Inter Milan face AS Roma

Inter Milan face AS Roma

Two sides coming off the back of morale-boosting European victories will lock horns in Serie A on Sunday as Inter Milan play host to Roma at the San Siro.

Jose Mourinho's Inter claimed their first Champions League group-stage win of the season with Wednesday's 2-1 triumph at Dynamo Kiev, a result which ended a frustrating sequence of three straight draws in continental competition.

The win lifted the Nerazzurri to top spot in Group F, and they will now seek to extend their winning run in Serie A to six games when Claudio Ranieri's men come visiting.

The midweek win over Dynamo underlined Inter's battling qualities, with both of their goals coming in the final four minutes, and Mourinho was delighted with what he saw.

"My players played a perfect second half," said Mourinho. "They were perfect and did a great job to come from behind and win this game.

"This result is a starting point in our Champions League adventure."

But it is Inter's Serie A adventure which takes centre stage this weekend, as Inter bid to extend what is already a seven-point lead after only 11 games.

Wesley Sneijder shrugged off an injury to take his starting place in the Inter line-up in midweek, the Dutchman underlining his importance to the team by hitting the winner in the final minute, and should again take his place in the heart of the midfield on Sunday.

Sulley Muntari, Thiago Motta and Mario Balotelli were also nursing knocks ahead of the European match, but all made the bench in Kiev and should again be in contention.

The game pits Ranieri against the man who replaced him as Chelsea manager in 2004, but history will be the last thing on the Roma tactician's mind as he bids to turn around the capital club's domestic fortunes.

A 2-1 win over Fulham in the Europa League on Thursday has moved Roma into one of the qualification berths to reach the last 32 in that competition, but it is the league where things must improve markedly.

Roma halted a run of three consecutive league defeats with a 2-1 win over Bologna last weekend, a result which saw the Giallorossi climb into 14th place as Mirko Vucinic ended his goalscoring drought in Serie A this season.

"The most important thing is not that I have scored but that we have won," said Vucinic.

"Now we must pick up where we left off and try to get a positive result against the best team in the competition.

"It will be no easy task but we must try."

Roma are still without vastly influential captain Francesco Totti, who is out with a knee injury.