This is the third time the two coaches have faced each other, with Mihajlovic yet to record a win: there has been 1 win for Leonardo and 1 draw. The two met as opponents on the pitch 7 times, in which Leonardo always wore the red and black of AC Milan while Mihajlovic turned out for Sampdoria and Lazio. The Brazilian never lost as a player either: 4 wins and 3 draws. In those ties Leonardo got his name on the score sheet twice, while the Serbian scored 1 for his side and 1 own goal.

This is the fourth time Leonardo has taken on the Viola as a coach and he has won all 3 of the previous meetings. Conversely, as an AC Milan player Leonardo faced Fiorentina 6 times but never ended on the winning side: 1 draw and 5 defeats, with one goal for the Brazilian.

Mihajlovic has never drawn against Inter during his coaching career: the current Fiorentina coach has won 1 and lost 2 of the 3 previous head-to-heads. These 3 matches - in which both sides always scored (4 for Mihajlovic's teams and 5 for the Nerazzurri) - have all been played at Mihajlovic's home ground, which means he is now returning to San Siro for the first time since his 4-year stint here: he worked as Roberto Mancini's assistant in the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons after playing for Inter in 2004/05 and 2005/06, racking up 43 appearances and 6 goals in the process.

The last goal scored by Fiorentina away to Inter in competitive fixtures was on 21 January 2007, when the Nerazzurri won 3-1: Toni netted for the Tuscan side in the 5th minute. Since then, in the remaining 85 minutes of that match plus 4 further meetings at the San Siro (3 in Serie A and 1 in the Coppa Italia), Inter have kept the Viola at bay for 445 minutes.

Inter have lost just one of their last 58 Serie A matches played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza: the game against AC Milan on 14 November 2010 (0-1). The Nerazzurri's record in the other 57 games in that period is 44 wins (including all 11 of the last 11) and 13 draws.

Diego Alberto Milito needs three more goals to make it 100 in his appearances for Italian teams. The first of his 97 strikes – 51 in Serie A, 33 in Serie B, 5 in the Coppa Italia, 7 in European competition and 1 in the Club World Cup, while playing for Genoa and Inter – came on 1 February 2004, in the 39th minute of Genoa 1-1 Ascoli (Serie B). May is the month in which the Argentinian has hit the net most often: 18 of his 84 goals scored in Serie A and Serie B.

Esteban Cambiasso has scored more goals in competitive fixtures against Fiorentina than against any other team since he arrived in Italy: 4 of the midfielder's 37 total goals have come against the Viola.

Fiorentina have lost only once in their last 10 Serie A matches: on 10 April they were beaten at home by AC Milan (1-2). In the other 9 games they have won 4 and drawn 5. Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last six away fixtures, during which they have achieved 3 wins (2-4 in Palermo, 0-1 against ChievoVerona and 1-2 in Cagliari) and 3 draws (1-1 against Parma and Bari, 2-2 in Cesena). Their last defeat on the road came on 29 January: 0-2 against Lazio. If Fiorentina were to avoid defeat in Milan against Inter, it would be their longest unbeaten run away from home since April-November 2007, when they put together a sequence of 12 positive results (4 wins and 8 draws).

Should he feature today, Adrian Mutu will celebrate his 300th appearance in competitive fixtures while playing for Italian clubs. His 299 appearances to date - wearing the colours of Inter, Verona, Parma, Juventus and Fiorentina - are divided as follows: 240 in Serie A, 20 in Coppa Italia, 37 in European competitions and 2 in other tournaments. Mutu made his competitive debut in Italy on 6 January 2000, in Inter 5-0 Perugia (Serie A).

A crossbar and a great performance from Julio Cesar prevented Mihajlovic's men from pulling in front in the first half. Inter took advantage through Pazzini who, after three chances, opened the scoring in the 25th minute. Three minutes later Cambiasso doubled the lead and the Nerazzurri ended the half up by two goals to nil. After the restart Gilardino cut Inter's lead in half (74), but shortly afterwards (77) Coutinho curled in a free kick – his first goal in Serie A – to add the third goal.

FIRST HALF – Leonardo chose to make some changes to Inter's starting line-up in order to face Fiorentina, placing Materazzi together with Ranocchia in central defence, along with Maicon and Chivu as the full-backs (Nagatomo was out with the flu). Snejider was not in the squad today, and Coutinho was chosen to play behind Pazzini and Eto'o. Meanwhile, Milito was on the bench together with Samuel, recently returning from injury. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the passing of Armando Picchi, a video tracing his life was shown on the giant screen of the Meazza before the match, and Javier Zanetti, in his 999th professional match, wore a special armband in Picchi's memory, bearing the words: "May 1971 – May 2011: 40 years past, but always in our hearts."

Pazzini had the first attempt of the match with a right-footed shot from the edge of the box that sailed over the crossbar in the 7th minute. Just three minutes later Fiorentina responded with a lovely sequence between D'Agostino, Cerci and Gilardino, with Maicon deflecting the forward's shot onto the crossbar. Then in the 12th minute Inter came right back and hit the crossbar at the opposite end of the pitch through Pazzini on Coutinho's pass. Inter's next chance (14) again fell to "Pazzo" who, capitalising on Chivu's cross and Pasqual's uncertainty, tried to slip one past a sliding Boruc, only to see his attempt blocked by the 'keeper. In the 19th minute Cerci, the most active of the Viola, unleashed a shot that a diving Julio Cesar managed to keep out.

Then in the 25th minute Pazzini put Inter in the driver's seat with a great goal: after some build-up by a stubborn Eto'o, "Pazzo" quickly turned to face the goal and clinically slipped the ball past a puzzled Boruc. There wasn't much time to celebrate because Inter doubled their lead just two minutes later when Cambiasso headed in Eto'o's free-kick to bring the score to 2-0. The visitors gave Inter a scare in the 40th minute when D'Agostino crossed for Cerci, whose shot grazed Julio Cesar's right post. Then, just before the whistle to end the half, Maicon forced a magnificent save out of Boruc, who used his feet to clear the danger.

SECOND HALF – The same 22 players were on the pitch to start the second half, and in the 53rd minute Gilardino nearly put his team on the scoresheet on a pass from Montolivo, but his right-footed touch finished wide. Mutu entered the match in the 56th minute, while Leonardo chose to save Eto'o for the Coppa Italia final against Roma, and therefore sent on Pandev in the 58th minute. A shot from the Romanian striker shaved a coat of paint off the crossbar in the 72nd minute, but it was Gilardino to halve Inter's lead in the 74th minute when he controlled Santana's pass with his right thigh before firing the ball into the net with his left foot.

In the 77th minute Leonardo was proven right in his choices: Cambiasso won a free-kick, and then Coutinho stepped up to curl the ball over the wall – his first goal in Serie A – and make the score 3-1. Inter were then given a scare (88) when Mutu, on a counterattack, lost his marker and crossed to Gilardino in the box, only for Julio Cesar to come off his line and rescue his team-mates. After 5 minutes of injury time the match ended, giving Leonardo his eleventh victory in eleven home matches and rooting Inter to second place in the standings with 72 points.


Inter 3-1 Fiorentina (HT: 2-0)
Scorers: Pazzini 25, Cambiasso 28, Gilardino 74, Coutinho 77.

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 15 Ranocchia, 23 Materazzi (32 Lucio, 51), 26 Chivu (20 Obi, 72); 4 Zanetti, 19 Cambiasso, 14 Kharja; 29 Coutinho, 7 Pazzini, 9 Eto'o (27 Pandev, 58).
Unused Subs: 12 Castellazzi, 22 Milito, 25 Samuel, 37 Faraoni.
Coach: Leonardo.

Fiorentina: 84 Boruc; 29 De Silvestri, 5 Gamberini, 14 Natali, 23 Pasqual (25 Comotto, 81); 85 Behrami, 21 D'Agostino (10 Mutu, 56), 18 Montolivo; 24 Cerci, 11 Gilardino, 6 Vargas.
Unused subs: 1 Frey, 2 Kroldrup, 7 Santana, 22 Ljajic, 32 Marchionni.
Coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Referee: Luca Banti (Livorno).

Booked: De Silvestri 27.
Added time: 1+5 minutes.
Attendance: 55,879.

starting lineups

substitutes