Overloaded Inter risks losing Serie A title race
Inter's Serie A title defence is on the line, with the busy champions chasing a fresher Napoli side, which has the finishing line within sight.
Simone Inzaghi's side played nine matches in April compared to Napoli's four and, after a hectic season, could end up paying a high price for the demands of battling on all fronts.
Inter's treble bid ended last month with their Coppa Italia exit to rival AC Milan, after a two-legged semi-final, but its Champions League dream is still alive after Thursday's dramatic 3-3 draw at Barcelona in the semi-final first leg.
While that ended a run of three consecutive defeats for Inter across all competitions, it remains winless in its last five outings, with its last win coming on 12 April at home to Cagliari.
The draw at Barca saw the return of Marcus Thuram, who scored the fastest Champions League semi-final goal in the competition's history, but it will probably be without injured captain Lautaro Martinez when it hosts lowly Verona on Sunday.
Martinez went off at half-time in midweek with a hamstring problem, and Inzaghi, who will not be in the dugout due to a one-match suspension, is unlikely to risk him with the return leg at San Siro next Wednesday.
Inter is both the team that has beaten Verona the most times in Serie A (41), and the team that has scored the most against it in the competition (117). Verona has never beaten the Nerazzurri in the Italian top-flight (D11 L22).
Verona, 15th in the standings, is seven points above the relegation zone, but with games against fellow struggler Lecce and Empoli still to come, it cannot take any chances.
Antonio Conte took over a Napoli side with no European football after a 10th-place finish last season, and an early exit from the Coppa Italia has seen it free of any other commitments since early December.
Napoli's Coppa Italia defeat by Lazio was followed by a league loss to the same opposition, but Conte's side then went on a 10-game unbeaten run, which allowed it to take back the top spot, which Atalanta had briefly taken from it.
A defeat by Como in February saw Napoli slip to second as Inter looked to have hit the front at just the right time, but two consecutive league losses by Inzaghi's men mean Conte's side have a three-point lead with four games remaining.
Napoli visits Lecce on Sunday, and a win will move it six points clear at the top before Inter kick-off.
At this point in the campaign, after 34 matches played, Napoli is the team that has improved the most compared to the same stage last season (24 more points), which is at least double that of any other team to feature in both seasons.
Lecce is without a win in 11 games and are one place and two points above the drop zone, although it did claim a 1-1 draw at Atalanta last time out.
Conte will be without defender Alessandro Buongiorno, who could miss the season run-in with a groin injury, but midfielder Frank Anguissa should recover after also going off injured in last weekend's 2-0 win over Torino.
Atalanta is aiming to maintain its grip on third place when it travels to bottom club Monza on Monday.
Juventus is at Bologna, also on Monday, in a Champions League qualification showdown. Juve occupies fourth spot, three points behind Atalanta and one above Bologna.
Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina are also in the hunt for a Champions League place. Roma, unbeaten in 18 league games, hosts Fiorentina on Monday, while Lazio is at Empoli.
Milan, ninth in the standings, is at Genoa on Tuesday.
