Paolo Maldini believes Inter Milan are not the team they were
Retired AC Milan fullback Paolo Maldini has stated recently that reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan have handed away their title hopes to Maldini's former club and are but a shade of the team were last season.
The 42-year-old former AC Milan captain, who spent 25 seasons with the club, was quoted by
Il Corriere dello Sport as having said,
"Milan can still improve their game, but I think they will win the Scudetto because Inter are not the team they were."
AC Milan, the club for which Maldini made 647 league appearances, are currently atop the Serie A standings with 29 points from 13 matches while Inter have dropped to sixth and are a full nine points back.
Despite Milan's positive recent form, Maldini believes the club still have room for improvement.
"There are chances to win the Scudetto, but they still have not reached the optimum level. They can still do better, but the signs are very encouraging."
Maldini won seven league titles with AC Milan between 1987 and 2004
– the last time Milan won the Scudetto. Since then, cross-town rivals Internazionale have won the last five Serie A championships in a row culminating in their Champions League win last season under the guidance of Jose Mourinho who has since gone on to take
over at Real Madrid.
Rafael Benitez has since taken the helm of the Nerrazzurri and, under the weight of great expectations, has not been able to find the winning formula that Mourinho put together. Benitez has unfortunately had to deal with a string of injuries since the start
of the season to several key players, a factor which he admits has been one of the team's major stumbling blocks to this point. Maicon, Esteban Cambiasso, McDonald Mariga Wanyama, Sulley Ali Muntari, Thiago Motta, Walter Samuel, Julio Cesar, and Diego Milito
have all missed time due to injuries this season.
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