Akanji issues Serie A & Coppa Italia warning to rivals: ‘Inter aren’t afraid of anyone’

Manuel Akanji has delivered a confident and unambiguous message to Inter’s title rivals as the season enters its final stretch, insisting the Nerazzurri are focused solely on themselves and fear nobody in the race for both the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia.

The Swiss defender spoke to Sportmediaset, via CalcioMercato, following Switzerland’s thrilling 4-3 friendly defeat to Germany, a result that raised eyebrows despite the loss, but his mind is clearly already fixed on the decisive weeks ahead with Inter.

Cristian Chivu’s side sit six points clear at the top of Serie A with their nearest rivals closing in, and face a Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against Como at San Siro that could book their place in the final at the Stadio Olimpico.

Akanji: ‘Inter are not afraid of anyone’

Akanji was refreshingly direct when asked about the pressure of leading the title race.

“We are focused only on ourselves,” he said. “We don’t look at our opponents and above all we are not afraid of anyone, we just have to win our matches and if we do, we will be champions.”

He laughed as he delivered the line, but the conviction behind it was unmistakable.

On the Coppa Italia, Akanji was equally bullish.

“We want to win both competitions that remain, the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia,” he said. “In Serie A we are first with a six-point lead and we want to stay there until the end. The same goes for the cup. We have a home game against Como and we hope to win there too and lift the trophy.”

For a squad that has been dominant for much of the campaign, the confidence feels entirely earned. Whether it translates into silverware over the coming weeks remains to be seen, but Inter are clearly in no mood to let either prize slip from their grasp.