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:

Those two weeks were long. So long, in fact, that I have completely forgot what we were doing before it started. Something about points and kicking ass (or not, as the case may be)… It will come back to me, I’m sure. Anyway, here we are back to the championship, off to Bologna in an attempt to retain our meager lead while simultaneously avoiding the trap a lower half team before a big game poses. So far, all the press this week has been about the Champions League game next week and poor Bologna has sort of gotten lost in the shuffle. I only hope the boys aren’t similarly distracted. Bologna certainly wont be.

What: Bologna v Internazionale
Where: Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna
When: Saturday, November 21, 6pm (local time; 9am pacific, noon eastern).
How to Watch: FSC is showing this delayed at 2pm pacific, 5pm eastern. If you want to watch it live, catch a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

Strangely, last year we also played Bologna away the weekend before an important mid-week CL game (the first ManU tie). We managed to pull out the win, despite a whoopsie from Cuchu, thanks in LARGE part to the heroics of Julio Cesar. Here are the highlights (note the gleam off Cambiasso’s newly shaven head and the unbelievably adorable way JC says “big match” in the post game interview):

THEM

I really hope Ben posts something for this game. I thoroughly enjoy his Surrealist forays into calcio. Just in case he doesn’t, I will try to whip up a little something (it wont be as interesting as Ben’s though, I’m sure).

Wow. That sure is a whole lot of bald Bolognese ‘ballers!

With 11 points, Bologna are hovering just above the relegation zone. They had a not-so-nice start to the season and did not win their first game until day six. After a change of coaches (out with Papadopulo, in with Colomba), things have been looking up. It is true, they have still struggled a bit (especial against teams from Liguria), but have also managed to pull of some impressive results, including holding Juve to a 1-all draw and, most recently, beating Palermo (3-1).

Inter and Bologna share a long a storied past and back in the day, mighty Bologna used to pretty regularly thrash Ambrosiana and Internazionale at the Stadio Dall’Ara. It was only in the last couple years before they were most recently relegated (Bologna has tasted the depths on more than one occation) that Inter beat them with any regularity. Bologna has excelent record against us – especially when playing at home: out of 71 games, Bologna has won 34 and drawn 12. That’s right, Inter have only won this tie 25 times. Not so great.

Colomba has likened Inter to a tank, but pointed out that: “I have often lost to the Nerazzurri, as is normal for a Coach of provincial clubs, but don’t forget my Reggina beat them and cost Marcello Lippi his job.”

One of the goalscorers for that Reggina game was Marazzina, now reunited with his old coach at Bologna. Spooky, isn’t it?

Colomba has called up 22 players:
Portieri: Colombo, Spitoni, Viviano
Difensori: Britos, Lanna, Portanova, Raggi, Santos, Zenoni
Centrocampisti: Bombardini, Guana, Lavecchia, Mingazzini, Mudingayi, Valiani, Vigiani
Attaccanti: Adailton, Di Vaio, Gimenez, Marazzina, Osvaldo, Zalayeta

You may recognize a couple names in that list. Viviano is an Inter youth product (and is still half owned by us), while Zalayeta (recently of Napoli) has a nasty habit of scoring game-winning goals against us. Di Vaio has found himself at Bologna, and last year was in hot competition for the capocannoniere title. As for the rest… well… I have always liked to say “Bombardini” out loud. Try it, it’s fun. Bombardini. And I am pretty sure Guana is bird poop – isn’t it?

Our very own Carro Armato P 40

US

Mourinho (the world’s best Portugese coach) has given us a bit of a surprise with his call up list:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu;
Centrocampisti: Zanetti, Stankovic, Quaresma (!), Thiago Motta, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli, Arnautovic (!!).

Wow, there most certainly are some interesting names up there. Well, first, Suazo isn’t back from international duty so it only makes sense that Arna is on the list (Mou likes to come prepared). Quaresma and Mancini must be part of that turnover he spoke about in his presser today. It wont be as much as in the Livorno game, but there will be a bit of a rotation. What does that mean for our line-up tomorrow? Well, La Gazzetta thinks the only big change will be Cordoba in place of Lucio and Stankovic back to his less-than-fabulous role of play maker. Really, not so much of a turnover. We will see, though, La Gazzetta has been wrong before.

As for the rest, Santon has had his surgery and, while everything went well, he will be out of commission until next year. Sneijder is still injured, although seems to be on track for Barcelona. Aside from those two, Mou has a full squad at his disposal. Hooray.

Muntari is in a bit of hot water with his National team. Apparently Essian, Asamoah Gyan, and Muntari were meant to go last week with the Ghanan National team to Angola to play a friendly against the Palancas Negras. Instead, they left to return to their respective clubs without the permission of the Black Star’s coach. The Ghanan Football Association has launched an investigation into the matter and is looking into whether or not any punishment will be handed out. Yikes. Muntari has not said anything about it. I wonder if this means he will be going to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mario Balotelli has put himself back into the spotlight again. He went to visit with some handicapped children and, when one of them asked which team he was a fan of, Balotelli said “Milan, of course!” Needless to say, this caused all sorts of ruckus with the children and with the press. His sister later said that it was all a joke, and besides, Mario had liked Milan when he was a child. Mourinho’s take was that it didn’t really matter which team Mario liked as a child, we should be much more concerned about the reports that Balotelli likes to drive his car 240 km per hour (that’s about 149 miles per hour for us non-European types).

On the transfer front, besides Galloppa and Ranocchia, Inter are also supposedly looking at Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan. Super double plus wonderful, we may get him in partial exchange for Vieira. Sold!

Ok. So lets focus and keep our heads, and most importantly, lets keep on track and take home the three points.

FORZA INTER

Wow! Take a look at those knee muscles! Yowza

What: Inter v Roma, Matchday 12
Where: San Siro, Milan
When: Sunday, November 8th, 8:45 local time (11:45 pacific, 2:45 eastern)
How to Watch: Live on FSC (hooray) or find a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

For the last couple of years, this tie has ended in draws. Last year’s 3-all was epic. Twice, Inter went down 2 goals, and, in the end, we managed to claw our way back. I tell you, a draw never felt so much like a win. Well, that is except the for the same tie two years ago. That game saw our fearless captain snatch a point with a rare but wonderful goal that helped seal our scudetto.

Last year’s game:

And the year before:

As you can see, it is always a heart-stopping nail-biter. In fact, we haven’t really put one over on Roma at the San Siro in the Serie A since a 2-0 win in 2005 (both goals were from Mihajlovic). Overall, though, Inter have a pretty decent home record against Roma: of the 78 Serie A games, Inter have won 42, drawn 24, and only lost 12. Not bad.

Another bit of interest is all the business the two clubs have done over the years. Moratti and Sensi were friends, and players have moved between Inter and Roma without much fuss. Right now, our good friend Nico Burdisso is on loan to the Giallorossi (and they seem to like him just fine), while Pizarro also was a Nerrazzuri not all that long ago. Andreolli is an Inter youth product, and until last year, was co-owned by the clubs*. In our ranks, Chivu and Mancini came directly from i Lupi, while Samuel took a brief detour to Real Madrid before finding his way from Rome to Milan. In other words, we are almost family. Almost.

*Rumor is that Andreolli will come back to Inter this winter in exchange for Burdisso. Go figure.

THEM

Our four-legged friends have not gotten off to the best of starts this season – between money woes and the never ending injuries, they haven’t had a whole lot to work with. Still, they have won their last two games and may just be starting to figure out what Ranieri wants from them. Unfortunately, they have dug themselves into a bit of a hole and have a lot of work to do if they want to see the sun again.

Roma sit at 14 points (exactly half Inter’s points), and have lost more games than they have won. They dont seem to have any trouble scoring goals – Roma’s 18 goals puts them in the top four offensively – but have real difficulty stopping the other team from scoring. With 19 goals conceded, they have the second worst defensive record in the league (Genoa is the worst with 20). Clearly, they have strengths to respect and weaknesses to exploit.

Right now, probably their greatest weakness is their medical staff. For some reason, Roma always seem to have half their starters out with some injury of another. Today is no different: Totti, Doni, Juan, and Burdisso are all out. Taddei will also be sitting one this out due to suspension. It could be (and has been) worse, though. At least today when I look at their projected line-up I know who everyone is. They have not had to dip into their youth team for this match.

Happy is good, focused is better.

US

We are finally starting to clear out our injury ward – and none too soon, either. Everyone is fit (although Eto’o is not quite 100%) and we have no suspensions. There has been some talk of a bit of a rotation squad, and for the first time in a couple years that doesn’t immediately make my stomach start to churn. It sure is nice to have options! Cambiasso may start from the bench as he is still nursing his knee. He has finally won his first call-up to the Argentine National team and everyone wants him to do well and earn a returning role. Every player worth his boots is dreaming of the World Cup – I am sure Cuchu is no different.

Mourinho has called-up 19 players:
Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Thiago Motta, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli.

Mourinho was all humble and wary during his press conference today. He didn’t drop any hints about line-ups or formations or anything.

I repeat what I said before the last two games: if I have no idea how to play my opponent, it doesn’t make life easy. It is not easy to prepare a game where no one knows how to play the adversary: Claudio Ranieri is a coach who usually uses a 4-4-2, but in these days has spoken of the possibility to deploy the diamond in midfield and I also thought that he uses the 4-4-1-1. I’m thinking and working hard in this sense, then I will not say which team I will play with now. There are no injured players at this time, I believe that it is not news to those who are part of our environment, Rui Faria is a phenomenon, however, we are all working well to build the best team possible to meet Roma, a team that right now does not find the justice of its quality in its current position in the standings.

The 14-point difference between Inter and Roma are not a true testament of the situation of these two teams: we have done very well since the beginning of the season, they have had some problems and lost some points unnecessarily, but what counts in a team is the quality and level of quality, I always said that I like Roma and there are some Roma players I like very much. For these reasons, I see the game tomorrow night as a big game, a game between two teams fighting for the Scudetto. They are quite far behind, it’s true, but the reality of the situation is that they too are a team that can fight for the Scudetto.

Mourinho is also worried about the team’s mentality after the euphoria of the win in Kiev.

Character is very important and this team has already shown theirs many times, but it is also character to win and stay calm after an important win. History is full of bad games after a great battle and that of Inter against Dynamo was truly a great match on every level: psychologically, physically, tactically and the level of risk. … Right now, for for me it is … important that players understand that we have not done anything, or at least, that we have done something that has an ephemeral significance. We need to stay calm, the race tomorrow will be served to the team who understands that there is a need to begin every future match with the same mentality and the same concentration. This is the mentality of the big teams, teams that never tire of doing good to win, who do not need to recover psychologically and physically after a great game. A great team is always prepared to play a great match after great match, this is the mentality that I want.

Tomorrow I dont want to have a disappointment and a team that takes the field playing with the victory of Kiev in its pocket. I do not want to have in our pocket the victory won in the Champions League, that is the past. The only difference is that we are in a better position and, now, instead of the press writing that Inter has not won in 7 games they will write that inter has not lost in 4, but there is nothing more.

Then, when asked if Mourinho was confident of winning tomorrow, he said no and that “it depends on us.”

And really, what more can be said? More than anything, tomorrow “Dipende da noi“.

We have a great squad who are determined and used to playing under this sort of pressure. We have the tranquility of knowing that no matter how terribly Juventus beats Atalanta, we will still be top of the table. Couple that with the drive for success and I think we have a pretty good shot of coming out of this with three points. That is, if we can concentrate on the task at hand. In many ways, a win is far more important for Roma than it is for Inter and that is a dangerous situation. I dont think that Roma has it in them to beat us, but I think we can most certainly beat ourselves. Inter must be focused and hungry – anything less just will not do.

FORZA INTER

What: Dynamo Kiev v FC Internazionale Milano, Group F Champions League Matchday 4
Where: Valeriy Lobanovskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Wednesday, November 4, 8:45pm local time (11:45am pacific, 2:45pm eastern)
How to watch: FSC is showing the game at 10pm pacific, 1am eastern. If you want to watch it live, you can see it ppv at UEFA.com ($9.99) or try to find a stream. (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

Right. So we haven’t exactly made Europe our bitch or anything. Still, we haven’t completely embarrassed ourselves either (well, the Lucio own goal was pretty bad, but it so could have been worse – it could have been the winning goal). Still, our position is precarious and this game is very, very (very very VERY) important. Basically, if we don’t pull a win out, then bye bye CL dreams. No pressure,though.

Last time we met, we just about had them but for a slip of the head by Lucio. In the end, Inter and Kiev shared points with a 2-all draw:

Ok, confession time: I haven’t really been watching our Champions League matches.
There, I said it.
I think that the only one I watched from start to finish was the first Barcelona game. After that, I watched a bit here and there, followed the game on the UEFA live match thingy, but I have not really watched any of them. To tell the truth, I am having a hard time really finding the will to care. I mean, I would love to finally win a game (winning is always fun), but… well, the champions League just doesn’t mean anything to me. I know, all you Milan and Juve fans are saying that is because Inter hasn’t won one in recent memory – if we had, I would be pumped to win another. And I am sure that is probably the case. To me, the CL has always been like winning the lottery: it would be fantastic, but I am not holding my breath. Still, I know that other, more sports-savvy minds than mine say it is important so I will play along. That, and I wholeheartedly support my team in all of their endeavors.

So if I seem a little blasé, you all know the reason.

If this were a Mustache-off, that man would win the blue ribbon

THEM

Not all that much has changed since I wrote the preview for the home leg of this tie. I still dont know who any of these folks are (aside from Shevchenko), and their coach still has an insane amount of facial hair.

According to UEFA, Valeri Gazzaev has some players either injured or doubtful:
Out - Badr El Kaddouri (ankle), Olexandr Shovkovskiy (stomach), Pape Diakhate (knee)
Doubtful - Andriy Nesmachniy (knee)

In addition, Leandro Almeida, Gérson Magrão, and Artem Milevskiy are a caution away from suspension.

Apparently, Dynamo have not done all that well in their last two fixtures: they went down 0-2 to FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup and held 1-1 by FC Karpaty Lviv in the league. Gazzaev says all this adversity has just made them more motivated for this upcoming game. Great.

Only Marco would have a huge #23 hat.

US

Well, Mourinho brought just about everyone with him for this match, fit or no.

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni, Belec.
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu, Santon.
Midfielders: Stankovic, Quaresma, Thiago Motta, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini.
Strikers: Eto’o, Suazo, Milito, Balotelli.

Even though they went to Kiev, Thiago Motta (thigh), Sneijder (thigh), Muntari (heel), Chivu (thigh), and Balotelli (flu) are all in doubt. Mourinho said:

“I am only concentrated on Inter and today I want to see if the five players that I currently have in doubt will be able to take part in the game. I will talk to them after dinner, face to face, me, them and the doctor, because who goes on the pitch tomorrow will have to be at one hundred percent, and because it’s too important a match to have uncertainties in the hours before the match. For all of them I need replies in the last training session.”

So, we just wont know until tomorrow who will actually be available to play. T.Motta says that he “feels well” but I guess it is up to the doctors. I certainly dont want him to play before he should. The Chivu news, on the other hand, is new to me. I had no idea he was hurt. I guess now is the time for Santon to find himself. Either that, or Zanetti will play again in defense.

Both Chivu and Maicon are a booking away from missing a game. Chivu we could/can probably do without. Maicon would be a blow. Still better to lose him for Kazan over Barca, I guess. Vinod has kindly pointed out that our next CL game is actually Barcelona, so Maicon had better mind his Ps and Qs.

Vai Deki Vai Deki Vai!

For those of you who are worried about what our less that terrific start to the CL campaign might mean for tomorrow, take hear! Stankovic says:
“We will do everything to change this start to the European campaign and win tomorrow. We have worked a lot on this aspect and we know where the problem lies.”

See, problem has been identified, and you know what they say: Knowing is Half the Battle.
Scoring lots of goals is probably the other half (or, maybe scoring goals is 32.5% while keeping their goals out is the last 17.5%). Luckily, Mou has that covered as well, saying: “What do I want? I want to score a goal more than Dynamo. Nothing else.”

Lineups are a bit tricky at this stage, what with so many players on the maybe list. If anyone wants to hazard a guess, go ahead. The right one gets bragging rights for the rest of the week.

As for the stadium situation, it looks like the game will go on, as planned, with the doors open. The Mayor of Kiev had suggested that the game either be canceled or played behind closed doors, but both clubs and UEFA were none too keen on that (football stops for no man – no matter what infectious disease he may have). Basically, there have been 67 flu deaths in Ukraine this fall, which, according to the Deputy Health Minister, is not much different from previous years. Just in case, though, Dynamo (the club) has purchased 20,000 face masks to hand out to fans and the stadium staff for the game and the Mayor of Kiev is still telling people to just stay home.

It may be cold outside, but it looks like Lucio got a warm reception at the Kiev airport. The masks are a bit worrying though.

Anther issue for our boys will be the climate. According to The Weather Channel, it will be about 29°F (feels like 23°F) tonight. Nippy. At least it will be dry – no one is ready for snow.

Everyone appears prepared for the cold (love that Inter-branded puffy coat, Lucio), but I cant help but think our Brazilians will suffer. Julio Cesar is ready, saying: “I will have to cover myself very well in Kiev, I have already packed so many sweaters and protective cremes, we hope that the boys do not make me suffer in that climate too much…”

IN OTHER NEWS

Despite what Michel Platini says or thinks, F.C. Internazionale Milano is not in debt. Now, we may sometimes return a loss, but Daddy “Deep Pockets” Moratti is always there to cover the shortfalls. Inter does not owe anything to banks.

Buon Compliano, Figo.

Today was Luis Figo’s 37th Birthday. In true famous football form, he spent the day partying with half-naked models and other glitterati visiting sick children at the Institute of Neurosurgery at the Medical Science Academy and the Soleterre charity’s hospital in Kiev. Wow. I love Luis Figo. I am so glad that he is hanging around with the club.

Alrighty. To recap:
– Important game.
– Chance for redemption.
– Gotta win (but no pressure).
– Having a hard time working up the will to care – but I will. Important people say it is important so I will find the way.
– Deki is gonna solve all our problems
– FORZA INTER

What: Livorno v Inter, Matchday 11
Where: Stadio Armando Picchi, Livorno
When: Sunday, November 1, 3pm local time (6am pacific, 9am eastern)
How to Watch: Live on FSC, or on the internets (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

Last time we played them at the Armando Picchi things got a little tetchy. There were penalties all around, a red card, a goal was disallowed (Ibra was offside), and Roberto Mancini was driving me mad with his inscrutable substitutions. But what I remember most about this game was how terrible Aparecido Cesar really was (I am getting a bit worked up just thinking about it now). I can usually find some redeeming qualities about any Inter player – the fact that they play for Inter is certainly a good start – but this guy, he was just so bad. He is like that cousin that you know you are supposed to like because they are family but you just cant because he is such a hateful jerk – lets just say we never bonded. Anyway, he was bad in this game. Here are the highlights; you will notice that he does not feature:

THEM

Livorno is not doing well this season. They are third from the bottom on the table and have only scored four goals. Yep, four goals from 10 games. Not good. A couple weeks ago the club took matters in hand, though, and fired their “coach, ” Gennaro Ruotolo (remember, he is the guy without the proper credentials to actually coach in the Serie A). They hired Serse Cosmi and things have been looking up. Cosmi has a great record in helping teams achieve great things: he took over Udinese and they beat Sporting Portugal and after taking over Brescia, they beat Juve 3-1 in Serie B! Under Cosmi, Livorno has won their last two (against Atalanta and Roma), doubled their goals scored, and all without conceding themselves. As Mourinho says, Cosmi is a wizard.

Livorno may have finally found their footing in the Serie A.

Mourinho’s take on the upcoming match and Cosimi is that:

“…he has won two games after just arriving, bringing different ideas of play, building a very solid defensive team that defends with many and that arrives in the attacking zone three or four times, scores a goal, then closes even more. I was never in the stadium in Livorno, but it seems a simple field in the atmosphere, size, and the adversarial public. It will be a tough match. “

I have not been able to find a call-up list, but Cosimi dropped some hints today at his press conference:

“Usually I present the 3-5-2 against everyone even if we can employ two or one point with an added midfielder like Pulzetti, like was deployed in Rome.” He added that Danilevicius, Tavano, and Rivas will likely play, while Lucarelli will not (he is suspended). I am very interested to see if Rivas has improved with his time in Tuscany.

Given all of that, La Gazzetta has come up with:

DeLucia
Diniz Rivas Miglioncio
Raimondi Pulzetti Candreva Moro Pieri
Tavano Danilevicius

Aside from not scoring, Livorno actually have a pretty good defensive record so far. They have only conceded 10 goals (as opposed to Genoa who have 20 or Bari who have 7). It appears that they are starting to find a system that works for the team. Two 1-0 wins dont look all that convincing, but when you look at what came before, they are stupendous.

US

With an eye to the midweek game, Mourinho has mixed it up a bit with the callup list:

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni.
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel.
Midfielders: Stankovic, Quaresma, Thiago Motta, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini.
Strikers: Eto’o, Suazo,Milito, Arnautovic.

Clearly, there are a few names on the list we are not used to seeing and some notable absences. First, Santon and Balotelli have been left home. Mario is unwell with the flu and his allergic reaction so has been sent home to get better. Santon, on the other hand, is having some mental difficulties (Davide non sta attrversando un momento di tranquillità) which, according to Mou, have been exacerbated by the “lies” printed on the front page of La Gazzetta. He said that the press paid far to much attention to both Santon and Balotelli, especially given that they are just boys. And then things got really fun.

Can you explain what this lie?
“On the first page of a really important and credible newspaper it has been said that after the game against Palermo, I phoned the player to talk about what had happened on the pitch.”

It was not Mourinho who phoned the player?
“No. I talked with Santon yesterday for an hour in my office, face to face with my assistant coaches who are Italians and who have known him for many years, they were the boy’s coaches and they have the rapport of a friendship with him that has lasted for years. ”

In this possible lie, which it is in your opinion while in the opinion of us journalists, it isn’t, what is so bad?
“Are you the lying reporter?”

Yes, I am the journalist, but it has not been said that I was the liar. But what’s so serious in the news reported today?
“If I’m the liar, I can not answer”

So there you nasty journalists. Quit bugging our babies or Daddy Mou will come down on you like a ton of bricks. I just love him.

Eventually, he did get back to the game and formations. He had wonderful things to say about Materazzi:

Materazzi is an intelligent person: he is aware that he has had a fantastic career and that now his is a role of a man important in the squad and in the dressing room and for his coach and this is a player who, when he plays, he always does well. And so he did last year when he took the field, for example against Juve. This season, for example, in the game against Catania, when he was on the bench, his squad was in difficulty and the coach had need of a defensive reference in the game in front of Plasmati, he was on the pitch 10 minutes and had absolute control of the situation. He has been called up for tomorrow, he will be for Kiev as well and he knows it. He is a player that is always available and that I consider indispensable. Sometimes you think that only those who are indispensable in the field are essential, but for me, so is Marco.

I know that he is just a shadow of what he was, but he was pretty great – the shadow should at least be adequate, right? As for everyone else, Mourinho said they were largely precautionary. Livorno is far enough away that he doesn’t want to get down there only to have a player come down with the flu and no understudy available.

Raise your hands, who wants to win tomorrow?

As for the upcoming CL game with Kiev, we still dont know whether it will actually happen. The Ukrainian government says no, UEFA says yes, Mou says someone better decide right now ’cause we are supposed to leave on Monday. I think that with all the difficulties in scheduling, it will happen but the venue may be moved. We will see.

So here is where I would usually put a lineup, but looking back over my last bunch of previews, I tend to totally suck at it. Most of my lineups have been flat out wrong so I am not going to bother today. I guess we will all just have to wait and see tomorrow morning.

As I said above, this will be a test of Inter’s depth and mentality. I think Livorno will play a very defensive game and hope to score on the break. Still, they play with a 3-man defense, and looking at our record against other teams who play that formation, Inter is quite good at exploiting the gaps. If we can keep our head in the game and not on next Wednesday, we have a pretty good shot of increasing our lead. If we play like we think we are better than they are, they will show us just how wrong we are and slap us down. I will be quite upset, though, if they score on us. We have just got to do something about the goals we are hemorrhaging.

Personally, I will be snug in my bed, sound asleep at 6 am. I suspect that there will more than one of you out there who will be in an alcohol stupor (if you are not already) so will also be AWOL for the match. Just remember, dont pass out with candy in your mouth – milk duds are almost impossible to get out of your hair the next morning. Blech.

Happy Halloween
and
FORZA INTER

The results are all in, and, no matter the outcome of the game tomorrow, we will still be top of the table come Friday. Although a draw would not be a disaster at this stage of the competition, a loss would sting. Plus, I want to win this one – four points in front of Juve is far more comfortable than one. Two would be barely adequate. The problem is, Palermo want it too. A win for them would catapult them into fourth, endowing them with all the bragging rights that come with that position (KJ, I am looking at you, buddy). For the record, I hate going second. I much prefer to set the pace than try to play catch-up after the fact.

What: Inter v Palermo, Matchday 10
Where: San Siro, Milan
When: Thursday, October 28, 8:45pm local time (12:45pm pacific, 3:45pm eastern)
How to Watch: Live on FSC or catch a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

Palermo do not have a lot of happy memories of the San Siro: out of 24 total games played, Palermo have only won one and that was a Coppa Italia match way back in 1980. We have drawn an additional seven games, but mostly, Inter win this tie. Oh, and just in case there is someone who keeps track, Inter have also outscored Palermo by a factor of three (scored 57, allowed 16).

Last season was one of those draws. We had them right were we wanted them, down 2 goals, then let it all slip away in the space of something like 10 minutes. This just goes to show, Palermo is a team you can never turn your back on. Here are the highlights to jog your memories:

THEM

Hopefully Steven will put something up because I think the only Palermo game I have seen all season is their Juve demolition. Basically, I am in no position to say much of anything about the team. They have been enjoying a fine run of form and are definitely looking to collect yet another scalp.

Spiderman has brought 19 players back to his old stomping grounds:

PORTIERI: Brichetto, Sirigu.
DIFENSORI: Cassani, Goian, Kjaer, Melinte, Morganella.
CENTROCAMPISTI: Tedesco Bertolo, Blasi, Bresciano, Migliaccio, Nocerino, Pastore, Simplicio.
ATTACCANTI: Cavani, Miccoli, Succi, Hernandez.

There are a few important names not on this list, including Balzaretti, Bovo, Budan, Mchedlidze, and Rubinho. Liverani is also not on the list, but from what I remember from reading the comments on the Palermo board, that is no big loss. Carrozzieri is still sitting at home wishing he just said no.

La Gazzetta thinks Coach Z will field a 3-4-1-2 formation:

Sirigu
Gojan Kjaer Migliaccio
Bertolo Simplicio Bresciano Cassani
Pastore
Cavani Miccoli

Even with all the players left at home, Zenga still has quite a bit to work with. Cavani and Miccoli both have 3 goals apiece, while Pastore (touted as the next big Argentinian thing), has a couple of assists. Sirigu may be the second choice keeper (having only started 3 games), but he has only conceded one goal. Not bad.

Their back line is a bit depleted, at least that is how it looks to an outsider. Still, they have Danish wonderboy (and teen hearthrob) Kjaer who is doing quite well indeed. So well that there have been rumors linking him to Inter even (all quickly denied, though). All I can say is that he did a pretty good job shutting down Ibra last year (see above).

They do look quite fetching skipping down the pitch, hand in hand, in their lovely pink kits.

Everyone knows that Walter Zenga has only nerazzurri in his heart. All told, he spent 22 years with the club and he has stated more than once that his dream is to one day coach the team. He even likes Mourinho, saying:

The team coached by Mourinho has tremendous potential. I have maximum respect for the Nerazzurri but we have all the characteristics to play a great game with serenity. The most important quality of my Palermo? They have zero limits. There is no need to think about the past but only what is positive that has been built, of course I go to the San Siro to get the maximum. Those who take on Inter away often pay a steep price for the impact of the environment and playing with fear is not the way to get a result. What do I like about Mourinho? Everything, he is a coach who has won everywhere and deserves great respect.

Last year, the Curva Nord welcomed Zenga back to the San Siro with open arms, I wonder if they will be so happy to see him this time.

US

Mourinho has called up 20 players:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu, Santon;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Motta, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli.

Sneijder is still out, and is likely to be for another week at least. On the up side, Milito and Motta are back (hooray), and according to Mou, will start tomorrow. I know that Wesely has become a very important part of the squad, but he is out and we have to make the best of what we have (which is actually pretty darn spanky when you think about it).

It looks like we will go back to the 4-3-1-2 with Deki behind Eto’o and Milito. Plus, Mou said today that he would change three or four players against Livorno, so I think this week will be a pretty standard lineup. Lucio was going to rest either this game or the next, and given that he has been called up, I’m guessing that he will sit out on Sunday. Assuming I am right (and it is always better that you do), the lineup may go a little something like this:

Julio Cesar
Maicon Lucio Samuel Chivu/Santon?
Zanetti Cambiasso/Vieira? T.Motta/Muntari
Stankovic
Eto’o Milito/Balotelli

Mou continued the love-fest with Zenga today, saying that he respects Zenga for the path he has taken in his career, and that the two of them had a great friend in common, presumably Inter, which made them friends as well. But no matter how friendly the two of them are now, “during the 90 minutes, he will be our enemy.” He later joked:

“It’s a drag, I like Walter, but I like to win. Tomorrow we will see if he is a true Interista and loose for us. If he wins, it will not go well, how can he train Inter in the future is he wins tomorrow? It’s like the players that score against Inter, how can they claim to be part of this team?”

Most of the rest of the press conference was about Mou’s rotation. He thinks that the Serie A schedule should allow for three days between matches because “between 48 and 72 hours is precisely the time fundamentally necessary to psychologically and mentally recuperate after a game.” The journalists also pestered him about Real Madrid’s shock 4-0 loss.

Samu took some time off on Monday to go to Barcelona and do some charity work. What a great guy!

What can I say. We are top of the table, even with a game in hand, but there is still a long way to go. We clearly have the talent to take on all comers, but not always the will. We are struggling with injured players, but so is just about everyone else. I know that Palermo are coming for points, and that belief is powerful, but there is a fine line between confidence and over confidence. Sometimes, when teams come to win they play just a bit too forward, leaving lots of room to exploit at the back. It is true, I am a bit worried about the game – it is tough to lose Sneijder and Z has something to prove – but I am always worried before a match. That is the way it should be. No game is ever a sure three points. And even if they are a little rusty after such long layoffs, it sure is nice to have Milito and Motta back

Mou said that everyone had been training well, and that means Milito has had plenty of time to reconnect with Eto’o (even if he has been in Barcelona for charity functions). Balotelli (who does not drive a Ferrari, no matter what Tuttosport says) is finding his form and even Vieira has not been completely terrible. We are playing on home ground and I fully believe we are the better team. The question is, can we actually deliver on all that promise? I think we can and I am cautiously optimistic about tomorrow.

FORZA INTER

Oh Mario, I know you are trying to be all tough with your new friends, but you are just too damn cute! You just make me giggle.

See, Zanetti gave him a special shirt and everything.

Last year, this tie saw the return of Inter legend Walter Zenga to the San Siro. He got a warm welcome home from the fans (always nice to see), and his Catania gave us a real run for our money. This game also saw histrionics from Tedesco (and the subsequent red for Muntari), a very rare goal from Quaresma, and a phantom Balotelli goal. Highlights:

THEM

Catania do not have a very good record at the San Siro. Granted, the sample is quite small (only 14 games in all competitions), but Catania has not won a single game in Milan, and only drawn one. In fact, according to the fun facts Inter’s web page assemble before each match, Cataina have only won one match in their last 37 away games (10 draws, 27 losses). Yikes.

With three goals, Takayuki Morimoto is Catania’s top goal scorer.

Catania has made sort of a mediocre start to the season: last week’s win over Cagliari was their first of the season. They had managed to draw the previous four, though, so maybe they were just warming up.

Anyhoo, Catania’s new coach Gianluca Atzori has brought 23 players (practically the whole team) to Milan:

Portieri: Andujar, Campagnolo.
Difensori: Alvarez, Augustyn, Bellusci, Capuano, Marchese, Potenza, Silvestre, Spolli, Terlizzi.
Centrocampisti: Biagianti, Carboni, Delvecchio, Izco, Ledesma, Llama*, Moretti, Pesce, Ricchiuti.
Attaccanti: Martinez, Mascara, Morimoto, Plasmati.

*I can’t help it, every time I see his name that is all I can think of. I know, I am a huge geek.

La Gazzetta thinks Atzori will play a 4-3-2-1:

Andujar
Potenza Spolli Silvestre Capuano
Izco Carboni Delvecchio
Mascara Martinez
Morimoto

And who would I be to disagree?

Atzori says they are not afraid of Inter (they always say that), but they know it will be a tough match. There are three points up for grabs and apparently Catania want some, if not all, of them.

Our wacky outfield Brazilians. JC will be so upset he missed the portrait.

US

Mourinho has called 18 of our guys:

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni.
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Chivu, Santon.
Midfielders: Stankovic, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Mancini.
Strikers: Eto’o, Balotelli, Arnautovic

Although Mou told us that Milito and Motta (Motta especially) would be back for Catania, it seems it is not to be. The doctors say they are still unavailable and now we can add Cambiasso to the injury list as well. I am trying not to think about this too much or about what it means for the lineup tomorrow. Vieira gives me heartburn. Eto’o is still in some pain but, as Mou said, if he could handle the Kiev game, he can handle Catania. You will notice that Samuel has also not been called up. Not to worry, he is just being rested. Cordoba will play with Lucio this time, and, in turn, Lucio will be rested for either the Palermo or Livorno games. It is interesting to see Arnautovic on the bench – I doubt he will get any play time though. Quaresma is still on the outs, I bet he will finally leave this winter (and I so wanted him to be good).

Tomorrow’s match will be a bit of a milestone for both Maicon and Zanetti. If they play (and why wouldn’t they), Maicon will make his Serie A century while for Zanetti, it will be his 476th league appearance for Inter. That will put him in joint second place (along with Giacinto Facchetti) on the all-time list of Serie A appearances for Inter.

As for line-up, Mou is not quite sure what he will play. When asked if he will continue with his Christmas tree or move back to the diamond midfield, Mou said:

I would love to know how to play against Catania but I dont know, Catania will not know how I play. I dont know why I will not tell the press or even someone who would tell you, because this happens often. The team will know who will play an hour and a half before the game.

Oh Mario, why do you always make everything so hard for yourself?

So there you go, no help there. Mou even tried to muddy the waters a bit more when the journalist asked if, in light of his good performance against Genoa and the fact that he didn’t play midweek, Balotelli was a little closer to Milito and Eto’o in the hierarchy. As near as I can tell, it was a bit of a round about way of asking if will Mario play. Mou said:

Right now we dont have Milito, therefore it isn’t possible to do certain things because I dont have a choice: if I want to play with two players in attack, I line up Balotelli and Eto’o. If I want to play with three, I choose Balotelli, Eto’o, and Mancini. This this situation, Balotelli will always be on the field if we play with two or three forwards. This does not mean that he is already a phenomenon just because he played a fabulous game. Truth be told, he played a fabulous game and after performed a poor week of work.

I value a player for what he does on the field, but also for the work they do throughout the week, every minute that we are here to train. I always say what I think and what the player is worth I say, Mario has played an outstanding game in Genoa, absolutely exceptional, but this week he worked very poorly.

But apparently that doesn’t mean Mario wont play. Ever the pragmatist, when faced with the very question, Mou replied: “I have no other options, I will play the strongest.”

Not exactly a glowing recommendation. Right now, I have no idea who Mou will play. La Gazzetta thinks we are going back to the diamond with Eto’o and Balotelli, but given Samu’s foot problem, Mou may also decide to only play him for part of the game. I will say, Mourinho seems pretty fed up at having Milito and Motta still out. I am too. We really could have used them against Kiev… but we are letting that go… deep breaths… calm thoughts… moving on.

Back to Balotelli:

According to Mou, Mario’s problem is generational: kids today don’t want to work hard and wait their turn, they want everything now. He also hinted that Mario’s pushy brothers weren’t helping the matter much either as they think too much about money, saying:

“A boy of 19 or 20 years, who has balanced parents that dont think about money, who has siblings that follow his life without disturbing anyone, who has an agent who brings tranquility and proper care; a boy who has the desire o work and to drive a little care and does not think about a Ferrari or a Bentley or the cars that 30-year old players who earn 5 million a year drive, this is the exception and a miracle. … I realized that this is probably a generational problem and it is very difficult, at this time, to find a 19 or 20-year old player who already thinks like a man. It means finding the exception.”

So, there you go, those young whippersnappers are just too darn big for your britches. I am sure all the Liverpool rumors aren’t helping matters either.

As for the race ahead, Mourinho said much of what he usually does (”We will face a team of tough players, tactically strong and very well prepared“), pointing out that although they have had all week to train instead of playing midweek like we did: “…we are leaders and usually, in home games, we have a result that we like and it is with this objective that we will face this game.”

Lets hope he is right, because I really dont see Siena putting much of a dent in Juve (sorry Siena). Bologna’s new coach bounce may be enough to actually hold Samp, but I think any more than two dropped points is unlikely. If we want to hold our place at the top, we have to come out swinging tomorrow. We should be able to score – especially given that we have 10 players up on the board – but I am a little worried about our defense. I know we (along with Fiorentina) have the best defense in the league, but it still feels like we are conceding too many goals – especially at home (3 of the 5 goals we have conceded have been at home), and especially given the level of experience and talent at our disposal.

So, what do you all say, a comfortable win and a clean sheet?

FORZA INTER

and because I still shake my head in wonder every time I see it:

What: Inter v Dynamo Kiev (Group F – Matchday 3; Uefa Champions League)
When: Tuesday, October 20, 8:45pm local time (11:45am pacific; 2:45pm eastern)
Where: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro, Milan
How to Watch: Fox is showing it live (what a shock!), you can find a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net), or for $9.99 you can watch it live through UEFA (it is only $1.99 to watch it after the fact).

Bobo got the winner last time – who will it be tomorrow?

This is actually the third meeting between these two teams in Champions League. Inter met Dynamo in the group stages of the CL during the 2003/4 season. We drew the away game while a late goal from Bobo Vieri allowed us to take all three points at home. For those interested in trivia, UEFA has kindly assembled a whole list of interesting Inter v Dynamo fun facts (for instance: did you know that Dynamo’s coach Gazzaev was the coach of CSKA when Inter beat them both at home and away in the 2007/08 group stage? I didn’t!). Anyway, there are too many for me to go into here so follow the link if you are interested.

Shevchenko scored 14 times in all competitions for Milan against Inter. I hate him.

THEM

First, let me say it is really difficult to find info on the Ukrainian League. ESPN doesn’t have any coverage so I have really had to dig for what little tidbits I could find. In other words, dont expect much here.

Valeri Gazzaev has brought 19 players I have never heard of and Sheva to Milan:

Goalkeepers: Bogush, Rybka;
Defenders: Betão, Yussuf, Almeida, Khacheridi, Magrão;
Midfielders: Vukojević, Aliyev, Eremenko, Mykhalyk, Husyev, Ninković, Kravchenko, Harmash;
Forwards: Shevchenko, Milevskyy, Kravets, Yarmolenko, Zozulya;

They left two starters home with injury: goalkeeper Shovkovskiy and defender Ghioane.

FC Dynamo Kyiv are currently at the top of the Ukrainian table with 28 points after 10 games. They are unbeaten, having won all but one of their games. In fact, a quick look at the results table on their web page shows the only loss they have suffered this season in all competitions is the game they played against Barcelona. It is also the only game they failed to score in. As for goals, Dynamo have scored 28 goals and only conceded 6 (in 10 games) so they definitely know how to hit the back of the net (interestingly, the Kiev fans have predicted the game will end 1-2 in their favor).

[insert theme from Rocky here]

US

Mourinho has called up 22 players:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu, Santon;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Quaresma, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Suazo, Milito.

Saturday Mourinho said that both Milito and Motta would be unavailable for this game. Today Mou said that there is a “small chance” that Milito will be available – Motta is still a no (although he will be back for Catania). As for Eto’o, he is on the list and he trained with the team – I think he is more likely to start over Milito. Plus, there is always Suazo.

He looks ok to me.

Both Samuel and Cambiasso came off during the Genoa game as a precaution. Both are on the list (and in the training photos) which makes me super happy. Marco is also on the list, and although I highly doubt he will see the pitch, the thought of him against Sheva makes me all kinds of nostalgic for those derbies days of old. Well not the losing, but… well, I am sure you all know what I mean.

For the record, MAD has predicted we will play the same line-up as on Saturday with Eto’o playing in place of Balotelli (it is official now!). For those of you who did not see the game, that means the lineup will be:

Julio Cesar
Maicon Lucio Samuel (Cordoba) Chivu
Zanetti Cambiasso (Vieira) Muntari
Stankovic Sneijder
Eto’o (Suazo?)

Mou gave very little away at the press conference today. When asked if Inter’s approach would change at all from the last CL game, he said no: [my translation]

“I will leave things to go naturally, the victory will come. I think it will come tomorrow, if it doesn’t come tomorrow, it will come in Kiev, if it doesn’t come with Kiev, it will come in Barcelona, if not in Barcelona, it will arrive at the house of Kazan, if it still doesn’t arrive with Kazan, we will go to the Europa League and win there, if we don’t go to the Europa League, we will all come home. [smiling] But joking aside, we will go forward with ease: the team has a great mentality, they are aware that tomorrow’s game will not be decisive, but it is important to me. With peace we can do anything, anything is possible, with the understanding that in football, it takes two minutes to go from paradise to hell and from hell to heaven. Like I tell my players, don’t read the papers too much when they write negative things about Inter, similarly, I advise them not to read the papers when they describe Inter as the best team in the world.”

As for if Inter’s 0-5 thumping of Genoa will inform on the coming game, he also said no: [my translation]

“It’s the same thing I said to the players Saturday night before going out and that is that the best way to prepare for the Champions was not resting, playing at 50 percent or to leave the important players on the bench, but to exit the stadium in Genoa with joy. The joy comes when you win and play well, obviously after that race the team was very happy and confident, every player did his job very well and I think that in these hours before the game against Dynamo the team is happy and, I repeat, in my opinion the best way to prepare for an important match is to be happy.”

Still, he thinks that Inter can give Dynamo problems and vice-versa, saying: “The match tomorrow will be difficult for us but not easy for Dynamo.”

“I came on the pitch against Udinese with a strange face? That is my face.”

Muntari (strange face and all) was much more decisive saying:

“We’re in good condition. We will play a good game and we will win,” he told journalists in the pre-match press conference. It’s true that Inter have had more difficulties in Europe than in league games, but we want to win at all costs tomorrow. These are three important points for us. We have the potential to do well. We haven’t won in Europe in seven games but we will start winning from tomorrow.”

So, where does that leave us? Well, I think in a much better position that against Kazan. We have recovered Sneijder and will be playing at home (always easier). Plus, I can’t believe the Ukrainian League is that much more difficult than the Russian one, so I suspect that Dynamo is about at the same level talent-wise as Kazan. Both are at the top of their respective leagues with a bit of a cushion. I think with Sneijder and without Balotelli sending off, we could have beaten Kazan and therefore I am cautiously optimistic about tomorrow. I know we are in a bit of a crunch up front, but I swear I read somewhere that Eto’o said he is feeling much better and will be ready to play (I just can’t remember where). Of course, that could be my subconscious planting false memories to stop me from worrying, but right about now, I will take any little hint of good news and run with it.

And since it had such a great result last time: Everyone think positive thoughts.

FORZA INTER

No nekid Samu this time, but how about fun with Matrix and Deki?

On Saturday, Inter take the 1½ hour train ride (on the Intercity) from Milan to Genoa. This is no easy trip as Genoa have a long history of beating the crap out of us, especially at the Stadio Ferraris. Last year, Genoa were good, this year, they may be better. Due to our player exchange over the summer, there are players on both sides raring to show their old club just how good their new team really is. Both teams have their share of injuries but neither will let that stop them. This one is going to be scrappy.

What: Genoa v Inter, Matchday 8
Where: Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
When: Saturday, October 17, 8:45pm local time (11:45am pacific, 2:45pm eastern)
How to Watch: Fox Soccer Channel is showing this later Saturday night (8:30pm pacific, 11:30pm eastern). If you want to watch it live, it will be on ESPN360 or find a stream: MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net.

As I said, Genoa has a pretty good record against Inter at the Stadio Ferraris. In fact, Inter pretty regularly lose this tie: of the 57 games played, Inter has only won 13 and drawn 21. The quick among you have already done the math – Genoa have beaten Inter a staggering 23 times. Yep. 23. Plus, they have a history of really slaughtering Inter. I am talking like 6-0, 6-1 (twice), and a smattering of 5 and 4 goal wins. Of course, most of that was in Genoa’s glorious past, but even in the 90s they beat us 3-0. Formidable sums it up pretty nicely.

Last season, Inter managed to beat Genoa and even keep a clean sheet (thank you Zlatan and Mario).

THEM

Pat Cook has stepped up and taken over the Genoa blog. Hopefully he will do a preview because I dont really want to spend a lot of time here.

According to La Gazzetta, Mesto is disqualified while Jankovic, Juric, Kharja, Crishito, Biava, and Papastathopulos are all injured, although Juric may recover in time for the game. They sit at fifth, just three points behind Inter. They have shown they have the talent to take on the big four by soundly thrashing Roma and holding Juve to a 2-all draw. Away from home it is different story, but, as we are playing this game in Genoa, that hardly matters. Basically, they are a good team with an excellent coach who have built a bit of a fortress at the Ferraris – they have yet to lose at home and I dont think they plan on starting Saturday.

Oh, and no matter what he says, Crespo is totally going to want to stick it to Mourinho.

Crespo may have finally found his groove in Genoa.

Genoa have a great scoring record and are on par with both Inter and Roma with 14 goals (Genoa, Inter, and Roma are the league scoring leaders). Unfortunately for Genoa, they have also allowed 11 goals (Roma and Napoli have the most goals allowed at 13 a piece). A quick check of ESPN’s handy chart showing goals scored and conceded by time shows that Genoa have a real problem in the first and last 15 minutes of a game. That half-an-hour accounts for 8 of the goals they have conceded. As for scoring, it appears that Genoa take about half an hour to get into the game, but then they score pretty prolifically throughout the game. So there you go – if we want to beat them we need to hit hard in the first thirty minutes, hunker down for the next 45 or so, then take advantage of their flagging concentration and score to score one or two more. Yep. That’s the ticket. It may not be pretty, but it may help us retain our spot on the table.

Mourinho has called up 21 players:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu, Santon;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Quaresma, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Suazo, Balotelli, Arnautovic.

When I see that, all I can say is YIKES. As expected, Milito, Motta, and Eto’o are all staying home with the hope that they will be ready for the Champions League game on Tuesday. It looks like it is time for Balotelli to live up to a little bit of that promise we always talk about. And Suazo, well… I am trying to remain optimistic. Both had adequate showings with their respective national teams. I mean, they didn’t shine but they weren’t horrible: Suazo got a couple of great crosses in against Trinidad & Tobago (one lead to the winning goal) while Balotelli, well he wasn’t sent off.

Mou was coy about line-ups in his press conference today, not discussing tactics at all. When asked point blank whether Balotelli and Suazo would start up front, he said:

“Both could start or neither. We played a great game against Juve in Pescara in the Trofeo Tim: we did well without attackers in that role, in the field there was Quaresma and Mancini….”

As for Arnautovic, he really must have been bad in last week’s friendly because a reporter asked Mou if Arna was actually struggling more now than he was a month ago. Mou refused to comment – which seems a little ominous to me. He may be another gamble that will just not pay off.

As for the game, Mou thought this game would not dominated by Inter, but a dialog between the two teams, saying:

I do not think that Genoa is a team that will allow his opponent to play 90 minutes in his midfield: it is too strong a team to allow their adversary to conduct the game how they want and with the pace they want. I believe it will be a question-answer and answer-question type of game, we play, you defend and vice versa: lake all the games against Genoa there will be a sort of dialogue, not a monologue. Int this sense Inter will be ale to defend ver well because Genoa is a team that, if you project in attack, can create difficulties due to thier speed and when we are ourselves and have the ball we will try to make goals. We are a team that almost always scores, throughout this season we have only failed to score against Sampdoria.

So dont look for long periods of possession from Inter. Instead, we will defend well and hope to capitalize on breaks. We will play gritty an ugly, gritty game, the pundits will complain, but that will be the only way we can win this.

Allora Raggazzi, I have to jet – we are going away for the weekend and the SO is engaging in some mental foot-tapping right about now. Everyone think positive thoughts – we are going to need all the good vibes we can get to pull this off.

FORZA INTER

I will leave you with a little Eto’o butt – that is bound to lift our spirits. Granted, it is Barcelona Eto’o butt, but I bet Inter Eto’o butt is very similar:

What: FC Rubin Kazan v FC Internazionale Milano, UEFA Champions League Matchday 2
Where: Central Stadium, Kazan, Russia (see below)
When:Tuesday, September 29, 6:30pm local time (9:30am pacific, 12:30pm eastern)
How to Watch: FSC is broadcasting this game Wednesday at 8am pacific, 11am eastern. If you want to watch it live, you can try for a stream (MyP2P, Justin.tv, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net) or watch it pay-per-view at UEFA.com. I have an annual pack (have for years) and I love it.

If, like me, you have never even heard of Kazan, let alone the Republic of Tatarstan, here is a little map to help orient yourself. Basically, it is out in the middle of nowhere, north of the Caspian Sea and east of Moscow:

View Larger Map

The city of Kazan is on the Volga River, in the far north of Tatarstan, and, if you zoom all the way in on the map above, you should be able to see the stadium Inter will be playing in tomorrow. It looks cold (scroll east). Luckily, though, the weather for the game tomorrow should be a relatively balmy 61°F.

THEM

As I said above, Rubin Kazan won the Russian Premier League last year. According to their Wiki, they won 18 of the 30 games played, scoring 44 goals and allowing 26. This year, they are near the end of their season (the Russian league plays from March to November) and are leading the league again.

Recently there have been some bumps in the road: they lost to Dynamo Kiev on Matchday 1, lost their last league game (at home against Amkar Perm), drew 0-0 the game before that (away to Tom Tomsk), and lost 0-1 in the Russian Cup Final (to CSKA Moscow). Before that, though, they were doing pretty well, having won 14 out of 21 games (drawing an additional 4) and scoring 20 goals in 8 games.

Cuchu’s old friend Alejandro Dominguez scored against Kiev on Matchday 1.

Kazan has two strikers responsible for most of those goals: Aleksandr Bukharov, a Russian who has scored 11 goals in 15 games and Alejandro Dominguez, an Argentinian who has 12 goals from 16 games. Although nearly all of Dominguez’s league goals have been scored from the penalty spot, he did manage to score against Kiev in Matchday 1 with a free kick. Kazan also has a couple of dangerous midfielders: Semak (Russia) who has 6 goals and Gökdeniz (Turkey), 4. And, for our “fun fact” file, turns out Dominques and Cambiasso are old teammates. Yep, they played together at River Plate way back in 2001/2. It truly is a small world after all.

Kurban Berdyev, Rubin Kazan’s coach is a little nervous but ready, saying:

This match is really important for us and the fans; having the Champions League in town is like a public holiday for Kazan. People here have dreamed about it. A few years ago we never thought great clubs would come to Kazan, not even for friendly games. Of course, I’m a bit nervous as it is also a new experience for me. However, I think we are ready to face Inter. I don’t think our opponents will underestimate us, especially considering what José Mourinho said about wanting to be safe before their trip to Barcelona.

There, I have just exhausted my knowledge on Rubin Kazan. So far, I have not been able to find a call-up list, but, according to Mou: “They use a 4-4-2 system and strikers Aleksandr Bukharov and Alejandro Domínguez link up very well.” Also, Macbeth Sibaya will not be there as he is suspended.

(The S.O. wants me to make some joke about tartar sauce but I am fresh out of ideas so I invite you, the reader, to give it your best shot).

I cant tell if Maicon is going to kiss Mario or crush him.

US

Historically, Inter have done pretty well against Russian opposition in the Champions League. We beat Spartek Moscow both at home and away in 2006 and did the same with CSKA Moscow in 2007 (who could forget that thrilling 4-2 win when Ibra and Cuchu both got a brace). Our only loss to a Russian team in the UCL was in 2003 when Lokomotic Moscow thumped us 3-0 (I blame Recoba). Still, Kazan is a total unknown for me (and you, I suspect).

Luckily, though, Mourinho has been doing his homework. He said:

I think it will be a very difficult match. We have studied Rubin very carefully and we won’t let ourselves be affected by their recent performances in the championship. What is important is the team’s display in Kiev, where they dominated the match for 75 minutes, losing only because football is a sport that sometimes reserves surprises through details.

Our tactical attitude won’t change and I’m expecting Rubin to play a very dynamic, fast and very well organized game. Our first objective is obviously to win. Objective number two is not to lose. The strategy of the group is in our hands. We have three matches – this one against Rubin and two against Dynamo Kiev, from which we have to get the maximum points to go to Barcelona and be in a good position to qualify without having to win the last game to go through.

If Inter play in the same way, with the same attitude and concentration shown in the games against Manchester United and Barcelona, we can certainly win this encounter with Rubin. But I repeat, we respect them a lot and we know they won’t be an easy opponent.

He has called up 20 players:

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni.
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu, Santon.
Midfielders: Stankovic, Quaresma, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini.
Strikers: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli.

Boy, our midfield sure looks skimpy and the inclusion of Vieira scares the crap out of me. Plus, only three strikers… I definitely think Ricky will make an appearance. I guess that means:

Julio Cesar
Maicon Samuel Lucio Chivu
Zanetti Cambiasso Muntari
Stankovic
Eto’o Milito

Hopefully, Balotelli will play – hell, maybe he will even start – and maybe we will see Quaresma. We are desperately short on creativity (what was the point of buying all that supposed midfield creativity when they spend all their time on the treatment table – sooo frustrating) and Balotelli and Ricky may well be our best bets. Scary, I know.

That doesn’t look healthy – this isn’t rugby, boys.

I wish I had some words of wisdom, but, well, I have absolutely no clue how Inter matches up to the Russian Champions. The stereotype is that they will be a bunch of thugs, but, having watched their national team, I can also say that Russia plays some pretty good football. Both teams will be motivated, I just hope that our star power intimidates them just a smidge. I know we can win, the question is, does Inter know it too. We need everyone focused and on task, plus a little dash of “I think I can” to pull this off. One thing is for sure, I dont want to have to pull out that chicken fish again.

Das vi danya and FORZA INTER

You better cheer hard, Walter has his eye on you!