Inter Milan put reigning champions Barcelona to the sword
Inter 3-1 Barcelona
Inter Milan took a huge step towards winning their first European silverware since 1965 after dominating the Champions League first leg semi-final at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza against title holders Barcelona.
Barcelona, bidding to become the first team to retain the trophy in its current format, have a lot of work to do in the second leg after producing a lacklustre display.
Inter thoroughly deserved the victory, and could have wrapped up the tie thanks to the number of chances they created, but Lucio and Diego Milito squandered many opportunities. Barcelona’s wretched away record in the Champions League continues, with now only one win from the last nine.
The pre-match build-up was all about how to stop a certain little Argentinian. Following his scintillating performance against Arsenal in the quarter-finals, all eyes were once again on world player of the year Lionel Messi, but, to the disappointment of the neutrals, and of his teammates, he failed to shine, and showed that he is human after all, as the ever-present Inter skipper Javier Zanetti marked him out of the game comfortably.
Inter boss José Mourinho got his tactics spot-on, and once again master-minded a victory over Barcelona. His team frustrated Pep Guardiola’s men for long periods of the game, and they allowed their visitors to have the lion’s share of the possession, holding their defensive shape solidly, ready to spring a counter-attack when they had the ball.
Barcelona took the lead on 19 minutes when the impressive Pedro Rodriguez neatly finished after a good run by Maxwell down the left. It was the only point in the night where Inter defended poorly. After that, Barcelona had no control of the match, and Inter were level when an unmarked Wesley Sneijder latched onto a pass by Samuel Eto’o after the Barcelona defence were stretched.
At the start of the second half, Inter came out all guns blazing, and the Catalan giants were punished for holding a high line when a swift counter-attack was rounded off by Brazilian full-back Maicon.
Diego Milito led the Inter attack superbly, and he was rewarded with a goal in the 60th minute, with Sneijder again involved in the move. The Barcelona backline were at sixes and sevens, not for the first time on the night. There were several players for Inter who could have been man of the match, with Sneijder revelling in the role behind the front two, and Milito efficiently retaining the ball. Zanetti also did a great job to keep Messi quiet for the whole game.
Mourninho may not be the most popular man in Italy. If he is believed to be heading for Real Madrid, then he certainly impressed the Bernabeu faithful by trouncing their arch-enemies. Barcelona endured a long trip to Italy by coach because of the Icelandic volcano eruption. After last night’s action, they failed to blast, and were blown away by one of Inter’s best games for years.
They now face that same gruelling coach trip back home, stewing over why they failed to be explosive.
They have it all to do at the Camp Nou if they want to hold on to all of their trophies that they collected last season. Inter were value for money last night, and this could be their year for European success.
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