Inter backs up Mourinho's verbal attack
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Mar 9, 2009
Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli were the difference.
Mourinho said neither Roma nor AC Milan would win anything in 2009 and Juventus had benefited from favorable refereeing decisions all season. His tirade came after Roma coach Luciano Spalletti claimed Inter was the beneficiary of a "soft" penalty awarded to Inter for a foul on Balotelli in last week's 3-3 tie.
"I don't like intellectual prostitution," Mourinho said. "There has been a concerted effort to manipulate public opinion. Nobody is talking about how Roma has outstanding players but won't win anything this season. Nobody is talking about the fact that Milan has a great squad and everything they need to win trophies but also won't win anything. Nobody is talking about how Juventus have been benefiting from refereeing errors all season. Instead, all the talk is about Balotelli's penalty, which was a genuine penalty, I might add."
The Inter win was tempered by the loss of center backs Marco Materazzi, who left the game with a leg injury, and Nicolas Burdisso, who also is injured.
"We have faith for the game in Manchester even if I won't be able to sleep because we'll have lots of problems in defense against very strong, attacking opponents," Mourinho said, referring to Wednesday's Champions League game at Manchester.
Juventus won the Turin derby with a 1-0 win over Torino thanks to Giorgio Chiellini's late goal but may have lost midfielder Mohamed Sissoko for the season with a broken foot.
Third-place Milan beat Atalanta, 3-0, on a hat trick by veteran Filippo Inzaghi, who has spent much of the season on the bench. It remained 12 points behind Inter with 11 games to play.
