This is the first time Leonardo and De Canio have faced each other as coaches. As a player the Brazilian always recorded wins over sides coached by De Canio: 4-0 at the San Siro in Serie A 1999/00 (the Brazilian scored the fourth goal) and 0-1 at the Stadio Friuli in the 2000/01 league season.

Leonardo will face Lecce as a coach for the first time in a competitive fixture today. His record against them as a player is even: 1 win each and 2 draws. In the game that he won (AC Milan 4-1 Lecce at the San Siro in Serie A 2000/01), the Brazilian scored one of the Rossoneri's four goals.

De Canio has faced Inter on 9 previous occasions in competitive fixtures. His record to date is 2 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats. Teams coached by De Canio have never won in Milan: 4 games lost and 1 drawn, with Inter scoring in every match (11 goals in total).

Inter have lost just one of their last 55 Serie A matches played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza: against AC Milan on 14 November 2010 (0-1). The Nerazzurri's record in the other 54 games in that period is 41 wins (including all 8 of the last 8) and 13 draws.

Inter have lost just one of their last 55 Serie A matches played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza: against AC Milan on 14 November 2010 (0-1). The Nerazzurri's record in the other 54 games in that period is 41 wins (including all 8 of the last 8) and 13 draws.

Inter have won their last 8 Serie A fixtures played at home. Should the Nerazzurri make it 9 this afternoon, it would be their longest winning run since September 2007-February 2008, when they managed 11 in a row.

In the Serie A 2010/11 season, Inter are the team that has earned most points in the second half. Compared to their first-half scorelines, they are 17 points better off after 90 minutes.

Giampaolo Pazzini has scored more goals in competitive fixtures against Lecce than any other team: 7 of his 101 total goals. Lecce No.1 Rosati is also the keeper that Pazzini has put most goals past: 5 so far.

Inter and Lecce are among six teams (along with AC Milan, Fiorentina, Genoa and Roma) in Serie A 2010/11 with the highest number of different scorers (13). The Nerazzurri players to have hit the net are Cambiasso, Chivu, Eto’o, Kharja, Lucio, Milito, Muntari, Nagatomo, Pandev, Pazzini, Sneijder, Stankovic and Thiago Motta. Lecce's scorers have been Bertolacci, Chevanton, Corvia, Diamoutene, Di Michele, Giacomazzi, Grossmuller, Jeda, Mesbah, Munari, Ofere, Olivera and Piatti.

Lecce are the only team yet to be involved in a 0-0 draw in Serie A 2010/11. The last time Lecce played out a nil-all draw was on 30 May 2010, at home against Sassuolo in Serie B. Since then, in 29 league games, there has always been at least one goal.

Lecce are one of two teams (along with Roma) to have received the highest number of red cards in Serie A 2010/11: 7 so far, 3 of which for Giacomazzi, and 1 each for Chevanton, Munari, Olivera and Vives. Guillermo Giacomazzi shares the unenviable record with Nicolas Burdisso of being the player most frequently sent off in the current campaign: they have collected 3 red cards apiece.

MILAN – AC Milan eased off, but Inter didn't and Pazzini was the one to start the climb back, his 52nd minute goal taking Inter to within 2 points of the leaders, and bringing victory to the Nerazzurri in the match against Lecce in Week 30 of Serie A.

Lecce didn't come here to lose however, and towards the end of the match grew in stature. At the end, Julio Cesar had all his past errors forgiven when he managed to keep out a close-range blast from Bertolacci with a marvellous save. 

FIRST HALF – For the match against Lecce, Leonardo couldn't play Cordoba, who was banned, but Zanetti had recovered and took his place on the left of the defence, with Maicon on the right and the Lucio-Chivu duo in the centre. Cambiasso and Motta were in midfield with Sneijder feeding the attacking trio Pandev-Pazzini-Eto'o.

After 4 minutes Inter had two attempts on goal, the first from Pazzini who didn't really get hold of the ball and then Sneijder, but his chance was wasted. The Dutchman tried again a minute later, after Pandev's deep cross, but his shot on the turn didn't cause problems for Rosati. In the 17th minute, Lecce showed they could be dangerous, penetrating the area with Brivio and Corvia whose left-footed shot on the turn went just wide. Sneijder is always dangerous when it comes to free-kicks and this was no exception. In the 20th minute his curling right-footed shot was just wide. Then Chivu made a superb challenge on Bertolacci at the edge of the penalty area in the 33rd minute and Maicon blocked the Lecce midfielder's left-footed effort in the 36th.

After two minutes of stoppage time, the teams went in for the interval with the score at 0-0. There was a lot of action but few shots on target. The first half of Inter v Lecce was well-balanced, but the team from Puglia showed that they were not afraid to attack.

During the break, the Nerazzurri Under-19 team who won the 2011 Viareggio tournament did a lap of the pitch with the trophy and the champions of the future received a long, heartfelt ovation from the stands.

SECOND HALF – The second half got underway and after just 2 minutes Lucio received a booking for handball which means he will be disqualified for the derby against AC Milan. In the 51st minute Rosati's marvellous save denied Inter the lead after Sneijder crossed and found Pazzini's head. Pazzo came close but the goal arrived a minute later: an assist from Pandev, Pazzini trapped the ball on his chest and, although he was being challenged by Vives, beat Rosati, placing the ball right-footed into the corner of the net. Rosati was then booked for protesting about a hypothetical handball on the part of the Nerazzurri striker, in the lead-up to the goal. In the 73rd minute, Pandev came off for Coutinho. And as captain Zanetti raced down the wing like a 20-year-old, in spite of the constant pressure from Tomovic, who was later booked by referee Orsato, Inter tried to break down the Lecce wall with constant attacks, including attempts from Cambiasso first and then Coutinho (on 80 minutes). Chivu's nasty foul on Bertolacci earned Lecce a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, which Olivera duly wasted, blasting against the wall on 81 minutes. In the 84th, Julio Cesar's great save from Bertolacci's close-range shot following Olivera's cross almost counted as another goal for Inter.

After 3 minutes of added time, Orsato blew his whistle to end the match: Inter didn't waste the opportunity after AC Milan had lost to Palermo in yesterday's evening kick-off and move up to 60 points, just two behind the Rossoneri. Eyes now will be turning towards Saturday 2 April, when Rossoneri and Nerazzurri face each other at the Stadio Meazza.

Inter 1-0 Lecce (HT: 0-0)
Scorer: Pazzini 52.

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 26 Chivu, 4 Zanetti; 19 Cambiasso, 8 Thiago Motta; 10 Sneijder (14 Kharja, 84); 27 Pandev (29 Coutinho, 73), 7 Pazzini, 9 Eto'o (5 Stankovic, 90+4).
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 17 Mariga, 23 Materazzi, 55 Nagatomo.
Coach: Leonardo.

Lecce: 22 Rosati; 40 Tomovic (2 Donati, 50), 13 Ferrario, 14 Fabiano, 28 Brivio (19 Piatti, 90+1); 10 Olivera, 20 Vives, 18 Giacomazzi (27 Jeda, 83), 91 Bertolacci, 11 Mesbah; 9 Corvia.
Unused subs: 81 Benassi, 4 Gustavo, 21 Grossmuller, 32 Coppola.
Coach: Luigi De Canio.

Referee: Daniele Orsato (Schio).
Bookings: Giacomazzi 41, Lucio 47, Rosati 53, Thiago Motta 70, Tomovic 85, Chivu 80.
Added time: 2 + 3 mins.
Attendance: 62,477.

starting lineups

substitutes