Here is our fourth preview for the Champions League quarter-finals that has Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan welcoming CSKA Moscow. If you were to go on strictly Champions League momentum then this match should be a no brainer. Inter Milan made short work of Chelsea by beating them both home and away with an aggregate total of 3-1. However, Inter Milan have been absolutely abysmal in recent weeks in the Serie A and thanks to a loss to Roma yesterday are now in a three-way battle for the title. Having just lost to Roma it will be interesting to see if Inter can regroup to take on the Russian team.
CSKA Moscow came through the group stages in second to Manchester United and beat Spanish team Sevilla in the Round of 16. There were some good moments in their run up to this quarter-final stage. Most notably their 3-3 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford no less. In fact, if they could have held out for 6 more minutes they could have won that match 3-1. Tomas Necid will have to be at his best to score against the Inter Milan defense. He only has two goals in Champions League play this season and those were against Sevilla in the first leg and against Wolfburg in group play. Keisuke Honda made a name for himself by scoring the tie winner against Sevilla. The Japanese midfielder will need to replicate that performance. CSKA Moscow generally have had their goals scored spread throughout the team. That can be a good thing if you know you are going to get a goal just not sure where. It is a bad thing because no one has really popped up as the go-to man yet. If they can get a goal at the San Siro and not lose by more than 1 goal they could possibly cause an upset here.
CSKA Moscow came through the group stages in second to Manchester United and beat Spanish team Sevilla in the Round of 16. There were some good moments in their run up to this quarter-final stage. Most notably their 3-3 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford no less. In fact, if they could have held out for 6 more minutes they could have won that match 3-1. Tomas Necid will have to be at his best to score against the Inter Milan defense. He only has two goals in Champions League play this season and those were against Sevilla in the first leg and against Wolfburg in group play. Keisuke Honda made a name for himself by scoring the tie winner against Sevilla. The Japanese midfielder will need to replicate that performance. CSKA Moscow generally have had their goals scored spread throughout the team. That can be a good thing if you know you are going to get a goal just not sure where. It is a bad thing because no one has really popped up as the go-to man yet. If they can get a goal at the San Siro and not lose by more than 1 goal they could possibly cause an upset here.
Jose Mourinho will go down as the greatest coach in history if Inter win the Champions League. At least according to the media. I have never seen a coach incite such polar opinions about him. Rival team fans hate him. Rival coaches hate him. Yet the media seem to love him and his quotes. Jedi mind tricks? I think so. He is under a bit of pressure at the moment. If he loses the Serie A that would be a big blemish on his resume as they should have had that league wrapped up weeks ago. To go out of the Champions League would just pile it on. I don't think anyone anticipates Inter Milan to win the whole thing. They would have to beat either Arsenal or Barcelona and then either Bayern Munich or Manchester United. They would prefer the former of each pairing for sure. Either way it won't be easy and I don't expect them to win the whole thing. Samuel Eto'o seems to be coming back in to some sort of goal scoring form. So that is a plus. Lucio and Walter Samuel make for a good pairing at the back and they both played Chelsea to perfection. They can be beaten for speed, however, they try no to put to much grass between them and their striking opponents. If they can keep the Moscow forwards quiet then Inter can expect to go through.
The big test will be in the second leg. It is never easy to go to Russia and play. Unfortunately Inter have the task of traveling almost as far away as possible in this tournament. This first leg is crucial for both teams as it sets up each team for how they need to mentally prepare for the second leg. Catch this match Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 2:45pm on the Fox Soccer Channel.
The big test will be in the second leg. It is never easy to go to Russia and play. Unfortunately Inter have the task of traveling almost as far away as possible in this tournament. This first leg is crucial for both teams as it sets up each team for how they need to mentally prepare for the second leg. Catch this match Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 2:45pm on the Fox Soccer Channel.
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