RANIERI: "WE'RE MOVING FORWARD ONE STEP AT A TIME"

MILAN – "We're taking giant strides forward and it was important to win against Milan tonight. It's the first clash with one of the top teams that has gone our way. I guess we must have had the wrong approach in the other games. Today I thought Inter were very astute tactically, ready to strike at the right time. I'm satisfied." This evening was Claudio Ranieri's first victory in the Milan derby. The coach commented to Sky Sport Italia on the Nerazzurri's win against AC Milan, which sets up a thrilling chase on the teams at the top of the Serie A table.

"In the games against the other big teams we played well and didn't win. Tonight we played well and we won. That's how it goes. For sure we've got our energy back and we're slowly finding our rhythm again too. The Scudetto? I've said since the very beginning: it's not that I'm afraid to talk about it but the teams above us keeping knocking out results. Today we managed to beat Milan, and Cagliari slowed down Juventus. We'll see how things go. Our first target was to get into the Europa League Cup spots, now it's the Champions League places. We'll take it one step at a time. We know that Inter have an innate strength to battle."

Inter seem to be running on fresh legs, more so than at the start of the season: "Training routines have changed. We train whenever we can but I think it's different to what it used to be. You have to keep the players active all the time and then you push them more on a weekly basis playing games. We've got the Coppa Italia coming up now and then we'll have the Champions League again, so we can't always train as we'd like."

Opting for Alvarez over Sneijder wasn't a problem for Ranieri because, as he said himself, "I knew how much he and Forlan could cope with. Bit by bit we'll get them back up to pace with their team-mates and then we really will be able to do something special. At least I hope so. The best and the most difficult part comes now because we have to integrate two world-class players. They must be patient, come back in slowly and then show their full splendour.

"Was this team finished? I've never thought that. It was just a matter of getting a bit of confidence back because when I arrived I saw the way this team trained. We've climbed back up scrapping to get results, but that's helped make this team solid again."

There was an inevitable question on the transfer market and Carlitos Tevez: "You never know. Do we really need him? You journalists certainly do... [smiling]."

Ranieri continued his analysis speaking to Mediaset Premium: "This first derby was great because we won. We were alert, diligent, proud. The lads deserve my and the fans' applause. Sneijder and Forlan? They aren't a problem; they are top players who will slot into the team once they reach the same condition as the others. We started with a handicap and we've been through some critical moments. Now we're in the Europa League zone and we're moving forward slowly: the next step is to attack the Champions League zone. As I've said before, I hope the second derby will be even more important. The key was not letting up when we were in trouble. Now the team can enjoy the sweet taste of victory after some bitter pills.

"Would it have been better if I had joined sooner? The main thing is that I'm at Inter. Perhaps the rapport that I've built up with the lads wouldn't have been the same without battling together through those difficulties. It must be karma, and that's fine. Before the derby we said we had nothing to lose, that Milan had more to lose. In the first half we were compact but we also misplaced too many passes; after the break we were more fluid and better on the counter. We knew we had to close off all the gaps because the Milan players are good at finding their way into spaces. I hope these good results we've been getting recently can inject us with more self-belief so that we can play even better football."

On Rai Sport, the first topic was Tevez: "If he joins he'll be very welcome. I told the lads not to concede any space to Milan but to play, to go for it and take the game to them, because we've risen from the gutter. At the start I went with the most in-form group. Now we'll wait for our other champions to find their best form. All I did with Milito was keep faith in him, because I could see that he never gave up, not even when nothing was going right for him."

Finally, in the press conference, the Nerazzurri coach explained that, "We were better than AC Milan this evening. I decided to bring on Chivu because Alvarez was struggling defensively. Sneijder, Forlan, Chivu and Stankovic are all top players who have to get back to their best. Milito is reaping the rewards now because he never lost heart even when he was squandering incredible chances. I'm glad we won for our president, who is our biggest fan, and all the other fans who can go to work with a smile on their faces this week. Tevez? If the president wants to give the city of Milan a present... I'm used to working with what I've got. At the moment this team still needs lots of points. Scudetto? Maybe we got going late, we'll see. For now we're aiming for the Champions League, which is very important for a big club."

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