Icardi debacle weighs heavy on Inter before crunch Milan derby

Mauro Icardi's ongoing contract dispute with Inter Milan shows no sign of abating as the Italian team crashed out of the Europa League in his absence on Thursday before this weekend's key derby showdown against city rival's AC Milan at the San Siro.

Both sides are battling for Champions League football next season with Gennaro Gattuso's AC Milan in third, one point ahead of Inter, who occupy the final elite European qualifying spot.

Icardi's dramatic injury-time winner snatched a 1-0 win for Inter Milan in the reverse fixture last October.

But the Argentine -- joint top scorer in Serie A last season with 29 goals -- has not played since February 9 amid a contract dispute which resulted in him being stripped of the captain's armband.

The 26-year-old, who has scored 15 goals for the club this season, has complained of a knee injury but the club say a scan has not revealed any new injury.

In his absence Inter have won two of four league games, and crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday 1-0 on aggregate to visitors Eintracht Frankfurt. Champions League qualification is now Inter's only objective, as they are 25 points behind leaders Juventus.

"We came up short in all areas," said coach Luciano Spalletti. "We certainly need to do better than we did tonight (against Milan)," he added.

"We need more confidence. We'll look back over this match and recognise we didn't read it the right way."
- Ronaldo back on domestic duty -
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"We had a setback against Sassuolo (1-1 last weekend) and need to be vigilant, as if we can't have first place, we should at least hold on to second."
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday
Cagliari v Fiorentina
Saturday
Sassuolo v Sampdoria (1400GMT), SPAL V AS Roma (1700), Torino v Bologna (1930) Sunday