Inter Milan Striker Subtly Concedes Title Race Despite Emphatic Win Over Fiorentina

• Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez subtly conceded the title, despite his side’s win over Fiorentina
• Martinez insists the Scudetto is not the club’s focus at the moment, adding that the target was recovering dropped points
• The Nerazzuri are a massive eight points behind league leaders Napoli, who beat Roma in the derby on Sunday

Lautaro Martinez has all but conceded his side Inter Milan cannot win the Serie A title this season.

After a handful of matches, the Italian top flight is shaping up into a hot contest, with Napoli being the team to beat so far this season.

The Naples club sits top of the pile with 29 points, while last season’s Scudetto winners Milan are second with 26 points. Lazio and Atalanta sit third and fourth respectively with 24 points.

For Inter, it has been a fairly dull start to the season so far and the club has suffered, especially in the absence of Romelu Lukaku.

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They sit seventh on the log with 21 points, and Martinez was asked whether he felt his side is still going for the title this season.

“No, because we’ve dropped some big points earlier on, so at the moment we’re just thinking about recovering in the table,” he said as quoted on sempreinter.com.

“But there’s still time, it’s important to win and take points because we’ve already dropped quite a few.”

Inter’s latest game was a 4-3 thriller which they won at the expense of Fiorentina on Saturday, October 22.

Their focus now shifts to the Champions League on Wednesday, where they will take on Viktoria Plzen with the hopes of scooping all three points to secure their place in the last 16.

Inter are second in their group with 7 points, three ahead of Barcelona, and a win would guarantee a spot in the knockout stages.

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Mourinho narrowly avoids red card during Napoli clash

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on how Jose Mourinho narrowly avoided a red card during Roma’s game against Napoli.

The fiercely contested match ended in Napoli's favour, courtesy of Victor Osimhen's strike 10 minutes from time.

After the final whistle had been blown, a scuffle ensued between players and members of the technical staff. Roma's Rick Karsdorp was particularly infuriated and was putting his point across to the match referee Massimiliano Irrati.

Irrati had retrieved a red card from his pocket when Mourinho approached him. Once the veteran head coach saw the card however, he took a quick about-turn and left the scene of the confrontation.