Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan
Ibrahimovic are set to go head-to-head in Thursday's Italian Cup
semi-final, first leg between Juventus and AC Milan at the San Siro.
Both Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic scored at the weekend
in defeats as Juventus fell 2-1 at Hellas Verona, while AC Milan threw
away a two-goal lead in a 4-2 defeat by city rivals Inter.
"It wasn't the result we wanted," said the
35-year-old Ronaldo despite becoming the first Juventus player to score
in 10 successive league games, just one game short of the Serie A
record.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored 23 goals in all competitions this season.
Ibrahimovic, 38, has scored three goals since returning to Milan last month.
The Swede headed in the second goal on Sunday after setting up the first, but Inter hit back with four second-half strikes.
"I showed that I can still make a difference, even at 38," he said.
But Inter striker Romelu Lukaku will be
looking to upstage the two other former Manchester United players
against Napoli in the other last-four first leg on Wednesday.
Gennaro Gattuso's Napoli, despite their current slump, ousted holders Lazio in the quarter-finals.
"There's a new king in town," a jubilant Lukaku wrote on Twitter after scoring the fourth goal for Inter in Sunday's derby.
"We run this town."
The Belgian was replying to Ibrahimovic's pre-derby post saying that "lions don't compare themselves to humans".
Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has reason to be
worried by his side's away form, with the defending Serie A champions
having lost their last two games on the road.
"I hope that someone will help me, it's something we have to resolve," Sarri said after the loss to Verona.
"Right now we have a difference in performance between home and away."
Juventus are bidding to reclaim the trophy
which they held for four seasons until losing to eventual runners-up
Atalanta in the quarters last year.
Antonio
Conte's Inter are the only one of the four semi-finalists to win in
Serie A at the weekend, with Napoli crashing to a 3-2 defeat by lowly
Lecce.
Inter's victory lifted them ahead of Juventus
on goal difference at the top of the table, as they target their first
Scudetto since 2010.
The second-leg ties will take place on March 4 and 5.
Fixtures
Semi-finals, first leg
Wednesday
Inter Milan v Napoli (1945GMT)
Thursday
AC Milan v Juventus (1945GMT)
ea/jc
1/1Lukaku claimed that there is a "new king in town"
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