Inter's treble bid gathering pace as Cagliari visit San Siro

Inter Milan's treble bid gathered pace with a midweek Champions League quarter-final first leg win at Bayern Munich and their Serie A title defence continues at home to Cagliari on Saturday.

Tuesday's 2-1 win in Germany put Inter in the driving seat for next week's return game against Bayern at the San Siro as they look to lift the trophy for the first time since 2010.

That was also the year of Inter's previous treble, the only Italian club to achieve the feat, which came under Jose Mourinho who led his side to a Champions League final win over Bayern, and Simone Inzaghi is on course to emulate that achievement.

This time last season, Inter held a 14 point advantage atop Serie A but were already out of the cup competitions and, while the race for the 'Scudetto' is a closer affair this time around, Inzaghi's side are still involved on all three fronts.

Inter have another second-leg home tie to look forward to this month when they host AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-final after a 1-1 draw in the first game.

The Serie A season is entering the home straight, and champions Inter, after a campaign spent mostly in pursuit, have hit pole position at just the right time and, despite being held by Parma last weekend, remain three points ahead of Napoli.

Inter's return game with Bayern will likely have an impact on Inzaghi's team selection for Saturday's Cagliari clash, with striker Marko Arnautovic set to start should Lautaro Martinez be rested.

Arnautovic is the only survivor of Inter's treble-winning squad from 15 years ago but the Austrian only made three brief appearances from the bench that season while on loan and said last month that he did not feel those victories were his.

Napoli, having topped the table for much of the season, have had a dramatic drop in form, winning two of their last nine.

If Inter slip up again, Napoli must take advantage on Monday when they host relegation-threatened Empoli, who are winless in their last 16 league games, but Antonio Conte will be missing the suspended Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Andre-Frank Anguissa.

The battle for top four spots is also hotting up, with six points between Atalanta in third and eighth-placed Fiorentina.

Atalanta, one-time leaders, risk losing out after three successive defeats. They host high-flying Bologna on Sunday, with Vincenzo Italiano's side one point behind them in fourth.

Juventus, under new manager Igor Tudor, are fifth, one point off Bologna, and welcome lowly Lecce on Saturday.

Lazio are sixth in the table, one point behind Juve, and Sunday's sees them host AS Roma, who are unbeaten in 15 league games under Claudio Ranieri - a run which has taken them to seventh spot, two points off their city rivals.

Milan, who are seven points off the European spots in ninth, visit Udinese on Friday while Fiorentina host Parma on Sunday.