Mancini still confident after derby setback

MILAN, Italy -- Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini remains confident of taking the Italian title despite Sunday's 2-1 defeat against AC Milan..

With Inter losing and second-placed Roma pulling off a fine 3-0 victory in Genoa the outcome is still not settled.

But Inter still have two more matches in which to take the three points they need to wrap up the Scudetto and the coach believes that will happen on Sunday at home to Siena.

"The title, we'll win that on Sunday, I've no doubts about that," he said.

"I've always thought that the game where we wrapped up the title would be the one against Siena, above all because I was sure that Roma would not drop points in Genoa.

"The lads have done really well up until now and I don't think this defeat will affect their calm.

"At the worst, if we don't manage it against Siena, we'll do it against Parma, it doesn't change much.

"But we're sure that on Sunday we'll play a great match. In the meantime we'll also concentrate on the cup semi-final because we also want to win that.

"The team was asleep today, particularly in the first half," added Mancini.

"I'm sorry for the disappointment we've caused our fans, losing a derby hurts but at least we'll have another chance (to win the league).

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti is not expecting a major surprise either.

"Inter will win the title on Sunday, they'll beat Siena at home," he said.

"I'm thinking above all about that home draw two matches ago against Livorno.

"We conceded from the only chance they had in the whole match, and it really was the only one.

"Of course there were also matches where we came away with the points against teams that could have caused us a lot of problems."

AC Milan's chances of playing in the Champions League again next season are now in their own hands after their defeat of Inter.

If Milan beat Napoli and Udinese in their last two fixtures of the season they will book their place in the competition next season.

Club president Adriano Galliani said:"Milan dominated the match for an hour and a quarter, then Inter came out to play. I think we deserved to win.

"Now we are the architects of our own destiny. We just have to win two matches."

Coach Carlo Ancelotti praised the desire his players showed from the start against Inter.

"We were a lot more aggressive than them in the first half," he said. "Inter were, at least initially, more conservative.

"That helped us because it allowed us to play with more freedom."

Asked about the season as a whole, Ancelotti complained about the number of injuries his team has suffered.

"I think this season, we've suffered a lot from the number of important players that have been missing such as (Filippo) Inzaghi, Kaka, Ronaldo and Pato.

"Don't forget that Pippo (Inzaghi) missed three months. When he's on form and when he isn't there you can see the difference.

"Now he's on top of his game and that gives us an extra dimension in attack."

Fiorentina ended a bad week by losing 2-1 to Cagliari. A few days earlier they went out of the UEFA Cup with a semifinal loss on penalties to Rangers.

"It's been a terrible week, black, one to forget," moaned Romania forward Adrian Mutu, who was sent off late on against Cagliari.

"We've lost everything, the UEFA Cup and fourth place."

Coach Cesare Prandelli was trying to stay positive ahead of his team's final matches against Parma and Torino.

"The league is not over yet, we're ready to keep going until the end," he insisted. E-mail to a friend