Inter Milan welcome Barcelona to the San Siro on Wednesday in a mouth watering Champions League semi-finals clash. With Inter performing consistently on the back of Jose Mourinho’s tactical mastery and Barca riding on Lionel Messi’s unmatchable flair, the two teams come across like chalk and cheese! Inter’s resolute defence will be tested against Barca’s potent attack in the all important first leg in Italy. iSporter Praneet Mhatre previews the game.
The volcanic ash cloud had cast dark shadows of doubt over this fixture until the news of the Catalans making a long coach journey to Italy broke. Barcelona’s technical secretary Txiki Begiristain expressed his displeasure about the UEFA’s refusal to make any changes in the semi-finals schedule. Although Begiristain is confident of his team’s victory, he admitted that this situation has helped the home side and given them some unfair advantage.
However, the botched up air travel wasn’t Barcelona’s only worry this weekend. The Catalan giants surprisingly failed to score against Espanyol on Saturday and dropped two absolutely crucial points, which is likely to hamper their title-chances. Inter, on the other hand, scored an impressive win over Juventus, with former Barca hit man Samuel Eto’o scoring his side’s second on the night. But Eto’o is wary of his former team’s ominous form in Europe and said in an interview, “Barcelona are the strongest side in the world right now, but every match is different and we want to write history”.
Brazilian defender Maicon scored a wonder goal in Inter’s defeat of Juventus, and we can expect a lot of wide runs from the wing back in tomorrow’s tie. But the Nerazzurri are expected to go about doing their job in a very workmanlike fashion tomorrow, under the leadership of the ‘Special One’. There are no major injury worries for either team at the moment, giving both coaches their entire range of players to choose from.
Many switched loyalties will be at work in tomorrow’s clash, the most important of which is the pair of Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who swapped their teams last summer. Mourinho’s Barcelona connection dates back to 1996, when he worked as a translator to then Barca coach Sir Bobby Robson. Mourinho has, since then, gone on to achieve many of the highest honours that team Football has to offer. The Portuguese was brought to Inter to bring the European Cup back to the Nerazzurri for the first time since 1964. But he has his work cut out against an in form Barcelona side that is playing some of the best football seen in recent years.
It goes without saying that Lionel Messi will be the man to watch in tomorrow’s clash, irrespective of the tactics employed by both coaches. Stopping the Barcelona juggernaut is going to be extremely difficult for any team at this moment, but this is as tough a test as they have faced all season. Inter have conceded only 11 goals in 17 Seria A home games this season, while Barcelona have boasted a superbly prolific attack throughout the campaign. Although my money is on Barcelona, I can’t overlook one simple fact – teams managed by Jose Mourinho never go down without a fight, so be prepared for a close contest tomorrow!
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