Barçelona v Inter: With Happiness and Serenity
By: Johonna | November 24th, 2009
Off we go to sunny Spain (or Catalonia for you separatists) to take on the very best club in the world on their home ground. It is all a bit daunting. Barcelona have some injuries/illness problems, but are for sure the clear favorites in this match-up. Besides the fact that practically their whole team has been shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or, this game is a must-win for them to make it out of the group stages. That means our boys in black and blue will be up against most of the very best players in Europe who will be highly motivated to win at all costs. Yikes. This game will either be epic or a totally beat-down. Either way, I am glad that I am not emotionally invested in the Champions League. If I were I am sure I would be chewing my nails by now.
What: Barcelona v Internazionale, Champions League Group F Matchday 5
Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia (otherwise known as the belly of the beast!)
When: Tuesday, November 24, 8:45pm local time (11:45am pacific, 2:45pm eastern)
How to Watch: Live on Fox Sports Channel (in my area that means HD!) or ppv online at UEFA’s website ($9.99). To watch on line for free, find a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).
Shamelessly cribbed from Chris over on the main board:
Just to warn you all, my work schedule is brutal this week. I dont have a whole lot of time right now so this will be a bit short. Sorry. For everything you could ever want to know about this match, be sure to check out the press packet that UEFA puts out (pdf is here). It is exhaustive.
He doesn’t look particularly broken to me.
THEM:
I am not even going to bother with much here. Ramzi has done a bang-up job over at the Barcelona board and I suggest everyone go read it.
As far as I am concerned, the only news that concerns us is who will be fit to play tomorrow. According to UEFA and Guardiola, the only player who is definitely out is Yaya Touré. That leaves five players to be evaluated before the game: Lionel Messi (groin), Gabriel Milito* (knee), Eric Abidal (left thigh, illness), Rafael Márquez (illness), and Zlatan Ibrahimović (hamstring).
*Brother to our very own Diego Milito. Small world, isn’t it?
Frankly, I think that if Messi and Ibra can walk, they will play (both trained today). Everyone wants in on this match, even if it means exacerbating an injury. I will be interested to see who will finally makes it to the pitch, though, especially given that Barca plays Real Madrid (who are one point above them in the standing) this weekend. As I said before, a part of me wants them all to play so that when we beat them (lighting candles, throwing salt, doing ritual dance) we will know we took them all on. The other half of me is thrilled at the possibility of no Ibra and/or Messi just because it may make everything just a little easier (I am not proud of this half, but what can I do – there it is).
All the interviews with players that I have read recently (Ibra, Iniesta, Maxwell) show them to be very confident and 100% convinced they will win. Given that the sun shines out of each and every one of their behinds, who am I to argue with them? I will say, though, that if Kazan can do it, so can we!
Ok, that stadium is a little intimidating after all.
US
Mourinho has brought just about everyone to Barcelona for the big game:
Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni.
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu.
Midfielders: Stankovic, Quaresma, Thiago Motta, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini.
Strikers: Eto’o, Suazo, Milito, Balotelli.
The only ones not in Spain are Davide Santon, who is still recovering from his knee surjury, and Obi, who is likewise still injured. If you recall, Arna was not on the Champions League list (although he could be added if we make it out of groups).
See, Wesely is training with the squad – that’s a good sign, right?
At the time Mourinho had his press conference, there was still some doubt over Sneijder’s fitness. It looks like he trained with the squad, though, which I will take as a good sign. Everyone else on the list is A-OK (knocking more wood and looking desperately about for some sort of offering to burn). Mourinho seemed calm and collected today at the presser, saying:
“Even if we didn’t need points, for me a Champions League game is always a Champions League game, Barça are always Barça and I’m approaching this difficult game with happiness and serenity… My preparations for the match won’t depend on the presence of Messi. Chivu will play on the right, so it’s Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Chivu, then the others… I have forgotten them. Zanetti? He’s important, he’s the history of Inter. This match will be difficult from every point of view because Barça are strong as a team and individually, because this isn’t a normal stadium – it’s a voice of one hundred thousand people who want to play and win, who put real pressure on everyone, even the referee, for whom it’s not easy to make decisions. It will be a difficult pressure, but a pressure that we have to face with decision and serenity. We spoke about it today with the players, I’m expecting the right reaction from them.
I faced Barcelona six times with Chelsea and now I’m here with Inter. It’s a pleasure to play in such a tough game. I enjoy tough games more than easy ones when you win by four or five goals. All my players want to play in this game – it’s a game that appeals to everyone. I don’t know if we will play to win or to draw: there are risks with both and we will see how the match develops. The world of football hopes Barcelona will get through, but Barcelona are aware of the difficulty of the match – they know Inter are a major rival. If Rubin win then Barcelona will be in trouble, but they’re not scared and neither are we. I think we have grown as a team [since Matchday 1] but the only thing we want to know is whether Sneijder will be fit to play or not.”
For all you line-up junkies, now we at least know the back line (not much of a surprise). Unfortunately both Chivu and Maicon are a booking away from a suspension. If both get carded, we are in real and desperate trouble against Kazan. But lets not worry about that now.
Despite what he said about serenity, Mourinho was worried (or curious) enough to engage in a little voyeurism of his own against Barcelona. Apparently he hung out, unseen, on the steps of Camp Nou and watched Pep’s training session. Hey! We need every little ounce of help we can get! This is Barca-freakin-lona we are talking about, after all.
Even so, I am also expecting the right reaction from the squad. Everyone seems up for it and we must shake off this European funk once and for all. I can see how it happens, though. I, too, sometimes still think of our little team as the perennial also-ran from the wrong side of Milan. Maybe we respect our opponents too much – maybe the squad should indulge in some of that over-confident winning certainty that teams like Barca, Chelsea, and ManU seem to exude. I mean, if the only reality that exists is victory, how can you lose?
Everyone think the happiest most supportive winningest thoughts you can.
FORZA INTER
Let us all take comfort in Javier Zanetti’s massive thighs:
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Category: Champions League, Davide Santon, Diego Milito, Jose Mourinho, Match Preview, Samuel Etoo, Thiago Motta, Walter Samuel, Wesley Sneijder
Tags: Champions League, Davide Santon, Diego Milito, Jose Mourinho, Match Preview, Samuel Etoo, Thiago Motta, Walter Samuel, Wesley SneijderSubscribe
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And I just realized that my post was the size of a novel. My apologies…
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BTW Jo:
It’s Barcelona not Barçelona…
When shortening it then it is Barça =)
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Vinod wrote:
Maicon has always been a liability at the back, and a good team like Barcelona made it clear exactly how. Against half-assed Serie A opposition, Maicon can afford to spend all his time attacking and not worry about defence, but today, we clearly saw what a pathetic man-marker he is, and what a woeful sense of defensive position he has.
As i said some time ago… we need to place Maicon as Right Midfielder as he plays for Brazil National team, and Zanetti as right defender…
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i think the main reason for you failing is that your pushing,shoving and fouling tactics that mourinwhore teaches you don’t work in Europe.that is why a guy like Motta is a disgrace to football
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Canada -
well call me a mother, Quaresma actually played well, if only he had played the full 90, damn it, eto’o and milito were useless, eto’o was the most useless as he brainfarted practically every single touch he made on the ball, stankovic is useless when it comes to offensive ball distribution as I think mad/jo/vinod said ealier. Zanetti is old so I cant blame him, motta was probably the worst in our midfield though as he gave up the first goal very similarly to how vieira gave up the first goal against manchester united last year off of a corner (yet again ARGGH!!!). The second goal was simply a demonstration of how barcelona were outclassing us, did I mention that cambiasso was useless? He managed to recover the ball, that wasnt the problem, the problem was that when he recovered the ball he immediately gave it back to another barca player, maicon was useless against abidal (I mean abidal, really????). I know there is a difference between us and barca in terms of technical quality but that didnt really seem to affect us when we played against them in milan, in fact we hardly brainfarted that match at all, the truth is we hadnt been playing tremendously well in the league as we had gone up against half assed opponents like roma, bologna, livorno, dynamo kiev. Our last good match came against Palermo, see the thing is in the league you dont have to play really well to win if you’re going up against half assed teams and we saw that against bologna and livorno, and we didnt even have to try that hard against roma to get an equalizer. We tried like HELL against Dinamo and that was evident as we created a hell of a lot of chances but where we lacked effort was in converting those chances as we could have honestly won that game by 3,4,5 goals instead of 2. If you watched the match against barca at the san siro then you will know that our passing was much and ball distribution was much, much more accurate and we at least didnt give up the ball and actually completed around the same number of passes as barca. That asshole carlo garganese is at it again saying that we cannot win the champions league if we play like this, I would beg to differ, it was simply an awkward time for us as we had played a number of matches that were easy in the league, and when we had played them the first time we were on cloud nine after playing the most beautiful football (even more beautiful than barcelona’s style) Id seen us play in more than a decade. That put us in a good state of mind before the first match, hell if the team had had more time to gel I am confident that we would have done better, we actually wanted to go out and play the match unlike today, I think playing all those easy teams may have gotten us into a bit of a sluggish slump and given us a false sense of security, especially after the dynamo match, yes it was an amazing night and yes thats an example of what this team can do if we put our minds to something but what it did was make us think that we were playing against a team like dynamo and not barcelona. As stupid as this may sound I think we overestimated our situation and underestimated barcelona’s, we thought they were the underdogs when it should have been the other way around, do you think rubin kazan would have won that match if they went into it thinking they were the favorites? We underestimated them just like we underestimated rubin kazan and dynamo kiev. And THAT is ultimately the problem, we did it against man united in the first leg, we did all through last year’s group stage (except in the panathinaikos in greece) and we did it against liverpool in the first leg two years ago. When we underestimate teams we pay the price, think about it, we underestimated atalanta completely and then lost to them 3-1, under mancio we underestimated rubentus (the one team that you I love to underestimate) and then lost to them 1-2 at home, we underestimated samp this year and then lost to them, we underestimated chievo last year and we lost drew with them and we made the mistake of underestimating palermo this year after we were winning 4-0, etc. This team has a very big mental problem that has only become more evident to me over the years, if you go in thinking you’re the favorites and that you’re opponents are just going to be easy to beat then you are in for a harsh reality. That is the problem with this team and someone needs to forward this to the team’s psychiatrist so that they can tell mourinho this.
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@ Abaddon: As i said some time ago… we need to place Maicon as Right Midfielder as he plays for Brazil National team, and Zanetti as right defender…
This is what I was saying at the start of the year, Maicon is an attacking player, he is clueless at the back. Zanetti would be much smarter and more reliable.
Lucio and Samuel, are not as good as we thought, correct…but also while they are physical, they are lack speed to recover in plays. I suggested some time ago Cordoba plays alongside Lucio or Samuel, there would be more balance.
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It crossed my mind that, perhaps, Lucio, Samuel & Chivu would have been effective against Ibra and Messi and hence controlled Barca’s attacking power had they played. But against Barca’s shuffled deck of cards, our boys were left clueless. They looked like they wee in awe of Barca on the pitch especially in the middle. I don’t claim to be a tactical expert – totally far from it – so pls share your thoughts.
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Singapore -
@@ The Troll
I have sometimes thought the same of our guys, too. I’ve often noticed that they slack off whenever they’re ahead in a game – champions don’t operate this way. I get the distinct feeling our guys just don’t have the killer instinct, that hunger – what do you call that? Eye Of The Tiger. Perhaps they have been too comfortable in the Italian league, perhaps they may even be subconsciously unwilling to take on tougher challenges in the ECL. “Collect the big fat pay packet and we’ll be fine just winning the Scudetto; CL glory is too much hassle, why work harder than we have to?” It’s probably not everyone on the team, but I think this subconsious lack of desire or aversion to tougher challenges outside Italy for whatever reason may be affecting a number of our players.Looking at Mourinho on the sideline I was thinking that, perhaps, he already knew how we would perform and half-expected the outcome. Sometimes, it may be necessary to throw the team into the deep end of the pool as part of the training regime, something you cannot do on the training field. Baptism by fire is extremely risky but Mou is probably one who will hand out such a treatment. No one can overcome fear unless he confronts it. Being defeated may just be what our team need as an antidote to the fear and awe of Barca and other champions teams in Europe, and as a gauge to where we truly stand in the scheme of things. Afterall there’s still the Kazan match….
I think our guys will trash Fiorentina this weekend.
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Singapore -
just a few thots from an amicus curiae
1. d bad thing abt yesterday’s game was not the
result,it was the performance.inter were way to
tepid.barca thrive on possesion n i woulda thot the
midfield grinta of cambiasso, motta,zanetti and
stankovic woulda been enuf 2 stiffle them. they
did’nt even come close.i’m still in shock
2. maicon might not be the best defender in the world,
but neither is dani alves. their respective strengths
are in their overlapping ability.while alves had a
field day yesternyt, maicon was mostly
anonymous.alves had maicon on the cosh all nite,while
maicon hardly ventures forward.swapping roles with
zanetti might not be a bad idea,but i think maicon
did not come 2 d field with his A-game yesterday.
3. the mystery of inter in the champions league is
beginning to worry me. i used 2 laff it off as some
kind of voodoo like u saw in the movie ‘thinner’, but
i think it’s a serious affair.y r inter unable 2
perform in europe despite having very decent squads
over the years?Posted from
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our back line seems not fast enough to sustain barca attack. yes we cannot expect tht both lucio and samuel will 100% perfect/rock solid at the back all the time. unless they both facing ibra, they can use their physical appearance to contain those attack.with small figure attacker except for henry, for sure both lucio-samuel have problem. i wonder why mou not using cordoba. as for our wing back, chivu was the most vulnerable side compared to maicon.frm the game we can see how alves take advantage on tht area. he bombard that area while henry make chivu stick to his side. maicon only dealing with pedro and most of the time he been covered by zanetti.
it a bot confusing to analyze how our midfield act to contain barca attack. they let those barca attacker in and put a lot of pressure to our defence. i believe motta should be red carded for number of fouls he contribute. and for the 1st goal we conceded, damn i’m very mad. set pieces with that kind of man marking is useless. at least u need to see where’s the ball come in.cuchu seems lost and i can say tht not the usual way cuchu play. he should keep the ball more and distribute it to our forward not to those barca player.for our captain, we need to admit that he try to give his all but with his age, it seems a bit impossible to cope with the fast play that barca approach. as for deki, i don’t see much from him.
our striker was isolated at the front.we missing sneijder a lot for this. to link up between striker at the midfield i don’t think deki is suitable enough.i wonder why mou not using balo or even ricky for tht position, at least they cn hold the ball much longerPosted from
Malaysia -
do you read this if yes
YOUR PROBLEM IS YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH ITALIANS IN YOUR TEAM
likeit or not this is your problem
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and other thing you lack a leadership dynamic one that is. yes Zenneti is there for the past 15 years but he is not like Gutosso, Totti, Buffon or Del piero.Zenneti is quit guy that is why marradona did not give him the captaincy . Your problem is mentally not physically or tacticaly, and that is way you need Italians in your team
i am juve fan but Italian and Seria A supporter first
getting humilated like that was not good to watch
Posted from
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and other thing you lack a leadership dynamic one that is. yes Zenneti is there for the past 15 years but he is not like Gutosso, Totti, Buffon or Del piero.Zenneti is quit guy that is why marradona did not give him the captaincy
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-And we all know Maradona knows what he’s doing because he’s the best coach the Argentine National team has had ever!!!
lol
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we are still champions of Italy
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Inter lacked tenacity in midfield. How can you score if you dont have the ball? Im glad Motta has been shown for what he is on the first goal, nothing but a thug, and an unsuccessful one at that.
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@ xczcxczczxczxcx
Just being Italy champions is no consolation. Champions should reach at least the semi-finals of the CL, if not beyond that. If we fail, we have no pride in our achievements, we get no respect from others, we’re constantly derided by Italians, and our business side will suffer ($$$ invested vs returns). Just think how Moratti & family will feel – the amount of money they have put in, and the results they get? If we can’t get through this round, that means there are at least 16 other clubs better than us. Italian champions? I don’t know about how others feel, but it’s a hollow title to me. Very hollow and very embarrassing, that’s how I’d feel. I’m sure Moratti feels the same.
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Singapore -
well even man utd play badly against barca. it juz an off day for our inter thou
can any1 list which team tht currently in cl tht playing better than them? so b positive. we as a fan have the right to analyze a game but it’s not we who run on the field for Inter. yup we support, we chant, we get mad but we are the supporter. i admit that even u r a serie c team when facing serie a team, u want ur team to win. so behave my fren chillPosted from
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Wow…like I said b4 how can the best team in Italy when playing Serie A matches, be so inept at playing European competition.
Inter plays with no heart in CL matches.
Posted from
Canada -
Still can’t quite grasp the ineptitude of Inter yesterday–though I have to admit I didn’t have the stomach to watch the 2nd half (perhaps Inter improved? Perhaps Barça let off the gas?) I know Senijder was out, but Barça without Messi & Ibra still rolled… (But, wait, some Inter supporters claim that the ABSENCE of the 2 stars are what threw off their team. Weird claim, not least of all because it was not a total surprise that they were out.) Of course, Barça still had Iniesta & Xavi and does Inter even at its healthiest have anyone with their fortitude?
I’d say Inter make all of calcio look bad except that Fiorentina, for example, without the star power and crippled with injuries, still win in CL. So, ultimately, Inter’s flopping in CL just makes Inter look like crap on the big stage–again & again & again. And I fear that the forthcoming game against Rubin Kazan (think I lived next door to that guy once) won’t change that.
Posted from
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Sneijder plays, we don;t lose. That’s what EVERY match we’ve played this season shows. Wehn he starts, we have only won or drawn. This shows two things:
1. Sneijder needs to start
2. We need another attacking midfielder (NOT STANKOVIC) who can play in his stead when he is injured.Posted from
United States -
@ Inter Inter
If winning the league is hollow and embarrassing to you, just because were not particularly good in Europe, then I feel sorry for you. Do you remember when we were the third best team in Italy? Well, now we are the best team in Italy, thats what winning the league means. Fans these days are just too spoilt. OK, we might not be the best team in Europe, but that shouldnt have come as a surprise. Saying the scudetto is meaningless unless we achieve something in Europe is idiotic.
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Also Johan cruyff is a cnut.
Posted from
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We will improve in the CL. Let’s not forget how horrible we were in Italy in the late 90s and early years of this decade. We just need a break, some piece of luck or magic. After Calciopoli, even though our players certainly improved, we also seemed to wake up and realize how good we can be. We started beating small teams that we used to consistently tie with. I really hope we can make it past Rubin Kazan and then into the quarter finals…I think mentally that will help a lot.
Yesterday we learned that while in Serie A it doesn’t matter too much if we lose the ball (we can always win it back), playing against Barca we just need to be a lot tighter at passing. It also seemed that, like at Old Trafford and Anfield, we were really intimidated the first 30 minutes or so. Barca took advantage.
Posted from
United States -
@xczcxczczxczxcx
You’re totally missing the whole point of this game. Do you remember 2 seasons ago, former Inter coach Mancini was fired because the team was knocked out of the UCL? That was despite the fact that Mancini led them to win back to back Scudetti in Italy. Would you call Moratti’s decision “idiotic”? Every week, some club – Roma, Palermo, Genoa, Sampdoria, et al – would declare with each match they win that they are gunning to finish top 4 in the Serie A so that they can qualify for UCL. Coaches are being fired and players are being sold and bought for tens of millions just for European glory, and you say some fans are “spoilt”? Why all this big hoohaa if the title is not the most desired, the most sought-after and the most meaningful trophy in Europe? Good for you if you’re easily contented, let the idiotic ones pass you by as they scramble for the top. Like many other Inter fans, I’m not sorry to honestly say we totally sucked at Camp Nou; we sucked because we didn’t even put up a fight, not that we went down fighting.Posted from
Singapore -
Some people are saying Mou made the mistake of thinking that Inter were on a par with Barça so he didn’t bother to come up with innovative tactics. If that were the case, though, why would Mou be so impassive on the side? Wouldn’t he be angry that he’d made such a miscalculation? Wouldn’t he be frantic to do something before the game got out of hand (which it pretty quickly did)? Is it possible, instead, that Mou believed Inter had no chance at all in Camp Nou & decided to lay it all on the last game against Rubin Kazan?
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