AC Milan coach Massimo Allegri claims the upcoming Milan derby is ''more important'' to Inter Milan than his own side.
Milan is two points ahead of Inter with eight games to play, but Inter has won 13 of its 16 matches since Leonardo took over in the winter break to close the gap from 13 points.
The defending champion now goes into the derby on April 2 knowing it can go top of Serie A with a win at the San Siro.
Milan meanwhile has begun to display signs of nerves and slumped to a loss to Palermo and a draw with Bari in its last two games.
''I believe that this game, this derby, is more important to Inter's championship hopes than ours,'' Allegri told Sky Italia. ''It is definitely a more important derby than in recent years, but we have to be calm about it. It is a massively important match, but I believe that Milan has the quality in its DNA to overcome this challenge.
''The statistics make us favorite as we have been top for 21 rounds and as such we can't get too wrapped up in this match even though we know that Inter was favorite for the title on Aug. 29.''
Milan will be without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is serving a ban after he was sent off against Bari for violent conduct.
The club attempted to have the ban reduced so he would be back for the derby, but the Italian League only shortened it from three games to two, meaning the Swede has to sit out the match.
''We have accepted the decision,'' Allegri said. ''It is no use to say it was right or wrong, what we need to do is concentrate on the match with Inter. We can have a great derby, even without Ibra.''
