UEFA Champions League, First knock-out round, first leg.
San Siro.
Oh Jose. We’ve missed him, really.
The English media were revelling in the chance to talk about ‘The Special One’ once again. Almost 18 months after he left Chelsea, they had another chance to build up a Ferguson vs Mourinho battle that could entertain everyone akin to a few years back. Mourinho though was quick to extinguish any talk of ‘having Fergies number’ from his London days, building up the fact it was more about his own Inter squad against the Champions of England, Europe and the world from Manchester, and that maybe Fergie had more than old rivalries to worry about.
He would have to be right on that fact. United have lost 10 of the last 15 games in Italy, winning just 3, and the San Siro is never going to be compared to a kickabout in the park. But for Sir Alex, it was injuries more than stats that caused the most headaches in the build up – Jonny Evans and John O’Shea were the biggest doubts, but they both started in a side that didn’t contain Wayne Rooney.
They didn’t seem to miss him much, as the first few minutes of the match set the tone for the first half – United attacked almost from the get go, Julio Cesar was tested early twice, both by Ronaldo who himself could have had 4 or 5 goals during the first half hour. His free kicks were testing, but not adventurous, his header was fierce but straight at the Brazilian. Inter looked dozy at times, and frustrated at others, no surprise considering they also had their own defensive issues, but it was more of a makeshift defensive four than a bandaged up one.
18 year old Davide Santon started at left back despite being predominantly right footed, and although he kept Berbatov under control, strained when Ronaldo was added to the mix. Critian Chivu, who normally plays in the aforementioned left back position played in a more central role, but it was Nelson Rivas who proved to the be the biggest issue. His challenges were reckless and was prone to carelessness throughout the first half; if marking Ronaldo wasn’t enough, the task of trying to keep up with Ryan Giggs was beyond him, being subbed at half time was almost inevitable.
Trying to silence one of the most avid groups of fans in the most daunting of stadiums isn’t an easy task for away sides, but United did a great job of keeping the pace up, pressuring with forward runs, keeping the defence on their toes. Park was a bustling nuisance, a player who can run all game and not look phased. As Ronaldo roamed free, it was down to Fletcher, Carrick and Park to try and out-think the Inter midfield of Zanetti, Cambiasso and Muntari, a goal they succeeded in impressively. It wasn’t long before Inter started to get edgy and argumentative – they seemed light in the box, out of options for that last man. The first time United’s centre halves looked unsure was a looping, over the top lunge of a pass, which resulted in a limp header from Ferdinand that Ibrahimovic could not capitalise from. Sadly, punting forward seemed to be what Inter kept resorting back to.
Inter’s pre-match message to rile the travelling support was that Ibrahimovic was the world’s best footballer, and not Ronaldo, but nothing tonight seemed to back up this claim. A good player he may be, his reputation on the European stage is still wafer thin – no goals today means he only has 6 goals in 21 European matches, and none of those have come in the knockout stages. His 1st half action was subdued; to the extent that he started to get fed up with not getting anything to his feet, so he started coming deeper to start something himself. A bit of trickery 5 minutes before half time saw him bamboozle Carrick twice, the eventual cross nearly connected with Adriano but was too close to Van Der Sar.
The second half saw a revitalised Inter come out and give it a go, almost as if they had realised how frustrated their home fans had been, and the occasional roar wasn’t from a good move, but from wanting more life from players such as Sully Muntari and Adriano. The latter actually had the best chance in the opening moments, his mis-kick could have put Inter 1-0 up, whilst the following penalty claim was nothing more than hopeful. United’s back four had much more to think about; Stankovic had a fierce shot on 51 mins that maybe could have tested Van Der Sar if it had been on target, and Maicon’s free kick on 68 minutes wasn’t the threat it should have been.
By the time Rooney made his arrival it was almost set in stone that there would be no goals. The Ferguson vs Mourinho battle that had promised to entertain turned out to be more of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object we all knew it was from the start, although something tells me the Old Trafford leg will be a much different battle.
