UEFA Champions League: FC Twente vs Inter Milan, Milan manage to bounce back to hold Twente to a 2-2 draw
Inter Milan were going into tonight's game as the current holders of the Champions League crows. The team was looking to begin the defence of their title with a trip to Enschende to face against FC Twente.
Jose Mourinho left the San Siro based club but after helping the team win their first ever treble. Spaniard Rafa Benitez was brought into replace the outgoing Portuguese manager, but he has so far fallen way short of the standards that everyone has come to expect of the team.
Inter could have however had no complaints going into the game, since they still have one of the best squads in Europe and were expected to come out with all three points in the night.
Twente were making their debut Champions League appearance after having won the Eredivisie title for the first time in forty five years. Twente were going into the game with more hunger then Inter, but were far less experienced then their rivals, nevertheless they felt that the home advantage might just help them do the trick in the night.
The match kicked out in a very predictable manner with Inter dominating possession early on. It was this early dominance that eventually led to the team’s first goal. It was Inter's golden player Wesley Sneijder who got things rolling in the night after he opened the scoring on the thirteenth minute mark and saw the away team take the one nil lead.
However the early goal from the opposition saw Twente spring into life, they started to match Inter tow to toe and eventually got the equalizer six minutes later. It was Theo Janssen who whipped in a terrific free kick that had Julio Cesar beaten on all ends as the ball travelled into the back of the net.
The match calmed down for a short period of time however on the thirty first minute, Inter's Champions League hero turned into a villain. Janssen whipped in another terrific free kick; but it was Diego Milito out of all the people who glanced the ball past his own keeper Julio Cesar, with his head. No one was quite sure what the player was thinking, but that didn't matter since the goal counted any way.
In the forty first minute, it was the Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o who got the equalizer for Inter Milan. The player played a lovely one-two on the edge of the box, before placing a first time shot into the bottom corner.
At the half time all the scores were level at two goals a piece. Both the managers noted each others weaknesses in that half and probably had a lot to talk about to their teams.
However contrary to popular belief, it turned out that the managers actually asked their players to defend rather then go in for the kill.
The second half wasn't nearly as good as the first as both the teams looked more than content with the score line. There were a few chances created but neither of them could lead up to any goals.
Play in the midfield increased and eventually things got heated up though that did not increase the number of chances to score goals but rather the number of fouls committed.
The match eventually ended with both the teams being level at two goals a piece. However Twente were easily the happier team when the final whistle was blown.
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