Fredy Guarin has thrown down the gauntlet to Juventus and Roma by claiming Inter Milan are on a par with them this season.
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The Nerazzurri crushed Sassuolo 7-0 at the weekend with Guarin among the scorers, and he sees no reason Inter cannot keep up such a pace and challenge Juve and Roma -- who finished first and second last year -- for the title.
"We're going to bring a smile back to our fans' faces," he told topmercato.com. "We've got a very competitive squad and I think that we're going to surprise a few people. In Serie A, we want to finish at least in one of the top three positions and I reckon we can disturb the favourites, who are Juventus and Roma."
Guarin, who was linked with an exit during the transfer window, impressed in a role behind Mauro Icardi and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, who struck three and two goals respectively.
"They both played a fantastic match," Guarin said. "They showed how they can play together and that they get on fantastically. I'm really happy for them because they've been criticised even though they are two excellent forwards.
"Mauro is inspired in front of goal and got a hat trick for his efforts. Pablo's a great finisher. He scored two and created lots of room for the attackers. That all augurs well for the rest of the season.
"It was a great game and we were all smiling come the final whistle. Even when we led comfortably, the coach demanded we kept on playing in the same way in the second half. That's what we did and, in the end, we've got seven goals to show for it. I think it was our best performance for a long time."