UEFA Champions League
Internazionale Milan vs Chelsea
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
For most part of the last weekend match against Wolves, the Chelsea team looked pedestrian, bereft of energy and ideas in the midfield. In fact, Wolves looked good in attack too with Doyle and They got two chances, just two, which was enough for Drogba and Chelsea. Frank Lampard is back too. There lies Inter's challenge. They are likely to concede a goal or two but they need to match Chelsea.
Enter Wesley Sneijder, Inter's creative hub, whose ballistic missiles are a perfect deception. But when he is not fooling the opposition with his small stature, he is finding gaps, stroking pinpoint passes, and taking prodigiously curving free kicks. Sneijder's form is the big reason that Inter have not slipped behind in the Serie and after many years in CL doldrums, other teams are taking them seriously. Finally, they have the midfield connectivity that was lacking in other Inter teams when the striker's individual efforts would be enough to see them through.
He has settled behind Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito and his combination with the duo have yielded a rich harvest of goals. Against Chelsea, Mourinho is likely to introduce more physicality in the form of Thiago Motta, Esteban Cambiasso, and Sulley Muntari against a much narrower Chelsea game. Lucio and Walter Samuel bottle up the center.
And who does not fancy Maicon running against a less than match fit Juliano Belletti coming in place of Ashley Cole and Yuri Zhirkov? With the speedier Diego Milito on the right and there could be quite a few problem areas for Inter to exploit in that Chelsea left flank. And they have Mario Balotelli who if he applies his considerable skills can be the game changer.
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