A month ago, Claudio Ranieri was under severe pressure at Juventus and could only reply with sarcastic smiles when Internazionale's new coach, Jose Mourinho, labelled him as "a nearly 70-year-old who has just won a Super Cup and other small tournaments", adding that "he had trouble saying 'good afternoon' and 'good morning' after five years in England".

Consecutive defeats in October sparked rumours of an imminent sacking but now it is a completely different story. Ranieri has led Juventus to seven consecutive wins - including two in the Champions League against Real Madrid -and the Bianconeri are only three points behind Mourinho's Inter before facing them at San Siro tonight.

"The relationship with Ranieri is only something between me and him," Mourinho said on the eve of the game. "The press has nothing to do with it. We spoke this week. I don't need to send him any message."

Ranieri, replaced at Chelsea by Mourinho in 2004, commented: "This is not a game between Ranieri and Mourinho, this is Inter-Juve. He [Mourinho] won much at Chelsea but there was much of me in that team, many players I signed and he found there when he joined. He is a Portuguese who loves to play the Italian way."