with fc bayern münchen due to visit on wednesday, fc internazionale milano striker diego milito maintained that the holders "finally feel strong again" under new coach leonardo.
after winning the treble under josé mourinho last term, high-flying fc internazionale milano went into the 2010/11 campaign believing the sky was the limit. nothing, they felt, was beyond them, but no sooner had the new season begun than form dipped and the nerazzurri abruptly fell to earth.
chastened by their autumn slump, the club have nonetheless benefited from growing confidence since the appointment of leonardo as coach in december. for striker diego milito, that upturn in fortunes could prove vital when they host fc bayern münchen in their uefa champions league round of 16 opener on wednesday. "we had a strange start to the season with a lot of injuries, but now things are getting better," the 31-year-old told uefa.com.
unfortunately for the three-time european champions, milito – who scored both goals in the 2-0 defeat of bayern in last season's final – is set to miss the visit of louis van gaal's side after suffering a thigh strain earlier this month. the argentinian international will not be the only missing link with the 2010 showpiece either, mourinho having been succeeded by rafael benítez – and now leonardo – after leaving for real madrid cf.
"in his two years with us, mourinho offered much to this team," explained long-serving captain javier zanetti. "the mentality he gave the players, his idea of football; the team followed him and that's why we won so much. now leonardo is with us. he's a different coach but, like mourinho, he's very smart and he knows football." milito echoed that analysis: "when leonardo arrived here, he gave us confidence and i think that's crucial."
the return of key players that were injured earlier in the campaign has also been important, and there is a feeling that the bayern tie has come at a good time. "now that the coach has a lot of players at his disposal and the team is solid, we finally feel strong again," said milito. "this is one of the things that has changed in the last few months. winning the fifa club world cup also gave us belief."
"bayern are the team we played in the final last season and i think that says it all," added zanetti. "it's the round of 16 now, but these are still two massive games for both clubs because we want to stay in the competition. even if it's not a final, we have to be 100% focused.
"we're trying to win every competition. we still have a chance in the league, we are through to the coppa italia semi-finals and, in the champions league, it's all down to us," he continued. "it's important to win the first leg but, above all, we don't want to concede any goals. it will be tough because bayern are a great team."
mario gomez's 90th-minute strike loosened the holders' grip on the trophy after a fine performance from visiting goalkeeper thomas kraft.
fc bayern münchen take a 1-0 lead back to the fußball arena münchen after mario gomez stunned uefa champions league holders fc internazionale milano with an 90th-minute winner.
after a multitude of chances at both ends, a breathless match seemed destined to end goalless when júlio césar spilled arjen robben's shot into the path of gomez, who tucked in his seventh goal of the competition. they may not have revenge in mind following last season's showpiece defeat, but the german side can start dreaming of a quarter-final place at the italian titleholders' expense this time around. first, though, is the second leg on 15 march.
it is no foregone conclusion as this result was hard on the hosts, repeatedly denied by the excellent thomas kraft. they could have taken the lead inside two minutes when andrea ranocchia spurned the chance to mark his uefa champions league debut after ghosting in at the far post. the italy defender was soon in more familiar territory, arresting the danger at the other end.
if his crunching tackles on franck ribéry and gomez set the tone for a hard-fought contest, luiz gustavo's two long-range strikes in as many minutes, which both flew just wide, marked an open one. inter retaliated with a counterattack of their own, as samuel eto'o cut the ball back for esteban cambiasso to force a fine save out of kraft from close range.
bayern came forward again, the vaunted robben-ribéry partnership combining for the latter to head the former's inviting cross flush against the crossbar on 23 minutes. the game was end to end, with bayern's swashbuckling approach offering inter the chance to counterattack. no sooner had gomez skied philipp lahm's low centre over than the visitors had kraft to thank for a reflex save to keep out eto'o's wonderful left-footed shot.
inter might have been ahead on the stroke of half-time after maicon raced on to dejan stanković's through ball, but the right-back blazed wide rather than seek out the supporting runners. in the first move of the second period thomas müller weakly glanced another cross from the irrepressible robben wide of the far post.
the dutchman's pace and skill was causing inter no end of problems and he showcased both on 53 minutes, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake before striking júlio césar's near post. true to form, the nerazzurri responded in kind, kraft again denying eto'o only for cambiasso to find the curva sud when it seemed easier to score. supporters, let alone the players, were struggling to draw breath.
kraft was soon called into action again, repelling an angled drive from substitute houssine kharja and in the latter stages inter desperately sought the goal that eluded them. sneijder's free-kick narrowly missed, thiago motta's powerful header was clutched by kraft and eto'o's shot through a crowd deflected wide. then, after robben tried his luck from range, gomez supplied the sucker punch.
genel olarak bayern münihin daha ağır bastığı bir maç oldu. ilk yarıda ribery ve ikinci yardıda robben'in direkte patlayan şutlarına karşılık inter'in 3 süper vuruşunu bayern kalecisi thomas kraft nefis şekillerde kurtardı.
arjen robben, sanırım şu anda messi ile birlikte ayağına en çok top yakışan futbolcu. yani bir insan topu sürerken hem bir yandan deli gibi koşup hem de bir yandan topu neredeyse ayağına iple bağlıymış gibi her dokunuşunda sadece belirli oranda açarak ilerleyebilir diye düşünüyor insan...
birçok pozisyonda kişisel davrandı robben ama genelde son vuruşlar ya az farkla dışarı gitti, ya kaleciden döndü (ki o da gol oldu) ya da direkte patladı, o yüzden kimse birşey diyemedi...
robbenin ilk yarıda kırmızı tribünün (kameranın bulunduğu bölüm) önünde karşısına 2 inter defans oyuncusunu alıp top sürüşü ve 0'a yakın bir yerde ikisini arasından topu atıp geçmeye çalışması gerçekten güzel bir andı. topu attıktan sonra birazda rakiplerin şarzları ile yalpaladı ama hakem devam dedi ki doğru karardı...
