INTERVIEW WITH RANIERI AFTER INTER MATCH

RANIERI "STILL" SHAKE HAND WITH MOURINHO


Claudio Ranieri admits Inter deserve the Scudetto this season, although Juventus “never lose our pride.”

The 10-point gap remains intact after Zdenek Grygera's stoppage-time header cancelled out a Mario Balotelli counter-attack despite Tiago Mendes' red card.

“With 10 men and we recovered from 1-0 down, I'm satisfied,” he said of the 1-1 draw.

“In the first half we caused them a lot of problems down the flanks, then fell apart a little bit in the second and it's not right to let ourselves get surprised on the counter.

“It's true that perhaps there was a foul on [Giorgio] Chiellini to start the move, but we should have been set out better to avoid this type of counter-attack.

“Inter have the best defence in Serie A and so it's tough to create chances against them. We know the type of team [Jose] Mourinho constructs.”

The Scudetto was already lost before going into this head-to-head, as Juve dropped precious points in the preceding weeks.

“Thankfully we never lose our pride and character! Honestly against Chievo and Genoa we had taken our foot off the gas a little bit, but Juve must always play at the height of their passion, determination and enthusiasm.

“I think that at the end of the season, the table doesn't lie. When Inter don't play well, they still win 1-0 or draw with an own goal, but that's no coincidence. They work for that luck and find a way through.

“If we look at a few of our good performances when we were unlucky to drop points, but if we don't get those results and Inter do then it suggests we don't have the same qualities.”

Ranieri also put talk of a feud between him and Mourinho behind them, at least for one night.

“We shook hands before and after the match. Why wouldn't we? There are eye-witnesses if you don't believe me!”

The Bianconeri have now given up on the title, although they risk being caught by Milan in second place tomorrow evening.

“The Coppa Italia is our first concern, obviously, as Lazio have rediscovered their form. After that we need to pick up as many points as possible and we want to end the season in second place. We've been here most of the campaign and feel we deserve that spot.”

Juve must fight back from 2-1 down in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio on Wednesday.