Games of 2010: 10-1
December 31, 2010
1. Inter 3-2 Barcelona (agg)
In any sport, you tend to find brilliant contests between two teams or players that are well-matched in terms of ability, but completely different in terms of style. This tie, particularly the second leg at the Nou Camp, was a great demonstration of that – Barcelona attacked non-stop whilst Inter sat back inside their own third and simply tried to hang on.
The Clasico was a fantastic display of football, but it was utterly one-sided and was over after 45 minutes. This game was literally not truly decided until the last kick – Barca had a goal disallowed in the final seconds that would have sent them through on away goals.
First, though, we must not forget the game at the San Siro – Mourinho was criticized for his defensive tactics in the second leg, but then he did arrive with a two-goal head start, and quickly found himself a man down. In the first leg there was no sign of defensive play from Inter – they attacked Barca so much it actually seemed to take the Spanish champions by surprise – Maicon bombed on down the left which Seydou Keita couldn’t quite cope with, whilst on the other side Goran Pandev came inside and dragged Dani Alves narrow, opening up space for Wesley Sneijder who moved left.
Inter were aided by a rare tactical error from Pep Guardiola in both fixtures – he started Zlatan Ibrahimovic when (a) the Swede was not fully fit, (b) Barca had been playing very well without him at that point and (c) Inter’s centre-backs were always going to be more vulnerable to an approach based around small, tricky players who link up well and offer good movement. Ibrahimovic gave Barca a different option when he was at the club, but it wasn’t one required at the start of these games.
The second leg was extraordinary – Inter produced one of the most defensive performances in recent football history after going down to ten men. Mourinho, remarkably, was so confident that this was the right approach that he didn’t even want his side to have possession, saying after the game, “We didn’t want the ball because when Barcelona press and win the ball back, we lose our position – I never want to lose position on the pitch so I didn’t want us to have the ball. We gave it away.”
In that sense, it was a brilliant battle of footballing ideology. Barca, having received rave reviews for their focus upon passing and pressing, were suddenly beaten by a side that didn’t press, didn’t attack, didn’t even look to have the ball. Joga Bonito advocates will look upon Inter’s performance at the Nou Camp with disgust, but tactically this two-legged tie was a truly epic contest.
. It was a true battle
