It's the first time Inter and Juve have shared the lead in nearly six years, since the 22nd round of the 2002-03 season which Juventus went on to win with Inter second. Back then, Juventus was the perennial winner and Inter often the runner-up.
The scandal changed everything.
The 2005-06 title was awarded to Inter when Juve was stripped of the honor, Inter repeated the following year with Juventus in Serie B and AC Milan penalized, then Zlatan Ibrahimovic — who shifted from Juve to Inter when the scandal broke — led Inter to a third-straight title last season.
In Wednesday's full slate of games, Inter hosts struggling Lecce and Juve faces a Catania squad that has two wins.
Juventus finished a respectable third in its return to the top division last season. Now, the 27-time champion is ready for another "scudetto."
"A year ago, we just wanted to annoy the leaders. Now we want to be among them," Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said.
Yet with 35 rounds still to go, it's very early to start talking about leaders.
"This is only the antipasto," Ranieri said.
New Inter coach Jose Mourinho and Ranieri engaged in verbal jabs before the season even began, with Mourinho saying the 56-year-old Ranieri arrived at the big-time at 60 without having won anything, and Ranieri replying sarcastically about how "elegant" his colleague is.
Mourinho's connections with Ranieri go back to when he took over for the Italian at Chelsea in 2004.
Mourinho reportedly dodged a live TV interview Sunday when he saw that Ranieri was also connected. Still, Mourinho acknowledges that Juventus is a top challenger.
"Us, them, Milan and Roma," Mourinho said. "My favorites are still the same, and I really like Fiorentina and Udinese too."
Inter and Juve don't meet for another two months.
Inter captain Javier Zanetti is set to make his 600th appearance for the Nerazzurri against Lecce, moving closer to Giacinto Facchetti's club-record 634.
After opening with a 1-1 draw at Sampdoria, Inter has hit its stride with a 2-1 win over Catania and a 3-1 victory at Torino last weekend. In the Champions League last week, Inter beat Panathinaikos 2-0.
Juventus opened the season with a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina and has since registered three 1-0 wins over Udinese, Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League and last-place Cagliari.
"This Juve is starting to remind me of (Fabio) Capello's team, we always won 1-0 with him too," defender Giorgio Chiellini said, recalling the pre-scandal coach, who now directs England.
Juventus can often afford to rely on Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to defend a slim lead, but Buffon is out for 10 days with a thigh problem, leaving the job for backup Alex Manninger.
Striker David Trezeguet is out for four months after undergoing surgery on both knees Thursday.
Fresh off a 4-1 rout of Lazio, AC Milan visits Reggina ahead of the derby with Inter on Sunday.
Milan lost its first two league games but has now put on two convincing performances, beating FC Zurich 3-1 in the UEFA Cup three days before the Lazio game.
"It's early to start celebrating," coach Carlo Ancelotti warned. "We've gotten through a rough period, but we can't start dreaming yet."
Against previously perfect Lazio, Ancelotti fielded his preferred attack, with Kaka directing Alexandre Pato and Marco Borriello, while Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko watched from the bench.
Roma also struggled in its opening two games before shutting out Reggina 3-0 on Saturday. But captain Francesco Totti was left off the roster for a visit to Genoa, joining a long injury list with Juan, Marco Cassetti, Max Tonetto, David Pizarro and Julio Baptista.
Lazio, Palermo, Catania and Atalanta follow Inter and Juve with six points each, and Napoli is alone with five points.
Led by new Argentine forward Mauro Zarate, who has a league-leading tally of four goals, Lazio hosts Fiorentina and the Viola's inform forward Alberto Gilardino, who has five goals in all competitions.
Palermo has won two straight games since making a coaching change after an opening-round loss to Udinese. The Sicilians now face southern rival Napoli, which has weathered a rough opening schedule with decent results against Roma, Fiorentina and Udinese — plus a 3-2 win over Benfica in the UEFA Cup.
Also Wednesday, it's: Atalanta vs. Cagliari; Bologna vs. Udinese; Chievo Verona vs. Torino; and Siena vs. Sampdoria.
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