Veron insists Inter ‘favourite’ against Juventus

20 Sep 2000: Simone Inzaghi and Juan Veron of Lazio celebrate during the UEFA Champions League match against Sparta Prague at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Lazio won the match 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Dave Rogers /Allsport

Former Inter star Juan Sebastian Veron sees the Nerazzurri as ‘favourite’ against Juventus in the upcoming Derby d’Italia: ‘They have a tried-and-tested structure.’

Former Argentina international Veron feels his former club Inter will travel to Turin over the weekend as the favourite side against direct rivals Juventus.

Veron: Inter favourite against Juventus

“Making predictions is complicated, but I see Inter as the favourite, despite the doubts I hear around,” Veron told Gazzetta.

“The team has a tried-and-tested structure; they’ve been coming off an important run of results, and to me, they look further along than Juventus. We’ll see.”

The game will kick off this coming Saturday at 18:00 CET. Juventus have earned six points in the opening two games, while Inter have had three.

How would Veron describe the Derby d’Italia to those who are not following Italian football regularly?

“It’s not easy. It’s a different kind of game,” he replied.

“One of those you already feel during the week. You prepare for it and dream about it. With only one thought in mind: winning it. You have to imagine a novel, a collection of stories in which everyone can write their own piece of history. It happened to me, and I’m very proud of it.

Veron enjoyed Derby d’Italia ‘adrenaline’

“Of course, but what I liked the most was the adrenaline of the event,” he continued.

“Juventus have always been a prestigious and powerful club. Even when I used to watch Serie A on TV in Argentina, Maradona’s Napoli was fighting to beat them. In general, I think that any player, when involved in these big matches, gets more fired up than usual. Motivation rises; it’s normal. It happens to us players, and to you journalists too, right?”

A Serie A legend, Veron played for several Italian clubs: Parma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter.

He scored 22 goals and provided 39 assists in 189 games in Italy’s top flight.

Veron won two Serie A titles, four Coppa Italia titles, one UEFA Supercup, one UEFA Cup and two Italian Supercups during his stay in Italy.

The former midfield star also played for Chelsea, Manchester United, and Estudiantes and is currently the President of the Argentine club.