Cambiasso: Hats off to Juventus

Nov 2, 2012 7:35:00 AM

The holding midfielder has underlined the importance of Saturday's encounter, and feels it is too soon to talk about the Nerazzurri's title chances

Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso has admitted he respects Juventus' unbeaten run ahead of this weekend's Derby d'Italia in Turin.

The Bianconeri never lost a match in Serie A throughout the 2011-12 campaign, and this form has continued into this season as well, with Juve having the opportunity to make it a 50-game streak at the weekend.

And Cambiasso is looking forward to taking on the Scudetto holders.

"Juventus have done well to keep up this unbeaten run, so you have to tip your hat to them," Cambiasso told Italia 2.

"It’ll be an important match, and definitely a different one from the others. This Inter team is now in the situation that it should be in."

The holding midfielder then went on to discuss his side's title ambitions, and insisted that it is too soon to talk about the Scudetto.

"It’s definitely too soon. Beyond what happens on Saturday there are still many matches left, and I don’t think that the 90 minutes this weekend will be decisive for the title.

"What matters for us is having moved five points above fourth place in the standings."

Inter currently sit second in Serie A, trailing leaders Juventus by four points.

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Champions League final - LIVE!

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

7:32 PM BST

Very worrying scenes for Bayern fans!!! Bastian Schweinsteiger is struggling. He's receiving treatment on an apparent ankle injury after being levelled by a strong challenge from Mario Mandzukic during the warm-up. Yes, you've read that right: Schweinsteiger has been injured by his team-mate!

However, the watching Christoph Metzelder is in no doubt that the Bayern midfielder will still start, telling Sky Germany: "As long as he can shoot he will play."

7:29 PM BST

Right, just to explain, we have three representatives at Wembley tonight:

- Tim Rohn, Goal Germany correspondent

- Stefan Doring, Dortmund fan

- Tobias Kind, Bayern fan

Let's check in with Tim to get a taste of the pre-game atmosphere inside the ground ...

"30 minutes to go until kick-off and the atmosphere is already amazing. Both groups of fans sing songs to rile the other ones. But everythings is peaceful. Jurgen Klopp stood some minutes alone at the kick-off-point and let all the Wembley madness have an effect on him."

7:25 PM BST

The phrase 'mixed emotions' seems made for Matthias Sammer, the legendary sweeper who inspired Dortmund to Champions League glory in 1997 but who is now employed by Bayern Munich. However, he's doing a pretty decent job of putting his old allegiances to one side ahead of tonight's final.

"It is hard to talk about feelings ahead of a match," the Bayern sporting director told Sky Sport Germany. "We want to show what made us strong all these weeks.

"We may not forget that Dortmund lost twice and drew twice in our last four matches. But they will present themselves differently tonight, that is for sure."

7:19 PM BST

And one final question for Carlo ...

@OmarAb96: What is the most important battle on the pitch tonight?

CG: This is going to sound like a cliche, and probably not the answer you are looking for but whichever team is more clinical will win the game. That is the real battle, more so than any individual contest because these are two sides who value the collective. I expect Bayern to have more possession, but Dortmund are still incredibly dangerous on the break. Bayern may create more chances, but Dortmund will have their opportunities too. It really depends who is more efficient.

And like I said earlier, the first goal will be crucial. If Bayern score first, it will be very difficult for Dortmund to come back.

7:13 PM BST

Carlo's now had his attention turned to the intiguing arrival of a certain Spaniard at the Allianz Arena this summer ...

@A_Mostefa17: Do you think Bayern will be even better with Guardiola next year or will it all go wrong for them?

CG: Everything suggests that Guardiola's Bayern will be a great team. The setups at Bayern and Barcelona are comparable, both on and off the pitch. Only Barcelona have monopolised more possession than Bayern over the past two seasons, while the Germans have enough top quality young players for Guardiola to build a great team around.

Everything is there for Guardiola to do well, the problem is that if Bayern win tonight and clinch the treble - as expected - how on earth do you better that? The simple answer is you can't. So Guardiola will almost be in a no-win situation from the outset, and that is never an easy starting point.

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