The big three of Italian soccer will spar for strengths, weaknesses and a psychological edge in Serie A's ritual pre-season rehearsal on Tuesday night.
Although its format only sees teams play 45 minutes, the Tim Cup is a key indicator of scudetto contenders' form as they approach the season openers on August 31.
The traditional participants are Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, since AS Roma has only recently joined the trio at the top of the Italian football tree.
The Cup will have some prominent absentees, notably Inter's title-clinching striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is still back home nursing an injury and AC Milan's new signing Ronaldinho who is with his national team at the Olympics.
But the competition will give pundits enough to chew on as they consider their pre-season forecasts. Inter boss Jose' Mourinho said Monday he wants to cut
his squad from 28 to 25 and one of the prime candidates for the chop is Adriano.
The troubled Brazilian striker seems to have put his battles with the bottle and depression behind him after a spell back home and has impressed in pre-season friendlies.
A goal or two tonight might convince Mourinho other candidates for the axe like Hernan Crespo or David Suazo should go sooner, pundits say.
Aside from Ronaldinho, Milan will be without boy wonder Pato who is also with Brazil in China, so home-grown talent Alberto Paloschi will get another chance to shine.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti sees the showcase as not just a vanity production but an opportunity to test his players against the best opposition.
He says that Kaka', who disappointed last year, ''is on top form at the moment and we want to win''.
RANIERI OPEN ABOUT TITLE AMBITIONS.
Perhaps the team with the most to lose, psychologically speaking, is Juventus who have been flying in friendlies with all-action Brazilian Amauri, a recent signing from Palermo.
Coach Claudio Ranieri said ''we really care about this trophy and we want to make a 'bella figura'''.
Unlike last year, when he consistently played down Juve's title hopes, Ranieri said his side were definitely aiming for the scudetto this time around.
Mourinho, in typically wry mode, said Juve ''are definitely the team to beat''.
''They've been going like an express train. They're the ones with something to lose this time''.
Mourinho has been tasked with giving Inter its first European Cup win since 1965. Ancelotti is aiming to break Inter's stranglehold on the scudetto and make up for last year when the Rossoneri failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in seven years.
Ranieri, who took over the Vecchia Signora after their Calciopoli-induced year in Serie B, is aiming for his first Serie A title after winning the Premier League before MOurinho came to Chelsea.
This season's other main contender is Roma, who have been second to Inter two years running and are still looking for a strong front man after Fiorentina's Adrian Mutu failed to bite at a big offer.
The Italian press says Real Madrid's Brazil striker Julio Baptista is the prime candidate.
Juve travel to Fiorentina and Inter to Sampdoria on the first day of play on August 31.
AC Milan host Inter on the fifth day and Roma entertain Inter on the seventh day.
