The Inter wall tames the Barcelona floods

Last night Inter Milan lost to Barcelona 0-1 in the return leg, but successfully managed to move in to the Champions league final, thanks to their first leg win by 3 goals to one. This was an extraordinary match, not for the beauty of football on display but for the defensive tactics of Inter Milan. I have not seen another match which showcased such a spectacular and spirited defensive display.

Barcelona was the defending champions and currently the best team in the world according to many, having lost to Inter in the first leg, they were expected to be at their attacking best in their home ground. Yesterday’s did nothing to indicate they were the best in the world, with all their attacking might, spearheaded by Messi, they were unable to score more than a solitary goal. That goal too loses significance when you consider that it came very late after Inter having played with just ten men for nearly 60 minutes of the game, and that too which quite clearly was an offside. Inter was unlucky to have Motta dismissed before the 30 minutes mark which hardly looked like a serious foul.

It was wonderful to see spirited defensive display of all the 10 Inter Milan players against formidable opposition and they played like their life depended on it. It was very clear to see the influence of their coach, Jose Mourinho, as not even once in the match you felt that Inter looked like losing, apart for may be the last few minutes after the goal. The confidence of the Inter players was there for all to see.

I agree that their game may not be a treat to the eye, but what is the point of kicking the ball around to entertain the audience with out scoring goals. My question is if Barcelona is the best team in the world currently, what you would call a team which convincingly beat them with a goal aggregate of 3-2 in more than 3 hours of football, having played the last one hour with only 10 men.

I read a few articles in the morning and was really surprised to find them hesitating to applaud the great effort by Inter Milan, which prompted me to write this blog. Some coaches need a great team to win matches and some coaches make any good team perform great to win matches. Jose is one of the rare ones; no wonder than he is called the ‘Special One’.

Inter gains the slightest advantage over Chelsea

Inter milan 2 - Chelsea 1 (Champions league last 16, first leg at San Siro)
Yesterday's match, or should I say today mornings match between Inter and Chelsea, put me into a rather interesting dilemma as to which team to support, being Chelsea supporter and Jose Mourinho fan, I guess it was quite natural to be confused. The fact that I became a Chelsea supporter mainly during the Mourinho era and this being a crucial Champions league first leg only added to the drama. So I was dilpomatic and decided not to support any team in particular and hoped the best team on the day wins.

It would be an exaggeration if I said it was a great match, I feel it failed to bring out the best football in both teams, as it usually happens in the matches between high profile teams. Chelsea defintely had more pocession and arguably created more chances but Inter looked solid in defence, except for a very ordinary effort from the keeper which resulted in a goal. Inter probably had the best chance to score, which was wasted by Eto and if you consider the freekick by Drogba which hit the crossbar it would be a fair assumption that both teams had equal chances.

It looked like Chelsea were missing the Cole's, which hindered their penetrative attacking runs from the left. Inter scored two beautiful goals thanks to milito and Cambiasso, the timings of which always gave inter the upperhand in the match. The first was in 3rd minute and second only 3-4 minutes after chelsea scored their only goal, making sure Inter was almost always leading.

After seeing Chelsea for so long, I thought they would a little more probably bringing on Joe Cole would created a little more innovation in the attacking front. It looked liked Chelsea are preserving their best for the second leg in Stamford Bridge, but having an opposition managed by their best coach in history may be the deciding factor. Whatever the result of the Second leg I am sure we will be able to watch a great match, and the results will have huge impacts in the leagues, the transfer markets and also in the personal battle of 2 of the greatest coaches in the market today.

Transfer Market: The genius of the Special One

This probably should be one of the reasons they call him, Jose Mourinho, as the ‘Special One’. In a transfer window which would be remembered for the buying prowess of Real Madrid and Manchester City, and transfers of 2 of the 3 arguably the best players in the world (Messi, Kaka and Ronaldo), there was one team called Inter Milan which went about doing their job fantastically without much distraction.

The master plan was started by Jose Mourinho with the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovich to Barcelona for 69 Million Euro’s (€46 Millions + Eto valued at €20 Million + € 3 million compensation for Hleb’s loan transfer refusal), imagine getting €49 million and a competent striker in exchange for one very good striker. He brought in Wesley Sneijder from real Madrid for 15 million euro’s , Diego Milito and Thiago Motta from Genoa, for an undisclosed amount and in exchange for 4 Inter players. He also brought in Lucio from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed amount.

I am sure overall he would have spent about € 30 million euro’s in the transfer market having a net profit of nearly €19 million and I sincerely feel he has improved the team over all with addition key players in important positions. He also achieved his aim of trimming his squad but increasing the number of quality players.
Kudos to the special one.