Inter have been crowned champions of Europe after they emerged victorious against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Diego Milito scored twice either side of half time.
The Nerazzurri started on the front foot, trying to take the game to the Germans, but the danger of FCB was evident when Arjen Robben led a counter-attack in the third minute and was quickly brought down by Walter Samuel.
The Argentine then had to make an excellent defensive header to keep Ivica Olic from heading in from close range, before the Italians went on the counter-attack but Wesley Sneijder's through ball crept away from Goran Pandev.
Bayern looked the more comfortable team in possession, biding their time as they looked for an opening. After 10 minutes, Robben was again the instigator of an attack as he took the ball past Cristian Chivu and Walter Samuel before cutting the ball back for Olic, but he couldn't get a shot on target from close range.
Robben was at the centre of most of the early action, and it was the Dutchman's cross on 15 minutes that led to the first major penalty appeal of the evening. Maicon's arm appeared to beat the ball into the box away, but Howard Webb ignored FC Hollywood's protests.
Sneijder brought a good save from Hans-Jorg Butt with a long-range free kick moments later, before Esteban Cambiasso's close-range volley was blocked. The tempo of the game dropped as both teams adopted a more patient approach, but Robben was impatient midway through the half as he snatched at his shot as the ball broke to him on the edge of the box.
With 35 minutes gone, the deadlock was broken emphatically. Julio Cesar's long ball was flicked on to Sneijder by Milito, and the Dutchman played it back to the Argentine who raced into the penalty area, held off two players and clipped the ball over Butt into the roof of the net.
Just before the break, the duo combined again when Sneijder fed Milito as Inter counter-attacked at pace. The striker drew Martin Demichelis towards him before picking out his team-mate in the penalty area with a perfect pass, but Sneijder's shot was straight at Butt.
Bayern should have equalised only seconds after the restart as the Nerazzurri's defence fell apart. Altintop squared a great ball across the box for Thomas Mueller to shoot from 12 yards but Julio Cesar made a good save to parry the ball out.
Barely a minute later, Milito cut the ball back for Pandev to shoot from just inside the penalty area but Butt made a superb save as he flew to his left to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The second half had started in electric fashion; Bastian Schweinsteiger found himself in space 25 yards from goal but chose to pass instead of shoot before Sneijder curled a free kick over the bar from 20 yards. Altintop pulled a shot wide following an error by Lucio in the 54th minute as FC Hollywood tried to get back on level terms as soon as possible.
Little was happening for them in the final third though as they wasted a number of corner kicks, with the pressure of the situation beginning to show. Inter had every man behind the ball when the Germans attacked, forcing them to try and play the perfect pass to open them up.
Bayern had another set piece opportunity when Robben was brought down on the hour mark by a combination of Chivu and Pandev on the edge of the box. The Dutchman's shot was blocked by the cluster of players in the six yard box, and Mueller's follow-up shot also failed to reach Julio Cesar as Cambiasso headed the scuffed effort away.
The Brazilian had to make a save five minutes later though when Robben curled a shot from 20 yards towards the top corner, only to see the keeper tip the ball away magnificently. Daniel van Buyten then showed equally proficient defensive prowess as he stretched his leg to its limit to hook Sneijder's clipped ball away from the onrushing Milito in the penalty area.
Van Buyten could do nothing in the 70th minute, however, as Inter doubled the lead. Eto'o picked out Milito 30 yards from goal, and the Argentine jinked past the defender before opening his body and curling his shot past Butt into the far corner.
Time was rapidly ticking away from van Gaal's side as they struggled to break down the Beneamata's resilient backline. Lucio and Samuel were confidently dealing with the balls into the box, while Zanetti was more capable of dealing with Robben than Chivu after he was moved to left back.
Bayern piled forward in the last 10 minutes in an attempt to salvage something from the final, and in the 82nd minute Schweinsteiger won a free kick 25 yards out in a central position. Robben stepped up to take it, but it was straight into the wall and Inter were able to reorganise.
As the final whistle neared, Mueller tried to take matters into his own hands and clipped a neat ball over the top for Miroslav Klose to head towards goal but it just evaded the substitute and bobbled out for a goal kick.
The referee signalled for three minutes of added time, halfway through which Milito was replaced to a standing ovation from the travelling Inter fans. His brace made the difference on club football's biggest stage, and the final whistle marked the start of a long night of celebrations for the Nerazzurri.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Inter The CHAMPIONS
Monday, April 12, 2010
United buckle under Bayern strain
Manchester United 3-2 Bayern Munich
FC Bayern München fought back from three goals down on the night to oust Manchester United FC from the UEFA Champions League on away goals.
On a pulsating evening, United stormed into a three-goal lead through Darron Gibson and a Nani double. Yet Ivica Olić's goal just before the break raised Bayern hopes and after Rafael's 50th-minute dismissal, the Bundesliga leaders capitalised on the extra man thanks to a stunning Arjen Robben volley 16 minutes from time.
It was a repeat of the Dutchman's decisive goal in the identical away-goals win against ACF Fiorentina in the last 16 and means Bayern can look forward to their first semi-final since 2001, the year of their last European crown when they also beat United at this stage.
The home fans had a lift before kick-off with the news that Wayne Rooney would be starting, just days after Sir Alex Ferguson had said he faced "two to three weeks" out with the ankle injury sustained in the first leg.
United then made a dream start with a third-minute goal involving two other surprise names on the team sheet. Rafael, in for Gary Neville, dispossessed Franck Ribéry and played the ball to Rooney, who laid it on to Gibson. The Northern Irishman, making only his second start of 2010, side-footed a low shot inside the near post from the edge of the box for his first UEFA Champions League goal.
By the seventh minute United were two up. Antonio Valencia teased Holger Badstuber out on the right before driving in a low cross that Nani, ghosting beyond the Bayern back line, turned in with a cute flick of his heel. Michael Carrick, with a shot, and Rooney, a header, then went close with Bayern struggling to live with the pace of United's play, even with Rooney now hobbling. They duly made it 3-0 as Valencia broke down the right and crossed for Nani to drive the ball high into the net.
Two minutes later, however, Bayern pulled a goal back through Olić, their first-leg matchwinner. Latching onto Thomas Müller's flicked header, the Croatian shrugged aside Michael Carrick and beat Edwin van der Sar from a tight angle. Louis van Gaal sent on Mario Gómez for Müller at the interval and within minutes Bayern found themselves with a man advantage when Rafael collected a second yellow for pulling back Ribéry.
With Rooney making way for John O'Shea, Bayern pressed for a second and Van der Sar punched clear a Ribéry drive just before the hour before Gómez skimmed the crossbar with a header. It was not all one-way traffic, not with United's counterattacking threat – twice Butt saved well from Nani, while Carrick and Gibson spurned half-chances.
With 16 minutes remaining, though, Robben broke United's resistance by levelling the aggregate scores at 4-4. Ribéry's corner found him on the edge of the box and the Dutchman drove the ball on the volley across a helpless Van der Sar and into the far corner. For United, the dream of a third successive final was over.
Magical Messi makes light work of Arsenal
Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal
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It required a performance of absolute brilliance and four wonderful goals from Lionel Messi but FC Barcelona underlined their status as European champions by sweeping past Arsenal FC to advance to a semi-final against FC Internazionale Milano.
Even after falling behind to Nicklas Bendtner's early goal on the counterattack, Barça built on last week's impressive display in north London as Messi contributed a sumptuous 22-minute hat-trick and added a fourth two minutes from time. The 6-3 aggregate scoreline took the UEFA Champions League titleholders into the semi-finals for the third year in a row and will also give food for though to José Mourinho, whose Inter side now face the task of stopping the Barça juggernaut in the last four.
The visitors had started full of self-belief and intensity of purpose, unfazed by Barça's attacking arsenal. Abou Diaby combined telescopic tackling with lung-busting runs, and that earned his team their 18th-minute breakthrough. The Arsenal midfielder robbed Gabriel Milito on the halfway line, Theo Walcott sprinted down the right and passed towards Bendtner. Daniel Alves arrived in time to block and Victor Valdés pawed away the loose ball, but the Dane was up quickest to prod in.
By then it had already taken a fine fingertip save from Almunia to turn away a Messi drive. It was obvious the inspirational Argentinian wanted to appear in a third successive semi-final, and he duly took matters into his own hands. Three minutes after Bendtner's strike, Messi's attempted pass bounced back off Mickäel Silvestre so he simply crashed a left-footed drive high past Manuel Almunia from outside the box.
After the power came the finesse as the European champions started to find their passing rhythm. Eight minutes before the break that culminated in Messi sending Eric Abidal through and, though Thomas Vermaelen got a foot to the left-back's low cross, Pedro Rodríguez tapped the loose ball to Messi. One touch to take him free of a challenge and the next to dink over Almunia and Barcelona were in control.
Two become three when Arsenal were caught pushing up. Seydou Keita headed a loose ball into the path of Messi and the No10 was bearing down on Almunia again. Once more the Spanish goalkeeper was reduced to the role of helpless spectator as the 22-year-old deftly scooped the ball up and over his dive to complete his hat-trick in style.
Although Messi's play was sublime Arsenal continued to push Barcelona close to their limit, Diaby and Denilson striving to contain Xavi Hernàndez. Josep Guardiola's side lost Abidal, in his second comeback match after seven weeks out injured, Maxwell coming on, and the home coach added a tactical change with Bojan Krkić being replaced by Yaya Touré.
Arsenal would not concede defeat and although both were offside, Bendtner and Walcott hit the woodwork with efforts which showed the spirit in Arsène Wenger's team. It was their misfortune to come up against a team at their imperious best, and Messi underlined that with one last flourish in the 88th minute, rounding Vermaelen and Gaël Clichy before clipping past Almunia at the second attempt – only the sixth time a player has scored four goals in a UEFA Champions League match.
Sneijder strike takes Inter into semis
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Wesley Sneijder's early free-kick was the key to FC Internazionale Milano ending their seven-year wait to return to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
Already a goal down from last week's trip to Milan, PFC CSKA Moskva were left needing to score three after Sneijder, a doubt before kick-off with an ankle injury, found the target. A CSKA comeback never looked likely, especially after substitute Chidi Odiah's 49th-minute red card, and Inter take on familair opponents from the group stage, holders FC Barcelona, on 20 and 28 April with the first leg at home.
The suspensions of Evgeni Aldonin and the hugely influential Miloš Krasić meant starts for Mark González and Alan Dzagoev with Keisuke Honda moved into a defensive midfield position but that did not stop the Japanese international having an early effort just wide. However, just six minutes were on the clock when Inter broke the deadlock, Sneijder sending a low free-kick beneath the leaping Honda and past the bamboozled Igor Akinfeev.
That was a cue for an early CSKA change with Odiah replacing Vasili Berezutski, who had hurt his leg in the warm-up. Odiah had the freedom to push forward and found Tomaš Necid on the edge of the box to put a shot just past the post.
CSKA were certainly pressing an Inter defence strengthened by the return of Lucio after a first-leg suspension and restricting their hosts to long-range efforts, notably several Honda free-kicks that sailed over and an Odiah effort that Júlio César was forced to tip wide. One flowing move set Dzagoev free in the box but he slipped, allowing Inter to break and first-leg goalscorer Diego Milito to test Akinfeev.
Only four minutes into the second half, CSKA's task was made harder when Odiah's foul on Samuel Eto'o earned the substitute a second yellow card. Still the home side were doing more of the attacking and they came close when Honda cross from the right just eluded the overhead kick of Dzagoev but fell nicely to González, whose effort was matched by Júlio César's save.
Gradually, though, the ten men of CSKA seemed to tire and Inter began to have chances. Akinfeev denied Sneijder from distance and moments later produced an excellent diving stop to block Dejan Stanković's swerving drive. Milito then shot straight at the goalkeeper and soon after was sent clear only for Akinfeev to again stand firm.
Mario Balotelli replaced Milito as Inter became more and more dominant, CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky trying to refresh things by bringing on Elvir Rahimić for Honda. Stanković shot fractionally wide and Sergei Ignashevich's last-gasp tackle denied Eto'o as he jinked into a goalscoring position, but the tie was already secure for the visitors.
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