Is There a Chance?

I'm trying to stay positive with Inter. I really am. However, it's a rough task and it's become tougher after watching them crash out of Champions League with a dreadful 7-3 aggregate defeat to Schalke. Yes, Schalke ... again ... after this fiasco in 1997.

Anyway, now that the dream of defending the European title is over, Inter can now focus on applying more pressure on Milan in the Scudetto race.

Since I'm laboring to be positive, I've decided to take a look at how Inter can overtake Napoli and then Milan to win a sixth consecutive Scudetto with six games to play.

Entering this weekend, Inter is third in Serie A, two points behind second-place Napoli and five back of Milan in first.

Inter's remaining schedule becomes daunting down the stretch. The club visits Parma this weekend before facing Lazio (H), Cesena (A), Fiorentina (H), Napoli (A) and Catania (H) in that order.

There are just three games that should result in wins -- Parma, Cesena and Catania (nine points). The others are up for grabs. Although, Inter is 12-3-1 (W-L-D) at home with a plus-23 goal differential. That should bode well against Lazio and Fiorentina, which are combined 7-11-13 on the road. A win and a draw from those games would be 13 points combined with the victories, and 76 on the season.

Now, that leaves the Week 37 visit to Napoli, which is 11-3-2 as host compared to Inter's 7-3-6 mark on the road. This result could change everything.

Before we decide on what Inter needs at San Paolo, let's look at Milan and Napoli's schedules.

Milan hosts Sampdoria this weekend and that should be three points. Then, the Diavolo visits Brescia before facing Bologna (H), Roma (A), Cagliari (H) and Udinese (A). I'll guess this to be as many as 14 points (4-2-0) with the potential to get 12 (4-0-2).

Ouch.

Napoli's remaining six have it pitted against Udinese (H), Palermo (A), Genoa (H), Lecce (A), Inter (H) and Juventus (A). WOW!

Just looking at that stretch makes me think Inter can overtake Napoli for second without much trouble, while the Partenopei will find pushing Milan very rough.

Now, that we have Napoli out of the race, that could mean the Inter-Napoli matchup in Week 37 goes from a tie to a victory for the visitors. That's 16 points from the final six games for Inter, thus the top two of Serie A would look like this:

Milan 82
Inter 79

If Milan slips up and goes 4-0-2 down the stretch, it becomes:

Milan 80
Inter 79

Both scenarios have Inter coming just short, making the loss in the derby two weeks ago that much more valuable to the race.

The bottom line is simple; Milan needs to slip up a lot more than two draws and two losses over the last six, while Inter is nearly flawless. That may be just a bit too much to ask, so maybe there's another way for Inter to lift another trophy to go with the World title?

Of course there is; this is soccer afterall.

Inter is also still alive in Coppa Italia with a two-legged semifinal matchup against Roma starting Tuesday with the winner facing either Milan or Palermo.

There's that damn rival again. Maybe we can at least stop them from getting a double.

We better ... Someone better.