The Hunt For The Holy Grail Begins Again

And the Champions League draw has again proved the existence of a Footballing God or how do you explain the fact that the Swap Deal Of the Decade involving the 2 Best Strikers In the World end up facing their former clubs in a matter of a Month? And that too on the argubly biggest platform to showcase your talent – UEFA Champions League. So words have been spoken by both the sides ( Well obviously more form the Inter side considering they have Mourinho as their Manager who has even influenced his players to talk more to the Media than on the Pitch ), The Stage is Set ( San Siro is almost the best alternative to the Camp Nou ) and the swords have been drawn! Let The Battle Begin! Full Match Preview follows –

JOSE ‘BIG-MOUTH’ MOURINHO

Lets first start with Jose Mourinho and his Love Affair with Barcelona. Assistant to Bobby Robson at Camp Nou in the late 1990s when Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was an influential midfielder, Mourinho has since won the Champions League with FC Porto, two English league titles with Chelsea and Serie A with Inter.

Now he comes face to face with Guardiola, who last season guided Barca to the domestic league and cup titles as well as the Champions League. Although this is the first round of the long group stage of matches, Mourinho will want to make a mark by guiding Inter to a victory. He would obviously be itching to win the Champions League again considering the fact that Pep did it in his first year in charge and Jose has not been able to repeat his feat with Porto despite having to his disposal highly talented and illustrious squads of Chelsea and now Inter Milan.

“A player that gave me as much as Ibra will always be in my heart, but I’m someone who forgets quickly and I’m focusing on my current players now,”

“We’ll exchange a big hug before the game but, during the match, I don’t even want to know who he is. He did a lot for Inter and Inter did a lot for him.”

There is no Love Lost between The Cules and Jose. We all remember his disparaging remarks against Frank Rijkaard about him having won no trophies when they faced each other. But there is something we would all like to remind Jose that after that you have won ZERO Champions league titles whereas Frank won ONE and Barca lifted it again last year!

KEY BATTLES

Coming back to the match, It is surely going to be a match more than a battle just between Ibrahimovic and Eto’o. Just look at the array of talent on display here – Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Henry, Alves, Diego Milito, Sneijder, Maicon and so many more.

Messi Vs Chivu

Chivu is a World Class left back no doubt. But Messi is something out of this world and Chivu can expect to have his hans full for the evening. Messi, Henry and Ibra will keep switching from time to time which is surely going to become a headache for the Inter defense.

Ibra Vs Inter Players/Fans/Mourinho

This will undoubtedly be the battle everyone is going to focus upon and is one that just cannot be ignored. There will be a lot of passion invloved as the Inter fans have made it clear that Ibra is going to get anything but a Hero’s welcome. He is sure to be booed every time he comes close to the ball. But knowing Ibra, this is going to fire him up even more. Mourinho’s promised Big hug will not go a long way into diffusing the tension in San Siro come this Wednesday.

Xavi-Iniesta Vs Thiago Motta-Stankovic

This is the key battle in the midfield that Manchester United lost so badly in the Champions League Final which led yo them getting routed. Xavi and Iniesta will again look to do the same and frankly speaking the Inter Mid Field will have to produce something very special to keep them in check from spraying their passes and goin onto dizzying runs through the heart of their defense.

Eto’o Vs Puyol

Now this one will be interesting as we can all count on Pique to keep Milito in check. But our former hitman surely knows a thing or 2 about defense and it will be interesting to see how he approaches the game. We all very well know the fire in his belly and his will to score goals. So he will be the prime target man Barca’s defense will have to keep a close eye on.

Probable Starting Line Ups

Barcelona

Victor Valdes; Daniel Alves, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Abidal; Xavi, Yaya Toure, Seydou Keita; Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Inter Milan

Julio Cesar; Maicon, Walter Samuel, Lucio, Cristian Chivu; Javier Zanetti, Dejan Stankovic, Thiago Motta; Wesley Sneijder; Samuel Eto’o, Diego Milito

TEAM NEWS

Inter

Dejan Stankovic has overcome the flu that struck him in recent days, while Cristian Chivu should return to left-back in place of Davide Santon. Esteban Cambiasso trained on Tuesday but is unlikely to start.

Barcelona

Rafael Marquez is included in Guardiola’s squad, but Chygrynskiy is ineligible after playing in the third qualifying round of the competition for Shakhtar Donetsk. Andres Iniesta still lacks fitness, while Carles Puyol is a doubt and could be replaced by Marquez.

Prediction

Inter Milan 1 – 2 Barcelona

This is just the first match of the Champions League and the kind of excitement it has generated is only a sign of things to come. The match promises to be one of those magical Champions Leahue night where we get to see the best footballer’s in the world showcase their talent. Let the Carnival Begin!