The only Champions League match of the week, and it might just be a cracker ... will be up to Inter to provide that impetus ... having just celebrated their Centenary with a win over the weekend, the Nerazzuri will be looking to make sure the party isn't pooped [on] by the 'Pool ... but, as many of you may know, there is a sense of history that both this tie and this juncture provides ...
Inter will be hoping lightning will indeed strike twice ...
in lieu of the usual stats provided the Match Press Kit (currently unavailable due to logistical reasons), here are some facts to hold you over:
Zlatan ftmfw! (FYI: mf = mother f*ckin)
The weight of history hangs on FC Internazionale Milano as they mark their centenary. Few clubs can match the Nerazzurri's rich heritage. Two European Champion Clubs' Cups, 15 Scudettos, three UEFA Cups and countless other trophies illuminate a glorious past.
European goal
Since completing their quest to reclaim the Scudetto in 2007, they have dominated Serie A like few sides before them. And still it is not enough. While Inter hold sway on home soil, their great rivals AC Milan compete on a larger playing field. Europe is the Rossoneri's battleground. Since Inter last won the European Cup in 1965, Milan have triumphed six times. As Inter celebrate reaching 100 on Saturday they are desperate to right the balance.
Liverpool vanquished
The 2-0 away defeat by Liverpool FC in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie has threatened to spoil the party. History, though, gives Roberto Mancini's team hope. The last time Inter lifted the continent's most coveted prize, 43 years ago, they had lost the first leg of their semi-final 3-1 at Anfield, but advanced thanks to a stirring 3-0 second-leg victory at San Siro.
'History repeating'
The return game this year will be played on 11 March, three days after Inter's birthday bash, and coach Mancini is intent on delivering a similar outcome. "It does seem like a coincidence, but perhaps history is repeating itself," he said. "We need three goals to qualify and clearly this side is capable of it. Liverpool did not create much in the first leg, but kept us under pressure. Unfortunately the last five minutes proved decisive. But I still think we can do it."
'Legendary match'
Mario Corso, Peirò and former Inter president Giacinto Facchetti, who died in 2006, scored the goals for Inter in the famous comeback. "Facchetti told me many times about those legendary matches against Liverpool in 1965 and, for me, it was a great privilege to listen to him," Inter captain Javier Zanetti said before the first leg at Anfield."
'Nice memory'
Inter president Massimo Moratti, who is preparing a series of events for the centenary, remembers the tie in 1965 when his father Angelo was club president and Helenio Herrera coach. "It's a really nice memory," he said. "I went with my father to watch the first leg. We took a flight to London and then another one to Liverpool.
'We will qualify'
"It was very strange for me to see English people using planes as we were still on buses more than 40 years ago. Their great fans ensured there was an incredible atmosphere at Anfield and we struggled. The return leg, however, was one of the best games in our history. I remember Herrera saying 'We will qualify' in the changing room after the game at Anfield. Mancini's words had more or less the same sense after the first leg."
'Help'
The Beatles had released four albums prior to the game against Liverpool on 12 May 1965. The fifth, Help, would arrive a couple of months later. According to Moratti, though, Inter should not require any on Tuesday. "The players gave a heroic performance two weeks ago with only ten men after Marco Materazzi was sent off. It was a display of character, because we held up against the Liverpool attack and their crowd.
'Right mentality'
"Our season would still be good if we only win the Scudetto but I think our Champions League campaign can continue. We have the right coach, the right players, the right team mentality. We have everything to make it. Everyone must give even more than they have already, but these players can do it." Before kick-off against Reggina Calcio on Saturday, 200 former Inter players from every era will parade around the pitch as part of the celebrations. Their legendary predecessors have shown the way – Mancini's charges must now follow the example.
Inter will be hoping lightning will indeed strike twice ...
in lieu of the usual stats provided the Match Press Kit (currently unavailable due to logistical reasons), here are some facts to hold you over:
• Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot and Steven Gerrard's raking low drive were crushing late blows to a visiting side who had battled bravely for an hour with ten men following the dismissal of Marco Materazzi for a second yellow card after only 30 minutes. The central defender misses this game as the Nerazzurri resume their eighth attempt to win the UEFA Champions League.
• Inter's history at home against sides from England showed that they established an immediate supremacy with the first five games all resulting in home wins, including a 3-0 defeat of Liverpool in the 1964/65 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final second leg en route to a second successive triumph in the competition. In none of those five contests was their defence breached and it meant that in four the Milan club went through to the next round, the exception being when they faced Aston Villa FC in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup first round. After the two games had ended in 1-0 wins for the home side, Villa won through in a penalty shoot-out.
• Manchester United FC were the first English visitors to escape defeat, recording a 1-1 draw in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League quarter-final to complete a 3-1 aggregate triumph on their way to a second European Cup victory. Inter's last two games at home to travellers from England resulted in a 2-2 draw with Newcastle United FC in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League second group stage and then a crushing 5-1 defeat in the following season's group stage fixture at home to Arsenal FC. In nine ties overall, calculated on a home-and-away basis, Inter have come out on top on six occasions.
• Roberto Mancini's team, seeking a fourth quarter-final place in the last six seasons, showed remorseless form in the group stage, winning all three home games while scoring nine goals. It ensured they won Group G by four points while their last six games at the San Siro in the competition have resulted in five wins and a draw.
• Contrastingly, after their first two away fixtures, Liverpool seemed to be heading for an early departure from a competition in which they have reached two finals in the past three seasons, facing Inter's neighbours AC Milan on each occasion with a victory in 2005 and defeat last May. A 2-1 reverse in Turkey against Beşiktaş JK on Matchday 3 left the Merseyside club at the foot of Group A with just a single point, gained from the 1-1 draw at FC Porto in the first round of fixtures.
• Rafael Benítez's men then got down to business in a serious way, winning all their next three games to clinch second place in the section with ten points, one fewer than Porto. They finished off with a resounding 4-0 triumph at Olympique de Marseille.
• Liverpool's first four visits to Italy for competitive UEFA games left them winless although the 1983/84 European Cup final against AS Roma, staged at the latter's Stadio Olimpico home, ended in triumph in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw following extra time.
• The English side won at the Olimpico against Roma again in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup fourth round and gained a 0-0 draw there in the following season's UEFA Champions League second group stage against the same side. With a 0-0 draw at Juventus in the 2004/05 quarter-final on their way to lifting club football's greatest club trophy for the fifth time, the Anfield club have remained undefeated in their last three visits to Italy.
Zlatan ftmfw! (FYI: mf = mother f*ckin)
