Rome (AFP)

A Cup to forget: after the missteps of the weekend, AC Milan and Inter meet Tuesday at San Siro for a gala quarter-final in the Italian Cup, a competition where the holder, Naples, will also try to bounce back at the end of a dark week.

Inter-Milan: this ageless duel punctuates Serie A this season with, for the moment, a slight advantage to the Rossoneri: winners of the first derby (2-1) in October, Stefano Pioli's players turned in the lead at mid- course this weekend, with two steps ahead of those of Antonio Conte.

But for the two Lombard rivals, this final day of the first leg is to be forgotten, with a rout (0-3) at San Siro for Milan, beaten for the second time in three weeks in the league, and a draw (0-0 ) disappointing in Udine for Inter.

Two matches during which, once is not customary, neither the rossonero striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic nor the nerazzurro striker Romelu Lukaku, twelve goals each in the league, found the fault.

The second derby of the season - the third will take place in less than a month in the league - is for the Nerazzurri the opportunity to show their muscles, even if the scudetto clearly remains the priority after the elimination from all European competitions.

"The championship is capital, including from an economic point of view, more than the Cup. But we want to respect it," Antonio Conte stressed on Saturday.

But Milan does not want to stop there, counting on surfing the renewed enthusiasm and ambition found after this first part of the season.

His activity during the transfer window is a sign of this.

While Inter and most clubs remain wise, the Rossoneri have strengthened with three arrivals: the Croatian Mario Mandzukic in attack, the French Soualiho Meïté in the middle and the Briton Fikayo Tomori in defense.

"The best thing is to be able to recover immediately," Zlatan Ibrahimovic said on Saturday, sounding the remobilization after the third defeat of the season in all competitions.

The Swede does not want to miss the possible meeting in the semifinals (round trip, unlike quarterbacks played in a match) against Juventus.

The "Old Lady" is widely favorite Wednesday against SPAL, the last representative of Serie B in the quarterfinals.

Naples will also start home favorites against La Spezia on Thursday but beware of the promoted who have already taken out Bologna (4th round) and AS Rome (8th) on the road.

Especially since the Neapolitan holder is not at best, beaten in the Italian Supercup by Juventus (0-2), having missed a penalty and then again on Sunday in the league by Hellas Verona (1-3) after having however quickly led 1-0.

A new misstep would be unwelcome for Gennaro Gattuso even if, for him too, the number one goal is the Champions League.

The last quarter-final will pit Atalanta Bergamo against Lazio Rome on Wednesday, two teams who will meet again, still in Bergamo, just four days later in the league.

Italian Cup quarter-finals schedule (in GMT hours):

Tuesday

(7.45 p.m.) Inter Milan - AC Milan

Wednesday

(4:45 p.m.) Atalanta Bergamo - Lazio Rome

(19:45) Juventus Turin - SPAL

Thursday

(8:00 p.m.) Naples - Spezia

© 2021 AFP