Bayern 0-2 Inter: Milito the difference but Mourinho steals the show

Diego Milito hit 2 goals to give Inter a deserved victory at the Bernabéu and seal a historic treble. The match was somewhat predictable, with Bayern seeing most of the ball, but unable to carve out any real chances. Inter were deadly on the counter, thanks to an inspired Milito, and won the game comfortably. However, Inter manager José Mourinho was the subject of many post-match headlines, as speculation about his likely move to Real Madrid came to a head.

Before the match, the usual mind games took place, as Mourinho’s old colleagues Louis van Gaal and Arjen Robben criticised Mourinho’s style of football. However, the results achieved by Mourinho speak for themselves, and he has now won the Champions League with two different clubs and the first treble ever achieved by an Italian side. Mourinho’s post-match comments suggest he will move on in the summer, and Florentino Pérez (Real Madrid’s chairman) must be particularly pleased with Mourinho’s performance in securing another Champions League.

Tactically, Inter were perfectly set up to counter Bayern, whose lack of attacking threat must have been frustrating for van Gaal. Without the suspended Franck Ribéry, the Bavarians were even more Robben reliant than usual. Christian Chivu and later Javier Zanetti, were the men chosen to shackle Bayern’s star man, and they limited his undoubted threat for most of the game. The mercurial Dutchman tried his best, and got into numerous good positions, but his teammates couldn’t capitalise on his work.  Thomas Müller and Ivica Olić missed Bayern’s best chances, before Robben tried to salvage the game single-handedly. In the end, he forced a fine save from Júlio César with a brilliant curler, but couldn’t find a goal on his return to the Bernabéu.

Milito on the other hand, had a perfect night in front of goal. 2 goals from 2 shots was his record, but even more impressive was his ability to hold the ball up and link play with his teammates. His first goal came from a long kick from the keeper, which Milito nodded down for Wesley Sneijder befor going for the return. Martín Demichelis was left for dead, meaning Milito had a free run on goal. He took his chance beautifully, delaying just long enough and lifting the ball over Hans-Jörg Butt. For his second, he collected a pass from Samuel Eto’o before making a fool of Daniel van Buyten with a clever turn and finished unerringly into the corner. How Bayern fans must have wished for a quick, reliable centre-back who might have at least held up Milito a little. In fact, one such defender, Lúcio, was playing for the other team, having been sold by Bayern in the summer.

It was Inter’s night, as many expected it would be, as they ended their 45-year wait for another European Cup. It was nice to see Javier Zanetti, a model professional, lift the trophy on his 700th appearance for the club. It was also the last trophy Mourinho needed to achieve a clean sweep with Inter and he may well move on to Real, where he will try to become the first manager ever to win the Champions League with 3 different teams.

Defensive masterclass puts Mourinho’s men Inter the final

Going down to 10 men still didn’t stop Inter from putting on a defensive clinic to earn a priceless victory against Barcelona. They will play Bayern Munich, who eased past Lyon 4-o on aggregate.

Inter took a 3-1 lead into the second leg at the Nou Camp, thanks to a fine counter-attacking performance. For the second leg, Inter’s only thought was to defend, especially after Thiago Motta’s farcical red card. Already on a yellow, the Brazilian put up his hand behind him to help shield the ball from the onrushing Busquets. The Barça midfielder then ran lightly into the outstretched hand before collapsing to the floor and rolling around. The despicable act of gamesmanship was compounded as the camera cut to him having a quick peek to see if the referee was going to reach for the red card (below).

From this point, Inter were forced to abandon all attacking ambition and play with 10 men behind the ball, in effectively a training exercise. Their defence was outstanding for the whole match, keeping their organisation and discipline and maintaining a feverish work rate. The grizzled veterans Walter Samuel and Lúcio used every trick in the book to keep Barcelona’s much-vaunted forward line at bay. All the old tricks were employed in the true Italian style (despite having no Italian players in the side) with time-wasting, injury-feigning and grappling at corners a fixture from the opening whistle. In fact, one such skirmish left the disappointing Zlatan Ibrahimović with a massive rip in his shirt. The centre-backs were ably assisted by Maicon, Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, who put in an almost perfect performance over the 2 legs.

While Barcelona might complain about the cynicism of the Inter players, it should also be noted that their players can be just as bad. Apart from the Busquets incident, they also have one of the most consistently annoying, diving, cheating players around in Dani Alves. Gerard Piqué eventually popped up to give Barça hope for the last 10 minutes, showing all the composure of a proper centre-forward (take note Ibra!). There was still time for a terrible Bojan miss and some questionable refereeing decisions, most notably the handball decision in stoppage-time that denied Barça their winner. So Inter enjoyed some good fortune over the tie, but when Barcelona’s own progression from this stage last season was gifted to them against Chelsea, it could be said that luck is an essential part of European success.

After the match, it was all about José Mourinho, who sprinted onto the pitch at the final whistle. El Tradutor did not hesitate to make a triumphant gesture in front of 100,000 baying Barcelona fans, and even Barça keeper Valdés couldn’t stop Mourinho from enjoying his victory. Still, the final offers another intriguing Mourinho subplot, as he faces up against his former mentor Louis van Gaal, now the Bayern manager.

Champions League semi-final round up

The Champions League semis took place this midweek, despite the travel disruption caused by volcanic ash. Barcelona got the coach to Milan, where they faced Inter, while Lyon made a similar trip to Munich to take on the German league leaders Bayern.

Inter/Barcelona was the stand-out tie of the round and included many intriguing subplots: Mourinho against his first club, Eto’o against Ibra, attack against defence. Barça arrived on the back of a fractious 0-0 draw in the Catalan derby, where Daniel Alves was sent off. The Brazilian’s relationship with referees took another turn for the worse against Inter as he was booked for diving when it looked like he had a legitimate penalty claim. Meanwhile, Inter were relatively fresh after their 2-0 victory over Juventus in the derby d’Italia on Friday evening.

All the talk before the game surrounded how the Special One was going to contain the phenomenal Leo Messi. Mourinho deployed the ever-dependable Javier Zanetti at left-back to deal with Messi if he popped up in his favoured position on the right, while Esteban Cambiasso and Walter Samuel would counter the threat through the middle. Mourinho also encouraged his charges to press intently in all areas of the pitch to limit Barça’s time on the ball. The plan worked perfectly, with Zanetti rolling back the years to stop Messi time after time and the team winning the ball high up the pitch to create plenty of opportunities. All this combined with a fair slice of luck to give Inter victory, despite going down to a well-worked Pedro goal.

Inter’s fightback began when Sneijder swept in after a neat lay-off from Diego Milito. The goal had an element of luck as it stemmed from a mishit Samuel Eto’o cross. In the second half, Inter’s extra rest time really started to make a difference, as they hit 2 more goals. First, Maicon scored his second goal in 2 games after Thiago Motta won the ball deep in Barça territory. Then, Milito got the goal his performance deserved, heading in from 2 yards from a suspiciously offside position after a botched Sneijder effort.

Barça had no real reply, and it was clear Xavi and Messi were visibly frustrated by Inter’s commitment. In terms of Ibra vs. Eto’o, it was clear that the Inter man ended their personal battle on top. Zlatan, who was bought at great expense to be Barça’s “Plan B” had no impact on the match, looked lazy as ever and was hauled off before the end. He was so lazy in fact, that he ran less than the Barcelona keeper Víctor Valdés. On the other hand, Eto’o was involved in 2 of Inter’s goals, providing crosses from the right on both occasions.

On Wednesday, Bayern Munich struggled past a largely impotent Lyon, despite playing the majority of the match with 10 men. The man in the headlines yet again was Franck Ribéry, who was sent off after a crude tackle on Lisandro Lopez. This completed a miserable week for the Bayern’s one-time talisman, when he was implicated in an underage prostitution scandal. Some might say this wasn’t the first time Ribéry’s tackle got him in trouble…

On the pitch, Bayern’s new top dog Arjen Robben continued his blistering form to score in his 4th consecutive Champions League game (a run that includes spectacular winners against Fiorentina and Manchester United). Clearly relishing his increased responsibility, the Dutchman fired in a shot from 30 yards that beat Hugo Lloris via the head of Thomas Müller. The young forward wisely opted not to claim the goal, lest he upset his influential teammate. It turned out to be a wise move, as Robben’s volatility was on display again after he was taken off by manager Louis van Gaal. Things could have been worse for Lyon but Bayern missed a number of good chances, the best falling to Ivica Olić and Bastian Schweinsteiger. However, they lost makeshift centre-back Jérémy Toulalan to another red card, giving them real problems in defence for the second leg.

So both home teams ended up winning and the ties are both fascinatingly poised going into next week. Is it just a coincidence that the away teams lost after mammoth coach journeys? The managers refuse to admit this publicly but it could have been a factor. We will have to wait another few days to see who will make it to the final at the Santiago Bernabéu. Whether they arrive by coach or plane is another matter entirely…