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Showing posts with label Inter Milan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inter Milan. Show all posts

Real Madrid reach into quarter final in Champions League

7:56 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Real Madrid put their recent European woes behind them to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2004 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Lyon on Wednesday. Real Madrid had crashed out at the last 16 stage of the Champions League for six successive seasons, but new coach Jose Mourinho brought an end to that jinx. Goals from Marcelo, Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria secured victory as Madrid progressed 4-1 on aggregate. Brazilian full-back Marcelo scored his first Champions League goal on 37 minutes to break the deadlock, before Benzema netted his sixth goal of the competition on 65 minutes against his hometown club. Argentine Angel di Maria added a third on 76 minutes as Real took revenge on Lyon, who defeated them at this stage last season, and keep alive their hopes of a first Champions League title since 2002. Mourinho, who won the trophy with Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu last season, is looking to provide Real with their 10th European Cup and make history by becoming the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs. "We did what the manager wanted and went out to win the game," said Marcelo. "This victory gives us a lot of confidence and we owed it to the Madrid fans. We are not thinking about who we could get in the next round. We will just wait for the draw and see." Real welcomed back top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo from injury -- the Portuguese star having missed the last two league games with a thigh problem and the world's most expensive player was thrust into the starting line-up.


Lyon had never lost in their three Champions League trips to the Bernabeu but the French visitors knew they would have to score in the Spanish capital after the 1-1 draw in the first leg. Lyon welcomed back striker Lisandro Lopez and Brazilian captain Cris shrugged off a knock to start. Ronaldo tried his luck with a long range free-kick early on but his effort sailed over the crossbar. With four minutes gone Real almost scored but goalkeeper Hugo Lloris raced out to thwart German international Mesut Ozil, who had timed his run to perfection. On 21 minutes Madrid got a real scare when Argentine Cesar Delgado curled a shot towards the bottom-right corner but goalkeeper Iker Casillas got down to palm away. Real responded by upping their game and took the lead on 37 minutes thanks to a fine individual goal from Marcelo. The Brazilian exchanged passes with Ronaldo before surging into the area, cutting back onto his left foot and firing in a shot that deflected off Lloris on its way in. The relief was tangible and Benzema, in fine form with six goals in his last three league outings, was denied by Lloris four minutes later after latching onto a Marcelo cross. Benzema had the ball in the net 60 seconds later with a fine header but was flagged offside. Coach Claude Puel threw on striker Bafetimbi Gomis to give his side more firepower, but it was the hosts who looked the more dangerous, especially from set-pieces. Benzema had a penalty appeal turned down on 63 minutes but shrugged off the disappointment to score three minutes later. A defensive mix-up allowed Benzema a free run on goal and the Frenchman slotted home for his sixth goal in the competition this term.Lyon sensed the game was up and winger Angel di Maria went clean through on goal in the 76th minute before producing a neat chipped finish to complete the scoring.

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Posted by sojib

Napoli face crucial test at AC Milan

9:36 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,


Italian club Napoli will find out if they are truly ready to challenge for the Serie-A crown this season when they travel to AC Milan in the crunch clash ties of the weekend.The game has been moved to Monday night to give the southerners an extra day’s rest following their Europa League exertions against Villarreal on Thursday.But the super-clash between the top two in the league will give Walter Mazzarri’s team the chance to show what they are made of.

In a season full of surprises that initially saw Lazio leading the table and champions Inter Milan struggling down in eighth place at the turn of the year, Napoli appear to have demonstrated that they have the staying power to go all the way.Still splitting the two Milan clubs with a mere 12 matches to play in the season, Napoli must genuinely be considered as very tide title contenders for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona.And although the club’s staff and players refuse to even pronounce the word title there is no denying that they are where they are on merit.

However, there has been one thing missing from their pursuit of glory this season and that has been the ability to cut the mustard against the very best.They may have done the double over Roma this season and thumped Juventus 3-0 at home in January but both sides are suffering from transitional campaigns and currently sit sixth and seventh respectively.When it mattered against the two big Milanese sides, Napoli came up short.

They lost 2-1 at home to Milan earlier on in the season despite enjoying a large part of the game and also proved frail defensively when they played away to Inter and lost 3-1.In two games against Liverpool in the Europa League group stage they also failed to secure a win.For them to go the whole way this season they are going to need to prove they can also come out on top in the biggest games where there is the most at stake.

They sit three points behind Milan and two ahead of Inter, meaning a win for Mazzarri’s team could result in the top three being separated by only two points when the weekend is up.If there is one thing in their favour it is that Milan have also proved susceptible to negative results in their biggest home games of the season.Not only did they lose 2-1 to Juventus and 1-0 to Roma but Tottenham came to the San Siro in the Champions League knock-out phase and also left with a crucial 1-0 success.

Milan also failed to beat fourth placed Lazio at home and needed a pair of controversial goals to sneak a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League group stages.A sign that Milan may be feeling the strain came from vice-president Adriano Galliano who was at pains to tell Radio Italia that the game would be no more important than any other.‘It,s keenly expected because it’s top against second but there,s still just three out of the 36 points left on offer’ he said.

‘Lets not forget that a victory over Napoli won't mean we’ve won the title, and vice versa.’The later start to the game means Inter can leapfrog Napoli on Sunday if they win away to Sampdoria.Juventus host Bologna on Saturday night and Roma entertain Parma on Sunday as the two traditional heavyweights look to drag themselves back into Champions League qualification contention.

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Posted by sojib

Inter momentum

10:04 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,



 Inter Milan’s show of strength crushed Roma in Week 24 and confirmed they’ve got the momentum more than Milan, says Susy Campanale
Max Allegri may claim Milan “are not under pressure,” but the huge lead has been eradicated to just three points and, as Inter have a game in hand against Fiorentina, that could in reality be only two. With Antonio Cassano not on great form and even Zlatan Ibrahimovic struggling to find the net, the atomic attack is looking a little timid lately. Admittedly, the numerous injuries make it inevitable the Rossoneri will dip a little, but two consecutive stalemates against Lazio and now Genoa ring alarm bells.

If there’s a side with momentum right now, then that’s Inter. Leonardo is breathing down the necks of his former players and bringing the entertainment factor back to the reigning champions. It’s rarely comfortable and they have kept only one clean sheet under the new Coach, but the Nerazzurri’s 5-3 victory over Roma was a show of strength. The return of Wesley Sneijder could be just the boost they need on top of Giampaolo Pazzini, Andrea Ranocchia, Yuto Nagatomo and Houssine Kharja as January additions. It will be very tough for the Giallorossi to get back into the title race after this bitter blow and Nicolas Burdisso’s third red card of the campaign.

Napoli wasted the opportunity to close in midweek, but got right back on track by seeing off Cesena and the gap now stands at just three points. It would’ve been a 3-0 victory, but Christian Maggio’s ‘phantom goal’ was cleared after it had crossed the line, unseen by the officials.

Lazio’s early title hopes have all but evaporated as they slowly get back to their expected status of challenging for European qualification. Chievo held them to a second straight draw by making the most of the only real scoring opportunity.

It was a case of homecoming joy for Alessandro Matri, who clearly enjoyed the Sardinian air a week after he left Cagliari. It’s surely no coincidence the former Rossoblu striker bagged his first brace in a Juventus jersey against his former teammates. He opted not to celebrate as a sign of respect for the fans, who responded with jeers.

Fabrizio Miccoli took the tradition of muted celebrations a bit far. The Lecce native has never played for his hometown club, but was absolutely distraught at scoring against them. In fact, the Palermo captain was so upset that he didn’t come back out for the second half, avoiding the sight of his beloved Salentini throwing away a lead twice to fall 4-2.

There was nothing to dampen Antonio Di Natale’s celebrations, as he ended a two-week drought to net his 100th Serie A goal in an Udinese jersey. The Friulani have amassed 17 points from an available 21 and confirmed just how crucial Alexis Sanchez has become to this side. He was sorely missed in the midweek draw against Bologna, but returned to score one and set up another against a dismal Sampdoria.

It was a new start at the Tardini, as Amauri got his first Serie A goal in a year, breaking the drought with a spectacular overhead kick. Sending a message to his old club Juve, the Brazilian also hit the crossbar for Parma. Fiorentina welcomed back Adrian Mutu after he stormed out in a contract dispute and hope he’ll give them some more options.

It was home sweet home for Beppe Iachini, who in two games back on the Brescia bench has picked up four points. The Rigamonti result has probably doomed Bari to the drop, as it’ll be a miracle for them to avoid relegation once nine points adrift of the safety zone. Catania haven’t had much luck since bringing in Diego Simeone, as the slip-up at Bologna with Pablo Alvarez sent off just 22 minutes in has seen them plummet to fourth-from-bottom.

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Posted by sojib
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