Inter Milan v Chelsea â€“ Preview

James · February 23, 2010

In amongst the media headlines surrounding various Chelsea playerâ€™s off the field antics you may have noticed that tomorrow night the undisputed tie of the Champions League last 16 takes place as Chelsea visit the San Siro to play Inter Milan. We knew that it would happen one day as the special one must pit his wits against the side that he built.

For Chelsea and for Mourinho this will be a special night. Jose Mourinho enjoyed tremendous success at Chelsea , winning six trophies in just three years , two of those being the premier league which Chelsea had not won for fifty years before Mourinho arrived. The charismatic Portugese introduced to Chelsea a cocky , swagger and a winning mentality. Many of the Chelsea squad were bought by Mourinho , key players such as Cech , Drogba and Ballack all arrived at the club in Mourinhoâ€™s time. Mourinhoâ€™s style of management ensured that the Chelsea side truly became his side as he forged an â€œ us against the world â€œ type mentality and created a truly close knit group.

Jose Mourinho firmly believes that this familiarity with the Chelsea side will work to his advantage. Indeed of the starting eleven , only Ivanovic and Anelka are players brought to the club after Mourinho parted company with Chelsea. In recent months Mourinho will also have seen the return of the 4-3-3 to Chelsea , or at least a variation of the 4-3-3 which Mourinho so famously employed in his time at the Bridge.

However Chelsea have an ace in the hole too as Carlo Ancelotti had spent 8 years managing Interâ€™s bitter local rivals , AC Milan. Ancelotti knows Italian football as well as anyone and Ancelloti will have quite a vast amount of knowledge of Inter Milan under Mourinho. Both Ancelotti and Mourinho famously did not see eye to eye last season in Seria A as Mourinho proclaimed , both he and Ancelotti are â€œ not friends â€œ

Mourinhoâ€™s legendary mind games have practically fallen on deaf ears at the west London club as the cool , calm and calculated Carlo Ancelotti has point bank refused to be drawn into a war of words with the master quotes man. Though Mourinho has attempted to spark Ancelotti into action by claiming that the club has gone backwards since his appointment , his attempts have been in vain as Ancelotti calmly disagrees with Mourinhoâ€™s statement.

Though Inter were rather easily eased out of the competition last season by champions league runnerâ€™s up Man Utd , this is a vastly superior Inter Milan side than the one last season. Mourinho has really put his stamp on this side. Gone is Ibrahimovich , a player whom Inter relied far too heavily upon last season and who failed to produce on the big European nights and in comes Samuel Eto to replace him. With Milito , Pandev and Ballotelli all genuine options to play alongside Eto , the Inter forward line is truly formidable. Mourinho has introduced a creative edge to this Milan side as Wesley Sneijder is the man which all good things about Inter revolve. Mourinho has looked to tighten the Inter defence too with the signing of experienced Brazilian defender Lucio from Bayern Munich.

Chelsea will still be without the substantial talents of Michael Essien , Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa. Alex , Deco and Belletti also look likely to miss out. Chelsea will be forced to sweat on whether duo Frank Lampard and Yuri Zhirkov will be fit. Lampard missed the weekend win against Wolves while Zhirkov was worryingly taken off during the game.

Expected Line-up

Cech

Ivanovic , Carvalho , Terry , Zhirkov

Ballack , Mikel , Lampard

Anelka , Malouda

Drogba

Expect Ancelotti to employ his Christmas tree formation away from home. With Joe Coleâ€™s form still a worry , I expect Malouda to get the nod to start the game. Carvalho was given a rest at the weekend so that he would be ready specifically for this game. If Zhirkov fails to make it , Paolo Ferreira could slot in at left back which he has done in the past.

Main Man

If Chelsea are to come away from the San Siro with anything , you feel that John Terry will have to be at the very height of his game. We saw in the champions league final last season that given the chance , Samuel Eto will punish you in the harshest fashion. Terryâ€™s public life seems to be having some negative effect on his on field duties as he entered sub-standard performances against Everton and Wolves. Against Eto he will be facing a truly world class striker and anything less than 100% focus on the game could well cost Chelsea dearly.

Danger Man

The threat from Inter Milan will be orchestrated by the Dutch creative midfielder , Wesley Sneijder. Though Sneijder failed at Madrid , he has become a force again in Italy under the tactical brilliance of Mourinho. Sneijder will bethe source of Interâ€™s attacking player , and as the saying goes , to kill a chicken you got to cut off its head and Wesley Sneijder is the head. John Obi Mikel will need to track his very carefully , he must also resist the temptation to give away free kicks in dangerous areas as Sneijder has got is lethal from dead ball situations.

Prediction

Inter have been the dominant force in Seria A for three seasons now. Much like Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea , Jose Mourinho has been brought to Inter to win the champions league. Though Inter will be disappointed with their heated 0-0 draw with Sampadoria , Chelsea were stuck in second gear as they stuttered past Wolves at the weekend. An away goal at the San Siro will be vital to take back to the Bridge in the second leg. In Drogba , Chelsea have a striker who is arguably above all others in the world game at the moment , however with Interâ€™s solid and fast midfield and the thread they pose up front it will be a very difficult one to call.

Chelsea 2 – 2 Inter