It's been a long time since this many teams have been bunched together near the top of Italian league.

After 11 rounds, eight clubs are still within four points of the lead, making Serie A the most competitive major league in Europe.

Three-time defending champion Internazionale leads with 24 points. Milan and Napoli are next with 23 points each, Lazio is on 22, Udinese and Juventus have 21 each and Genoa and Fiorentina are level with 20 points.

Only the German Bundesliga - with the top eight teams separated by six points - comes close in terms of competitiveness. England's Premier League and the Spanish Liga have a 12-point differential between first and eighth place and in France it's 10 points.

"The eight sisters," read the front-page headline in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport.

Still, most observers haven't veered away from picking Inter and Milan as the title favorites.

"There are a lot of strong teams in the league, but we're a high-level group of players," said Ronaldinho, who has hit his form with Milan. "All the teams should be respected in the same manner, but Inter has something extra because it's the defending champion, it has a great coach and great players."

Ronaldinho has scored vital late goals in Milan's past three matches - a 1-1 draw with Lecce and 1-0 wins over Napoli and Sporting Braga in the UEFA Cup.

"This is the guy who always scores," Milan president and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday when he introduced Ronaldinho to visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, along with Milan's other Brazilian players.

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