Capello: ‘Milan can shock Inter, my Real Madrid closed 9-point Barcelona lead’
Fabio Capello assured Milan can claw back the seven-point gap in the Scudetto race with Inter. ‘At Real Madrid, I recovered a nine-point deficit from Barcelona.’
The advantage had been 10 points until last night, when Pervis Estupinan’s strike sealed a 1-0 Milan victory over their city rivals.
Now the title race is opened up again, even if seven points with 10 rounds to go is still a significant hurdle to overcome.
Capello has faith in Milan title
“Inter still have a big advantage, but I think more than anything else it’s a psychological issue now,” said Capello in his role as pundit on Sky Sport Italia.
“In every match recently, Inter have alternated moments of great football with others of just exasperating slowness. This is what allows their opponents to cause problems for them.”
How can Cristian Chivu solve that lack of consistency and intensity in the Inter performances?
“They have to play with more humility and help each other out, something that I have not seen recently enough in the Inter matches,” added Capello.
Milan are now flying high ahead of the pack fighting for the top four and therefore have nothing really to lose, which the former Rossoneri coach feels could be significant.
“They’ve got a pretty good fixture list, so why not try to recover lost ground on first place? I managed it with Real Madrid, I recovered a nine-point deficit with Barcelona, precisely because they were resting on their laurels with such a big advantage.
“Inter need to be very wary of making that same mistake. The danger now is the players won’t have that same belief and focus.”
What would Capello say to the Milan players if he was in Allegri’s shoes?
“I think he should tell them that they’ve almost achieved their objective, so now it’s time to have some fun and enjoy themselves.
“I saw Inter looking so tepid, lacking grit and determination. I don’t know why, but Inter didn’t play the derby with the right attitude.
“I was surprised at how slowly the Nerazzurri moved the ball around. Perhaps they were missing Hakan Calhanoglu in midfield.”
Lautaro Martinez was out injured, but asked to be named among the substitutes just so he could be close to his teammates and sit on the bench throughout.
“Lautaro is a real captain, one of those figures who can shake up a team, run everywhere and work hard rather than just score goals. That grit is what Inter are missing right now,” added Capello.