old, frankly rather tarnished one would not overly bother them. Not so. The propriety of the 2006 Serie A title, the scudetto, remains a heated issue, not least ahead of tomorrow's Derby D'Italia against Juventus.

Juve last month made their most strident efforts yet to have Inter's name removed from the roll of honour for that championship. Juventus finished top of Serie A that May, only for the status of champions to be taken from them in the light of the so-called "Moggigate" or calciopoli scandal, when evidence emerged that club directors, chiefly Luciano Moggi had been systematically manipulating match officials.

Inter, who had finished the season in second place were then awarded the title, while Juve were relegated. Juve's view is that Inter, according to phone taps made by police investigators during the period, may not have been entirely ignorant or innocent of the practice of trying to influence who refereed which games in Serie A. Hence the irritation of Juve at the destiny of the 2006 title. The 2005 scudetto, it should be pointed out, was granted to no club, after the Moggigate verdicts were cast; Juve had also ended up top in that year. Better that solution, declaring no champion, Juve believe, than to regard Inter as the 2006 holders.

The issue will certainly be visible in the grandstands tomorrow, on banners and in chants exchanged between rivals barely in need of an extra edge in this fixture but certain to address the 2006 title all the same. The 2006 trophy has long been Inter's "cardboard scudetto", as far as Juve fans are concerned. In the minds of older interisti, meanwhile, Juve were enjoying favours from referees since long before the time investigated during Moggigate. For the last dozen years, the Derby D'Italia has provoked memories of the close joust between Juve and Inter for the 1998 scudetto, and the circumstances that swayed that duel in Juve's favour.

Back then, Juventus and Inter were separated by a single point at the top of the table, with four matches of the campaign remaining. When Juve's Mark Iuliano brought down the brilliant Brazil striker Ronaldo, it seemed Inter had the penalty that would win them the game and the advantage in the league. But the referee Piero Ceccarini gave no spot-kick. Worse, moments later, he had awarded Juve the penalty that effectively took them to the title.

Plenty of baggage then, although not quite as many direct participants as in recent times to carry it. Post-calciopoli derbies have tended to focus on players with shared ties to the clubs, controversial links given that Inter were a popular new home for Juve players in the wake of the 2006 scandal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who left Inter in 2009, jumped ship to the Milan club when Juve were relegated. So did Patrick Vieira, who has now moved back to England. Nor is Fabio Cannavaro, who represented both clubs, any longer a Juve player, having opted to pursue his UAE adventure.

A more sober outlook than the ones typically provided over the last two seasons by Jose Mourinho is also coming from Inter's coach Rafa Benitez and his counterpart Gigi Delneri. Benitez is visibly buoyed by the four goals Inter put past Werder Bremen in midweek in the Champions League, though he was yesterday still looking for reassurance over a number of fitness issues, notably concerning the quartet of senior defensive players Lucio, Walter Samuel, Javier Zanetti and Marco Materazzi.

Juve, who trail Inter by three points in the table, gained midweek encouragement in Europe, too, at least in the eyes of Delneri. Reflecting on the 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Europa League, Delneri said: "We showed people who thought we would go to England and concede a lot of goals that in fact we are steadily improving." He concedes his radically restructured squad still show symptoms of a lack of familiarity, but ahead of his biggest fixture yet as Juve coach, he declared: "I feel relaxed."

Tomorrow 10.45pm, Aljazeera Sport +1

Serie A fixtures

Today

Udinese v Cesena 8pm

Parma v AC Milan 10.45pm

Tomorrow

Lecce v Catania 2.30pm

Bologna v Sampdoria 5pm

Chievo v Cagliari 5pm

Fiorentina v Palermo 5pm

Genoa v Bari 5pm

Lazio v Brescia 5pm

Napoli v Roma 5pm

Inter Milan v Juventus 10.45pm