Internazionale
Elo Ratings
'Unique' Villarreal worry Mancini
Monday, 3 April 2006
by Graham Hunter
from Villarreal
According to the coaches of Villarreal CF and FC Internazionale Milano, the first team to make a mistake will be the one that exits the UEFA Champions League on Matchday 10.
Close contest
The two sides go into a delicately balanced quarter-final on Tuesday night after Inter won 2-1 at the San Siro last week. Despite that victory, Nerazzurri coach Roberto Mancini fully respects both the Spanish club and his opposite number Manuel Pellegrini. Mancini's aim is to take the fight to Villarreal and, if anything, extend the slight advantage that first-leg goals from Adriano and Obafemi Martins gained. "This Villarreal team is the most unique of all the eight sides left in the competition," said the coach. "They know how to defend cleverly and they enjoy doing it.
No room for error
"They are quite happy to go 1-0 up and try to hold on to that. But they are also a team with exceptional creative and goalscoring talent and they can do great damage up front. Against Villarreal you cannot make mistakes – either when you have the chance to score or when you are defending. But we have come here to try and impose our own game and win this match."
Key components
Mancini's respect centres on the defensive powers of Argentinian centre-half Gonzalo Rodríguez plus the notable goal threat of the Argentinian-Uruguayan axis of Juan Román Riquelme and Diego Forlán. Moroever, the 'Yellow Submarine' managed a strong showing - and an away goal - in Milan despite the absence of Alessio Tacchinardi, Josico and Rodolfo Arruabarrena, all of whom are available.
Cautious approach
Arruabarrena, who returns at left-back, said: "This is one of those games where you don't have to play nice football, you just have to win. We have to watch every one of their players like hawks and be very cautious in everything we do." Villarreal's main problem, despite a record of only two defeats in 28 European outings at El Madrigal, is that they have won just one of their home UEFA Champions League matches this season.
'We can hurt them'
"We know how Inter are going to play and what preoccupies me is ensuring that we score and they do not," added coach Pellegrini, while striker Guillermo Franco noted: "The dream scenario is to go 1-0 up, to play 90 perfect minutes and to commit no errors. This is how to cause an upset, and we showed in Milan that we can hurt them."
Figo comeback
Another worry for Villarreal, 1-0 weekend winners at Real Zaragoza, is that Rodríguez has a sore ankle and faces a late fitness test. Ideally, he and Quique Álvarez would be the defensive pairing to repel Adriano and Alvaro Recoba from an Inter side that could recall Luís Figo after the Portuguese winger missed both the first leg and Saturday's 3-0 victory against FC Messina Peloro.
'Game of our lives'
"Who knows whether this will turn out to be the biggest game of my life, but right now it looks like being a brilliant night," admitted Álvarez. "This is a great competition in which we are the new boys and nobody outside this club believed we could, or would, get this far." Villarreal's task was summed up by their Italian midfielder Tacchinardi, who said: "We are going to have to play the game of our lives - all of us. Then, when this mighty contest is over, let's see who has made it to the semi-finals."
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Very tough for Inter to go through despite a 2-1 win in the 1st leg.
