PREVIEW: Inter Milan looke to extend Serie A lead

By Alberto Cagliano Feb 8, 2010, 11:00 GMT

Rome - A near-fatal blow to the few doubts concerning the scudetto race could come Wednesday from Parma, where the promoted hosts face the titanic task of slowing down the pace of Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

The reigning champions go into the game that was snowed out on January 31 with chasers Roma lying eight points adrift, a gap that could grow to 11 points in case of victory.

City rivals AC Milan also have a game in hand, but, after losing a city derby 2-0, slid 10 points adrift with just two points clinched from the past two games against minnows Livorno and Bologna.

A 3-0 home crushing Sunday of in-from Cagliari 'was an important win for the way the team played the game, from the first minutes, and more importantly because it took us 10 points above the second team,' Inter coach Jose Mourinho said ahead of Roma's late Sunday match.

Roma coach Claudio Ranieri savoured a hard-fought 1-0 win at Fiorentina, his men's fifth straight, but commented that 'there's not an anti-Inter, there's Inter, and that's it. They are too strong and cannot be reached.'

As they seek a fifth straight title, Inter seem indeed to be stronger than in the past seasons, despite the departure last summer of Swedish ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Barcelona.

Newcomers Wesley Sneijder, Diego Milito, Samuel Eto'o and Goran Pandev all proved to be excellent buys and, on 14 goals, Milito has scored as much as Ibra did from as many games.

If they draw at Parma, Inter would have the same points as last year, and have already scored eight more goals.

With 15 games to go, la Repubblica commentator Fabrizio Bocca on Monday quipped that it would be fair to have two scudetti, one for Inter, the other for the team who tried hardest to oppose them.

Lukewarm hopes for the chasers could come from Inter's performance in the Champions League, a trophy that has become an obsession for a team that last won it twice in the 1960s.

In two weeks, the knockout phase pits Inter against Mourinho's former club Chelsea in a two-leg clash that, if unsuccessful, could have consequences on the team's morale.