Champions League Semi Final : Inter Milan vs Barcelona 3-1

Mourinho demonstrated a tactical master piece of a game against Barcelona which saw the Italian giants triumph against last years champions and this years favourite.

Everything was as usual as Barcelona went ahead 1-0 through Pedrito’s 19th minute goal but Inter Milan kept there composure and character to equalise with Sneijder on the 30th minute.

The first 60 minutes of the game was mainly dominated by Inter Milan who were able to control the likes of Ibrahimovic and the wizard kid Lionel Messi.

Inter’s conviction was rewarded just three minutes after the second half started when the Italian giants went a goal ahead through Maicon.

Inter carried on to control the game and continued to tie the Barca outfits legs, especially when Messi got the ball there were at least three players surrounding him.

Ibrahimovic was very poor and was totally out of character with his performance as it was a field that he was used to when he was playing for Inter Milan.

But I suppose with a tactical expert such as Mourinho on your side, the team will at least know how to defend and keep a former player under raps.

Inter Milan then done something which probably no one, other themselves believed in, they went 3-1 up against Barcelona, a team which won a total of six cups last year, through Milito’s 61st minute goal.

The goal however was the turning point of the game, play wise, as Inter’s control had completely dissolved after the 65th or so minute.

Ibrahimovic, who had a very poor game was substituted for French international defender Abidal while Mourinho was trying to substitute the tired and influential Milito for Balotelli.

While at this point Mourinho was doing the right tactical change and Barca Manager Guardiola doing the wrong, Mourinho went into some sort of black hole as his next decision completely changed the games direction.

Just when Inter’s problematic child, Balotelli was about to come on, defender Maicon was injured after an accidental shoulder blow to the face by Lionel Messi. At this point Mourinho delayed the substitution of Balotelli and opted to put on defender Chivu in Maicon’s place who could not carry on with the game.

The wait for Chivu saw Inter Milan play with 9 players for at least 3-4 minutes as Milito who scored a goal and assisted two others was getting cramps to his leg every time he ran for the ball.

This uncharacteristic decision by the masterful Mourinho allowed Barcelona to anchor themselves in the Inter Milan half and take control of the game.

Chivu was put into play on the 74th minute and Balotelli on the 75th minute. Barcelona at this point was coming ever closer to the Inter goal mouth and were very unlucky to score at least a goal.

This also caused problems at the end of the game as Balotelli, in front of the Inter fans through his top on the ground in frustration to Mourinho, though their relationship has always been sour.

The 20-year-old was whistled in protest by the Inter Milan faithful and also reported that an Inter Milan player assaulted him in the tunnel, though there were no camera footage of the incident if true.

Ultimately Barcelona could not score the goal which would have helped them go to the Champions League Final.

The game which saw Inter Milan going to the Nou Camp 3-1 on aggregate could have been a much bigger lead for the Italian’s but still they are the favourites to progress to the Champions League Final.

With Mourinho going to a pitch where he helped manage for several years, I just do not see him getting overwhelmed with the pressure and making a mistake which he did on Tuesday night.

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