Champions League preview: Inter Milan v Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur head to Italy to take on the European champions.
It is news that sounds as though it should be accompanied with a gramophone soundtrack, while grainy black-and-white images of the brave Spurs boys getting on a plane and vowing to show those Italians “just how to play association football” are played alongside it, but it is the here and now.
Spurs are enjoying the Champions League so far. An opening night draw with Werder Bremen in Germany set up their campaign nicely, whilst the 4-1 victory over Twente at White Hart Lane last time out encapsulated everything that Spurs fans would have hoped their Champions League nights would bring.
Those four points ensure that the north Londoners sit joint top of Group A as they head for the San Siro. They appear to be taking to top level European competition well, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the familiar face – and beard – that will be in the opposite dugout to Harry Redknapp tonight.
“I expect a difficult match against a team that is mentally strong, who push high up the pitch and are good on the counter attack,” said Rafael Benitez, these days the coach of Inter Milan after slipping out of the Anfield door during a summer of upheaval at Liverpool.
“We're going to have to play very well if we want to win. Tottenham are an example of a team that has the quality and desire to do well. I think they're doing well, they seem to have energy, quality and the desire to win, hence it will be difficult to beat them.”
It certainly will, and Benitez – who took the opportunity of being in a room with English journalists to weigh into the Liverpool ownership situation which was finally resolved last week – also had kind words to say about a man who may want to prove a point to him.
“I think Peter Crouch is a good lad,” he said.
“We [Liverpool] bought him from Southampton, and he didn't score for the first 14 games but I always remained close to him and I had a good relationship with him. I also wanted to keep him in my team but Gerrard and Torres scored 55 goals between them and at that point it was difficult.”
Crouch is now at Spurs, but tonight he won’t be playing ahead of the man who has captivated Tottenham fans ever since his arrival.
Rafael van der Vaart misses out on the trip to Italy due to the red card he picked up against Twente, meaning that Jermaine Jenas is likely to come in, and that Spurs will adopt a more defensive approach as opposed to starting with Robbie Keane in the hole behind the front man. Should Keane – another with things to prove to Benitez – be called upon though, the former Inter striker will be determined to do well.
“I was only a young lad at the time but it's something I will never regret,” said Keane, who made the shock move from Coventry City to Italy for £13million in 2000.
“I had a great time over there, I really enjoyed it. They are great people over there so it's something I can look back on, to go over there as a 19-year-old kid and play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, as one of the greatest times in my life and something I will never forget."
“Christian Vieri, Ronaldo and Alvaro Recoba were all there. They were great players and playing with good players every day in training, you obviously learn a lot and I think it really helped me as a player.”
The current Inter vintage includes the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Milito – the scorer of both goals in last season’s successful final.
Benitez will relish locking horns with Redknapp, and will look to prove a point to the Premier League following his Liverpool’s struggles in it last season.
It will be that determination, and Inter’s extra quality, that will win through – but Tottenham won’t be embarrassed by the European champions.
They are far too brave for that.
Prediction: Inter Milan 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
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