Inter midfielder Patrick Vieira isn’t feeling the pressure ahead of this weekend’s derby against Milan. “These are the games you live for.”
The leaders face their city rivals needing a win to seal the title, but they can expect fierce resistance from a side fighting for Champions League qualification.
The fixture is Milan’s ‘home’ leg and so there will be a hostile atmosphere for Vieira and his teammates, but the French international seems unfazed.
“With Arsenal I won a title at White Hart Lane and one at Old Trafford. Now it’s time to go to Milan,” he said.
“Sunday’s game will be something special and incomparable to anything I have seen in the past, England included.
“We are playing for the Scudetto and they are playing for a Champions League place. There will be such an atmosphere!
“But I thrive under pressure. These are the games that you dream of.”
Vieira’s season has been blighted by injuries, but he is fit again and ready to forget his woes.
“The injuries have just been bad luck, it’s down to chance,” he insisted. “Over the many years I was at Arsenal, I never had any problems.
“It makes me laugh when they say in the future that I will have to choose between this game and that game.
“I train every day so that I can play in every game. The more I play, the better I feel.”
There was some controversy when a half-fit Vieira made himself available for France earlier in the campaign, but the Senegal-born star dismissed the drama.
“I love France, but every decision is made after having spoken with the Inter medical staff,” he claimed.
“My conscience is clear. I will always act in a way that benefits both my nation and my club.
“I want to finish my career with the Nerazzurri. I am very happy here in every way.
“On a technical level we can continue to dominate the League. The club has worked to create a very solid foundation and the directors and Coaches are working to make the team grow.”
Despite Inter’s supremacy in Serie A, many have criticised the way they play and feel Roma are a better side to watch.
“It’s always like that when a team dominates for a long time, because the other sides are only left with excuses,” Vieira maintained.
“The truth is that the team who wins doesn’t always play the most attractive football. The only certainty is that the strongest team will take home the Scudetto.”
Swedish marksman Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out of action with a knee problem and will miss Sunday’s epic encounter.
“Ibra is sad and also annoyed that he can’t help us,” Vieira explained.
“His goals lifted us for a big part of the season and now he is rightly frustrated to be ruled out of the final stages.
“I am gutted for him but he has an iron character and knows how to get through tough times. He will be a fundamental element next season.”
Vieira concluded by discussing the aftermath of Inter’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Liverpool, which caused the attempted resignation of Coach Roberto Mancini.
“It was the worst time,” he recalled. “Mancini’s comments caused some shockwaves in the dressing room, but in the 48 hours that followed he made everything clear.
“You don’t need to be close friends to make a dressing room work – the important thing is to have the same objective.
“But we gave the right response. We never lost our heads and we beat Fiorentina and won away against Atalanta and Torino.
“I think that the end of this term has been the most important test of strength in recent years.”
