Ambitious billionaire Erick Thohir hopes that by restoring Inter Milan to their former glory he will also help Serie A return to its former status as the best league in the world. Inter have declined sharply since winning the UEFA Champions League in 2010 and, after finishing a distant ninth last year, i Nerazzurri spent an unhappy season in exile from European competition.
Since Indonesian businessman Thohir bought a 70 per cent share in the club their fortunes have steadily improved, but a slow start to the current campaign sees Inter languishing in tenth place. But Thohir is not panicking and holds a long-term strategy having identified the areas where the club remains weak.
Ahead of Sunday's visit of Napoli to Milan, he told inter.it: "When the Inter opportunity came up it was almost unimaginable. Inter are a big club who have won lots of trophies and now want to get back to winning again. Italy used to be the number one league, but it's not any more. We need to do something and Inter need to do something to compete.
"The last three or four months have been important in helping me understand Italian culture, passion and the people. We want to move on with the agenda we have because the target is to get back to being one of the top ten clubs in the world."
The momentum will be with Napoli at San Siro given the fact the Azzurri have registered back-to-back victories to reach seventh place in the table. Just behind them are Fiorentina and Lazio, who go head to head in Tuscany with fifth place in their sights. They will need to dislodge AC Milan from the last UEFA Europa League berth, however, and i Rossoneri face a tough test against sixth-placed Hellas Verona at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi.
Reigning champions Juventus are looking to preserve their 100 per cent record with victory against basement boys Sassuolo in Emilia-Romagna while their title rivals Roma host Chievo. I Giallorossi surrendered their flawless start to the season at Juve last weekend. Three controversial penalties, the dismissal of Roma coach Rudi Garcia and two late red cards made for a dramatic 3-2 defeat in Turin.
Elsewhere this weekend upwardly-mobile Sampdoria go in search of a fourth straight win at the expense of struggling Cagliari. In even worse form than the Sardinians are Atalanta and Parma, who clash at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia.
While the Bergamo club sit just outside the relegation zone, Parma are already in deep trouble having lost five of their six games. Newly-promoted sides Palermo and Cesena meet in Sicily and, on Monday night, mid-table Genoa welcome Empoli to the Marassi.
Source: FIFA.com