Ibra-himo-who?

25 February 09 by Bill

You’d be forgiven if you tuned into last night’s Champions League clash expecting to see a goal fest given the hype surrounding Inter Milan’s superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

He himself claims to be better than Wayne Rooney whilst Jose Mourinho even went so far as to label him “possibly the best in the world”.

I think it must be a case of out of sight, out of mind for the Portuguese coach because whilst Inter and Ibrahimovic may be able to dominate Serie A, faced with the challenge of the Premier League champions, they looked average at best.

United set about controlling the game early yesterday and did so with relative ease for the first 45 minutes. United’s passing was crisp and you could see the players were up for the match. Inter on the other hand were sloppy, slow and uninspiring.

Ibrahimovic and Inter’s other front man, Adriano caused precious little mischief in the United half and can’t of even broken a sweat such was their lack of involvement.

United could have been two or three up by the break were it not for Inter keeper Julio Cesar with United’s own star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, forcing the Brazilian into a handful of saves from a range of free kicks and headers.

Inter did come back into the game in the second half but didn’t do anywhere near enough to make the Champions question what to do next week. Inter are ready for the taking; attack, attack, attack.

Manchester United were without key defenders in yesterday’s game and put out a patched up back four, albeit a stronger one than we expected. Even so, last night presented Inter with their best opportunity to score and they failed to take it.

Nemanja Vidic (amongst others) will be welcomed back for the second leg so Inter will need to score at Old Trafford, against a full strength back line or keep our array of attacking talent at bay for the full ninety minutes –either way, no easy task.

Wayne Rooney was the surprise absentee from yesterday’s starting line-up but you can be sure he’ll be in contention for the second leg. The striker has scored in his previous two outings since returning from injury and he’ll be hoping to carry that form on in the second leg.

In contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in this year’s Champions League despite his haul of 16 goals this season. Ronaldo was unlucky not to score yesterday and his recent form has been too good for that streak to last much longer.

All things considered, United are in good stead to defend their Champions League title with the bookies certainly backing that up. Some making United two to one favourites to qualify. United controlled the match on Italian soil, they’ll dominate it on their own.

My prediction for the second leg: Manchester United 2 – 0 Internazionale (and I’m being conservative).

2 Comments already, join the discussion

Posted in Champions League · Tagged Champions League, Internazionale, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Discussion, what's your opinion?

2 people have said their bit on “Ibra-himo-who?”

Yes, Internazionale didnt score but your giving Credit to a team whom didn’t score either. May have played better than Inter but that doesnt mean anything.
Football is very unpredictable.
“Manchester United 2 – 0 Internazionale (and I’m being conservative)”
As I bet you were being conservative (first leg) that United wasnt going to score right? but rather in the second leg.
One thing is to predict and another is being a fool “and I’m being conservative”

McWhom? on February 27th, 2009 5:58 pm

@McWhom?: I’m not totally sure I understand what you’re getting at but I’ll try to string something together that I hope will satisfy you.

You meantion United played better but it means nothing. I beg to differ. You will very rarely see a team in Europe travel to one of footballs elite clubs and control play as Manchester United did. Yes, there were no goals, but the football on display was fantastic at times. United showed no fear and set about their job admirably.

This as you may have noticed, is a Manchester United website. Discussing matches is what we do so when we outplay Inter in their own back yard, we think it means something and we’re going to want to talk about it.

As for predictions on the first leg, just so I know, are you asking me where my 0 – 0 prediction was? Granted I didn’t publish it on this site but I did predict a 0 – 0 over at a friend’s blog. You can see it here: http://carlyluvsunited.blogspot.com/2009/02/manchester-united-had-better-fear-jose.html?showComment=1234899660000#c171480665926646839

I hope this clear’s things up for you.

Good luck in the second leg