Jose Mourinho has proved his tactical skill in Europe with two
victories over Chelsea. Now he needs to get Inter Milan going again
in Serie A, where the club's lead over city rival AC Milan has
dwindled to just one point with 10 games remaining.
Mourinho was widely lauded for using a three-forward lineup
in Tuesday's 1-0 win over his former club. Having won the opening
leg 2-1, Inter could have played for a scoreless draw in London and
advanced but Mourinho said that was never an option.
"I re-watched the first leg seven times and I knew there was
no way to sit back against Chelsea," Mourinho said. "The best
defense was to attack constantly."
Inter did go on the attack and created chances for each of
its strikers - Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito and Goran Pandev - before
Eto'o sealed Inter's place in the Champions League quarterfinals
with a 78th-minute goal.
"The team was perfect. They played great throughout the
match," Mourinho said.
It was a far cry from Inter's performance just four days
earlier, when the four-time defending Serie A champion squandered a
1-0 lead to lose 3-1 at Catania.
Inter travels to another Sicilian team, Palermo, on Saturday
and an improved performance is expected.
"Let's try and take advantage of this favorable form, one
step at a time," club president Massimo Moratti said. Mourinho left
19-year-old forward Mario Balotelli off Inter's squad for the
Chelsea game, and the forward could return against Palermo.
Inter leads the league with 59 points, Milan has 58, AS Roma
is third with 53 and Palermo fourth with 46.
Milan hosts Napoli on Sunday and is without David Beckham and
likely Alessandro Nesta for the rest of the season after both
players had surgery Monday.
Milan has found itself rooting for Inter in Europe so Italy
can maintain four teams in the Champions League, but it also
doesn't mind having its rival still occupied by such an important
competition.
"It was a great game," Nesta said of Inter's win over Chelsea
as he left the hospital Wednesday. "Now let's hope Inter becomes
distracted by the Champions League."
Milan was eliminated from Europe after a devastating 4-0 loss
to Manchester United last week. It was Milan's worst loss in
continental play since a 4-0 defeat by Deportivo La Coruna in the
2004 quarterfinals.
"Hopefully we can bounce back and win the Serie A title like
we did in 2004," Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said.
Fifth-place Juventus visits Sampdoria in its attempt to get
back into the Champions League places. Juventus took a 3-1
first-leg lead into its return game at Fulham in the Europa
League's last 16 Thursday.
Roma allowed Cristiano Lucarelli a hat trick in a 3-3 draw at
Livorno last weekend and now faces always dangerous Udinese.
Also this weekend, it's: Atalanta vs. Livorno; Bari vs.
Parma; Cagliari vs. Lazio; Chievo Verona vs. Catania; and Siena vs.
Bologna.
