The Juventus manager wants his team to build on recent performances and impose their quality on the game, with Antonio Conte’s side on top form
Maurizio Sarri warned Juventus they will face “a complete team” when they play Inter at San Siro on Sunday and called for the Serie A champions to build on their recent strong performances.
Inter are top of Serie A with a 100 per cent record after six games, while Juve sit two points behind them going into the Derby d’Italia.
Antonio Conte is enjoying the kind of start to life in Milan that he experienced at the Bianconeri, where he achieved an unbeaten first league campaign.
Inter suffered a 2-1 defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday, but Sarri said his men would not be favourites to win.
“We are going up against a strong team, in a moment of good health,” Sarri told reporters.
“In this game there are no favourites; I only see two strong teams. It’s a great feeling to know how to play a game like this.
“Inter are a complete team, very dangerous and good at bouncing back. It will be a beautiful match.
“It will be important to leave San Siro having made a good performance. Looking at the table would be a gross mistake.”
Since Juve’s goalless draw at Fiorentina in September handed Inter the advantage in Serie A, Sarri’s men have collected 2-1 victories over Verona and Brescia before beating SPAL 2-0 at home.
“We must confirm the progress we are making,” said Sarri. “At this stage we must be very focused on performance.
“Our average ball recovery line has become higher than the first few matches. There was an improvement.
“We must go and impose our football with quality. Then the game will tell us if we need to adapt to other phases too.”
Inter haven’t beaten Juventus in five attempts since a 2-1 win early in the 2016-17 season, but will be more confident than in recent years after their excellent start to the season.
However, this game will doubtless represent the biggest challenge of their domestic campaign to date. While they beat AC Milan 2-0 in their highest-profile game of the season so far, they did struggle to show their quality against Lazio in what has been their most difficult Serie A game of the campaign.
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