Milan look to keep the pressure on Inter

A revitalised Milan side will be looking to keep some pressure on city rivals and Serie A leaders Inter when they travel to third-placed Juventus tomorrow in a match that neither side can really afford to lose if they are to have any aspirations to wrest the title from Inter.

While Inter should pick up another three points at home to bottom-placed Siena this evening, Milan will be keen to keep up the momentum even if they trail the leaders by eight points, though, they have a game in hand.

Milan coach Leonardo was under pressure earlier in the season after an uninspiring start to the campaign but his side have suddenly shown a flair and, more importantly, a winning mentality to turn around their season and look the likeliest club to give Jose Mourinho's Inter a run for their money.

Their impressive 5-2 victory over Genoa on Wednesday left them with a record of eight wins, two draws and just one defeat since October and their run could not be in starker contrast to Juventus, who have totally lost the run of things.

Victory over Parma on Wednesday, albeit an unimpressive display, was welcome news for the 'Old Lady' after a run of five defeats in their last six matches of 2009 including a home defeat to German giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League which saw them crash out of the competition.

Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara conceded that while he was happy with the commitment of his players in the win over Parma, taking on Milan was an entirely different matter.

"All that commitment will not be enough against Milan," admitted Ferrara.

"We have to improve, notably in our strategy."

However, Ferrara's hopes of beating Milan have taken a serious blow with their leading scorer David Trezeguet being sidelined for over five weeks with a sprained ankle he suffered in the Parma match.

The seven-goal striker joins a growing injury list which also includes World Cup winning trio goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, winger Mauro Camoranesi and striker Vincenzo Iaquinta, while on-loan defender Martin Caceres is suspended after being sent off against Parma.

Milan have less problems on the personnel front with just full-back Gianluca Zambrotta, veteran Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf and Alexandre Pato out through injury with the latter's absence likely to see former England captain David Beckham start his second successive match since returning on-loan from LA Galaxy.

Beckham put up an impressive showing on his return and Milan's outstanding captain Massimo Ambrosini was singing his praises.

"David is a great champion and like all great champions he knows how to adapt to different situations in a hurry," the 32-year-old said.

Ambrosini, whose form could well see him make Marcello Lippi's World Cup finals squad, said that even with Juventus coming up he had not conceded the title to Inter.

"The road is the one we are travelling down now and it is a long one," he said.

"We know it. But things were going well at the end of the year as well."

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Napoli will be looking to take advantage of any slip-ups by either Juventus or Milan when they host Sampdoria while relegation-threatened Atalanta start life without Antonio Conte, who resigned as coach on Thursday, away at Palermo.