Rodrigo Palacio: 'Inter Milan against Juventus is never a friendly'

Inter Milan forward Rodrigo Palacio has declared that both sides will be taking tonight's Derby d'Italia seriously after difficult pre-season campaigns.

Walter Mazzarri's will face Juventus in Miami with both sides still searching for a first win in the USA, after suffering successive defeats in the International Champions Cup.

Palacio believes that both teams will have something to prove in the seventh-place playoff, with extra importance always placed on any fixture with bitter domestic rivals Juve.

He told the club's official television channel: "Inter against Juve is never a friendly. Even in the United States, it's an extremely fascinating encounter. Games against Juve are always important and we hope to do well.

"Neither of us did well in our last friendlies, which shows that it's difficult to combine all the hard work with good results. We've worked a lot and our legs are heavy, but we must carry on working like this."

The Nerazzurri lost to Chelsea in their first match of the pre-season tournament, before suffering a 4-0 defeat against Valencia in New York last weekend.