Chelsea - Inter (16 Mar 10)

[interista12]

anybody still drunk?

Man I have Been Celebrating till now and I'm not Stopping now I also think that Ancceloti is Drunk as well with the Italian Wine that Mourinho Got to him THANK YOU INTEEEEER...

 

[scutzon]

I'm still absolutely ecstatic that Inter beat Chelsea, and quite convincingly too, but I think I've calmed down enough to write a few words about what I thought of the game.

Firstly, I think Inter just showed to everyone that we're no longer the CL pushovers that we once were, especially in the last few seasons. Over both legs against Chelsea, Inter showed immense character, pride, and hunger to win, and we did just that, TWICE. Focusing on yesterday's match, I thought Inter played very very well throughout the whole match. They suffered a little in the 5 minutes before half time, but we defended well, hung on, and kept the scores level going into the break. And that, I think, was a very crucial moment. Had Chelsea scored before the break, I believe the results would have been quite different.

After the 2-1 win in San Siro, I said Chelsea would definitely score in the second leg, and I'm glad I was proven dead wrong. Chelsea did have a few decent chances, but everybody did well to keep them out. I still remember halfway through the second half, when I thought, "Even if Chelsea did go on to score a goal, and were knocked out of the CL, at least Inter actually turned up to play football, instead of rolling on our backs to be stepped on, like the last few seasons. That in itself, should command the respect of all the fans, IMO."

I think there's no doubt that Sneijder was the MoM. He was simply unplayable, as he orchestrated Inter's offence like a maestro conductor; his pass to Eto'o for his goal cut Chelsea's defence like hot knife through butter. Plus, his relentless running and harrying of Chelsea's defence just shows his work rate. Kudos to him.

I thought Maicon and Inter's centre defenders, especially Samuel, put in some world class performances worthy of a CL final. Maicon bombed down the right, and kept Zhirkov busy trying to track his runs. Samuel made several key blocks and interceptions before the break to keep the scores level, and if it wasn't for Sneijder, I would have thought Samuel deserved the MoM.

A few things I'm mildly concerned about is how often the players misplace their passes in the centre of the pitch. Granted, players do make mistakes, but a team of Inter's stature and ambitions, should have players who are skilled enough, and a team gelled enough, to not make so many stray passes. I hope this is something Mou is looking into.

All in all, I don't think anyone can complain much about the way Inter played yesterday, and I think we did good shutting a few of those English fanboys up. No matter who we face in the next round, although I hope Lady Luck is smiling upon us, I'm sure Inter can go through if they can keep up, and build on, yesterday's performance.

FORZA INTER!!!!
INTER PER SEMPRE!!!!

 

[Fitzy]

Wow what a performance! That was a performance we have been waiting for for some time now.

Two main factors swung the game in our way: Mourinho's tactical setup and the resulting mentality with which we brought to the game (as Sneijder has eluded to in his interview). Mourinho slaughtered Ancelotti today. The 3 attackers (4 including Wes) pressed Chelsea back for the majority of the match. When Ancelotti made changes, Mou countered. He surely earned his money today.

Out of our players, Cuchu, Samuel and Sneijder were fantastic, with Sneijder the obvious MOM. I thought Motta did quite well, considering he's been injured for the past few games. Lucio was great again for the majority of the match but had some lapses in concentration. Milito and Eto'o in particular worked very hard for the team tonight. Maicon was getting forward a lot more than the first leg which was good to see, but at times he missed the end product. Zanetti once again led by example (I loved the bit where he told Terry to fuck off towards the end of the match).

The traveling Inter supporters should congratulate themselves. They were very loud and it seemed like a home match at times through the TV.

I guess the question to ask now is: can we go all the way? I can't wait to see who we get in the draw.

 

[Michael]

ETO'OH OH OH

They played great and beat Chelsea (1-0) with the goal of the Cameroon lion and now in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Tactical masterpiece by Mou. Cambiasso and Sneijder super.

Moratti: "Mou is the best on the field."
Mourinho: "I celebrated like never before."
Ancelotti: "They have everything to win the Cup."

MAGICAL MOU

In London Eto'o scores and Chelsea are beaten after the Nerazzurri set their sights to score goals. To quarterfinals after 4 years.

London - An unforgettable night. A night of Grande Inter, a compact team that hard to choose who was the best because Eto'o scoring the winning goal was the icing on the cake that Mourinho prepared perfectly. The Nerazzurri fans sung the chorus of "bye bye Carletto" to salute Chelsea of Ancelotti. Evidently, London brings Inter good luck, because here on September 17, 2003, Cuper's team swept away Arsenal of Wenger 3-0, who then went on to the quarterfinals. But at this point, Inter have only themselves to fear, because after the last elimination in the quarterfinals four years ago against Villareal, this team has every reasons to go further, especially if you can retrieve a valuable member of the team that is Balotelli. Winning without him after the tensions of the day before and after the alarming drop in the league, culminating with the ugly defeat at Catania, is another strong indication on the character of the team, as well as technically.

The key Calmness and the desire to hit before being hit and perfect control of Drogba were the 3 key reasons of winning yesterday, and also at the San Siro. Because there were good players last year against Manchester United, two years ago against Liverpool and three years ago against Valencia, but without the right mindset is not going anywhere. That's why Inter must not think that they have already won the Champions League. The beauty and difficulty are arriving right now.

• Serene atmosphere in the locker rooms and the technicians smiled before the game. As pointed out by Mourinho, although there were some controversy between him and Ancelotti.
  
  
• A chance for Chelsea before the break. Drogba found Anelka in the area, but Julio Cesar was able to deflect the conclusion by the French. One of the few dangers created by the team of Ancelotti.
  
  
• The decisive moment, Sneijder passes, Eto'o scores. The goal came after a good period for the Nerazzurri. The pattern is usual, Sneijder inspires and this time Eto'o, right before the Inter fans, did no wrong.
  
  
• Expulsion of Drogba all happened in the area of Inter. With the ball away, Thiago Motta and Drogba ended up on the ground. Drogba then stepped on the foot Motta and was rejected.

Italian Inter Like last season in Manchester where Inter lined up a never before seen formation of 4-5-` which isolated in the attack Ibrahimovic. Mourinho surprised everyone with with his formation but not the players. He put out the already tested 4-2-3-1 and you saw the first time in the middle of the field Cambiasso and Motta, above all, understanding the undeniable Milito. And here are three real attackers behind him who had never played together in the Champions League: Eto'o, Sneijder and Pandev. It looks like a tactical gamble, but in reality, as it may seem paradoxical, a successful move is more defensive than offensive, because Eto'o and Pandev sacrificed themselves as outside midfielders to stop Zhirkov and Ivanovic respectively. The result is a classic half-ful because Inter were not at risk, but half empty because Milito was too alone with the exception of an header by Eto'o but it was badly headed out after a cross from Maicon. The most difficult period was at the end of the first half and early in the second after than Inter were able to spread Chelsea on the counterattack. From the errors of Pandev and Milito to a well deserve winning goal scored by Eto'o who was found by Sneijder, a great player in the second half. Italian-style action, even though a team doesn't have Italians, but they have the right and duty to represent our football in the Champions League after too many failures.

Chelsea curbed Perhaps because they weren't rushing to score the goal of qualification, or perhaps because Mourinho was too good to close all the spaces in the middle of the pitch. Chelsea seemed restrained, capable of pushing only intermittently, but without the usual lucidity in front of the goal, leaving Julio Cesar almost unemployed in the first half. A couple of changes for Chelsea after the break were the indications that they were beginning to feel the smell of elimination and in fact the Malouda was close but the ball was deflected out of bound for a corner by Julio Cesar. Inter, however, held on well. Ancelotti then put away a disappointing Ballack for a reviving Joe Cole and then Kalou. But it was just useless. Chelsea remained trapped in the web of Mourinho. Drogba was rejected at the end and it is exciting to hear 3000 Nerazzurri fans singing "Oh mia bela Madunia." So thanks Inter, it was a really beautiful night.

Oh man, I'm still high. :thumbsup:

 

[shahz_nerazzurri]

Thanks as always IF.

Now that I got some sleep and am sober again, time to discuss the game.

That second half performance was one of the best Inter performances I have seen ever!!. I do have to criticize the strikers including Eto, for missing some of the easiest freakin chances ever!. We totally dominated Chelsea out of the park, who had no answer to Sneijder. Everything he touched just turned in to gold. Eto missed three easy chances, and both Pandev and Milito with an easy miss as well. Though I have to give credit to Eto, apart from the goal, he did lots for the team today, his link up with Maicon was breathtaking.
Props to the whole backline specially Maicon and Samuel. Cambiasso finally came good in a CL game!!.


Chelsea created jack shit, and never looked like scoring in the second half.

 

[nutcracker]

so who can we draw for next game, if Bourdeaux and Barcelona wins?

 

[nutcracker]

Arsenal, ManU, Bordeaux, CSKA, Lyon, Bayern and Barcelona?

Can we play again against Barcelona?


And btw. I'm 99% sure we will get either ManU or Arsenal.

 

[Concord]

Historical night yesterday, I was jumping and shouting after Eto's goal, We should have scored before that but we were not lucky.

Congratulation For all Inter's fans.

"Inter Forever": you are doing a great job here, thanks a lot maan. Great posts as usual.

"nutcracker": I hope to face CSKA, we deserve that at least after we beat a team like Chelsea.

 

[Tonibaloni]

Arsenal, ManU, Bordeaux, CSKA, Lyon, Bayern and Barcelona?

Can we play again against Barcelona?


And btw. I'm 99% sure we will get either ManU or Arsenal.

we can win man and arsenal but not barcelona,.. so everyone pray for stutgard today,.. we nead miricles..

 

[Raul Duke]

Baca won't let us play our game, we'll be lucky to leave our own half. We would need a miracle to beat them

 

[el_dude]

I'm not 100% on how the draw works, but I doubt they'll pair us up against English opposition again, especially since we just had Chelsea in the first knockout round. I think we have a better chance of ending up with a team like Bayern, Lyon, CSKA, or Bordeaux/Olympiakos.

I would personally like to get Bayern this time around. I hate the Bundesliga (for no good reason really) and it'd be great to knock out their biggest team, then ManU in the semis, and Barca in the final. This way, we will have taken down the giants of each of the "other" three biggest leagues in Europe, and no one will be able to doubt our CL pedigree or claim that we had an easy path to the trophy like they do with Mourinho's Porto.

Plus, what better way to shut up all the Italian criticism? After we become the first Italian team to win the European treble, the whole of the peninsula shall be at our feet...

 

[CafeCordoba]

At this point everyone can get everyone, so there is no pots in the draw.

----------------------------------------------------------------

I have to yet come back to this match. It was simply great display by Inter. Totally unexpected performance.

To me, first of all this was Mourinho vs Ancelotti. And that battle ended by 6-0 or something. Ancelotti was a pussy to allow Inter to dictate the tempo of the match. He lost it there. We had no problems in the midfield and our packet was very compact and tight. Chelsea midfield couldn't contain Sneijder who was immense last night.

Missed chances where there but luckily for us, we kept creating chances and one went in (of course the best chance). Eto'o started a bit slowly but got into the game and really worked hard out there. And Cambiasso-Motta, wow. Because of Inter forced Chelsea to play slower football our midfield duo was rock solid and wasn't caught out of positions hardly at all (never?). We played that we that there became as few as possible clear 1 on 1 situations against these guys which was the key to hold the center sector.

Great victory and hopefully we can get some help in the draw. Forza Inter!

 

[kova9]

I'm more than fine with having Lyon, Bordeaux, CSKA or even Arsenal in the next phase..

Just hope not Barca..

 

[rockball]

My only problem is set pieces. When we give away FKs or corners, we are suspect to give away penalties since Motta and Samuel have this urge to bring players down. And when we take corners, we just don't look threatening enough to score.

After this game, even Ancelotti acknowledged the importance of Pandev's and Eto'o's closing down which stopped their fullbacks from attacking and allowed us to play a higher backline. And these are exactly the tactical reasons that Balotelli was left back. It seems strange that even though our formation was 4231, we had no striker on the bench. But that striker would doom this formation and could not be risked. Props to Jose.

 

[nutcracker]

CSKA -> Lyon -> Bordeaux -> Bayern -> Arsenal -> ManU -> Barcelona.

Thats how looks like what I want to get with the left side the most.


But expect it to see Barcelona near Internazionale on the TV this friday.

 

[Concord]

A lot has been said about whether Mourinho likes or dislikes Balotelli or vice versa.

I think Mourinho is a total professional, and at his level, he does not let his personal feelings come into play. Therefore, their character traits, whether similar or otherwise, is irrelevant.

It's probably an issue of Mourino being a tough disiplinarian and more demanding as a coach, and Balotelli finds it difficult to fit into Mourinho's regimen. And because of his age and character, he responds negatively to Mourinho's expectations.

We can see Balotelli's nature on full display often on the pitch - the way he relates to other team-mates (remember the penalty incident where Capitano had to pull him away?) and especially to players from other teams. And especially his needless fooling around, unnecessary diving that doesn't get called, sittting on the pitch while team-mates struggle to defend, and so on. All these cannot be excused by the bunch of goals he scores, because his scoring is not guaranteed, while a team is guaranteed to lose if even one player screws up. That's why Coaches gauge the player's readiness during training.

Therefore, I believe that it's more a case of Balotelli not liking Mourinho, rather than Mourinho not liking Balotelli. If Balotelli trains 100% and executes all the drills to Mourinho's satisfaction, and plays in a way that strengthens the team's game on the pitch, with commitment just like Eto or Milito or the others, AND scores goals, every training day and every weekend match, he will automatically qualify as Mourinho's "untouchable". He will be a starter everytime all the time. Mourinho only wants the best and nothing less from his players. We should be supportive of that.

Everybody knows the rules, but Balotelli just wants to keep breaking them. That is the problem.

Excellent post
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:, we have won the match & Balotelli have missed this important match, I hope that stupid boy rethink 100 times before any stupid action with Mourinho.
We have won without you Balotelli, if you get angry or not the team will move on with or without So its better to rethink again and be a responsible Man. Forza Inter

 

[spiderninja]

CSKA -> Lyon -> Bordeaux -> Bayern -> Arsenal -> ManU -> Barcelona.

Thats how looks like what I want to get with the left side the most.


But expect it to see Barcelona near Internazionale on the TV this friday.

they will make Inter get Man U or Barca as soon as possible

because their president doesn't want to see Inter have more CL trophy than Jube

 

[ataturk5]

Congratulations to the inter fans
Didnt i say you would do it?!,great controlled european away performance.
Hopefully that will give the players (and SOME of you) belief in inters chances.
The CL failures have to end one year,maybe this is your year eh?
Anyway,like i said,well done,AND .....................KEEP THE FAITH!!!!!

 

[otto1234]

FORZA İNTER!!!

 

[rsz85]

CSKA -> Lyon -> Bordeaux -> Bayern -> Arsenal -> ManU -> Barcelona.

Thats how looks like what I want to get with the left side the most.


But expect it to see Barcelona near Internazionale on the TV this friday.

I would change Lyon and Bordeaux in the ranking, but all the other is correct.

Tonight pray for Stuttgart, that would be a huge boost for our winning-chances.

but i hope due the group stage we are not given Barca.