Jose to renew rivalry with Alex
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 11, 2009 00:00
LONDON - Injury-hit Inter Milan plays at Manchester United, who looks unstoppable with its amazing run of victories, in the Champions League. However, it will be a clash of bosses before players, as a ’Ferguson vs Mourinho revisited’
Manchester United appears unstoppable as it chases an unprecedented five titles in one season, and Inter Milan's chances of halting the Red Devils in the Champions League have been hit by an injury crisis in defense.
The knockout phase of European football's most prestigious competition resumes with the second legs and Man United goes into tonight's game at Old Trafford level at 0-0 but with an embarrassment of riches in attack while Inter has just lost two key defenders and may have two more missing.
Nicolas Burdisso hurt his right leg and tore a ligament in his left knee in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Genoa and Marco Materazzi injured his left leg. Materazzi may miss three weeks, while Burdisso could be out for six weeks.
Renewing rivalry
"(Christian) Chivu, (Walter) Samuel, Burdisso and Materazzi are out if you ask me," said Inter coach Jose Mourinho, who renews his rivalry with Ferguson.
Mourinho led Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons in English football and also won the FA Cup final against Ferguson's team.
Although Inter is seven points ahead in the Serie A title race, it has not won the European title since 1965 and now takes on the defending champion.
United moved into the semifinal of the FA Cup on Saturday with a 4-0 victory at Fulham with two goals from Carlos Tevez and will face Chelsea for a place in the final.
United's triumphs in the Club World Cup in November and last weekend's League Cup took Ferguson's total of trophies to 24 in 23 seasons and his team is also seven points ahead in the Premier League title race with a game in hand. Ferguson rested Cristiano Ronaldo and put Dimitar Berbatov on the bench to keep them fresh and fit for the return leg against Inter. Defender Nemanja Vidic returns to the side for the second leg after missing the first leg in Milan through suspension.
Held 3-3 by AS Roma and beaten 3-0 by Sampdoria in the Italian Cup semifinals, Inter rallied with a 2-0 victory over Genoa on Saturday with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring after two minutes having missed those two earlier games.
"I feel good. I'm better than a few days ago. I played 90 minutes and I didn't feel any problem," said Ibrahimovic, who has a poor game in the first leg in Milan. "We're going in with even more confidence. Anything can happen and we're going there to win."
Barca welcomes Lyon
Three of tonight's games start off level while AS Roma has to overturn Arsenal's 1-0 advantage. FC Porto-Atletico Madrid are level at 2-2 and Barcelona hopes to beat Lyon and make it to the last eight.
Barcelona's four-game run without a victory ended with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and Josep Guardiola's team, now six points ahead in the league and also in the Copa del Rey final, is chasing three titles.
"We have corrected a few things and we have shown our best level although if we don't win, the doubts will return," Guardiola said. "We're on the right track. Sometimes you can play badly but the attitude is always good and people value that."
Barcelona's victory over Bilbao was marred by captain Carles Puyol picking up a left ankle sprain which will rule him out for three weeks.
The knockout phase of European football's most prestigious competition resumes with the second legs and Man United goes into tonight's game at Old Trafford level at 0-0 but with an embarrassment of riches in attack while Inter has just lost two key defenders and may have two more missing.
Nicolas Burdisso hurt his right leg and tore a ligament in his left knee in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Genoa and Marco Materazzi injured his left leg. Materazzi may miss three weeks, while Burdisso could be out for six weeks.
Renewing rivalry
"(Christian) Chivu, (Walter) Samuel, Burdisso and Materazzi are out if you ask me," said Inter coach Jose Mourinho, who renews his rivalry with Ferguson.
Mourinho led Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons in English football and also won the FA Cup final against Ferguson's team.
Although Inter is seven points ahead in the Serie A title race, it has not won the European title since 1965 and now takes on the defending champion.
United moved into the semifinal of the FA Cup on Saturday with a 4-0 victory at Fulham with two goals from Carlos Tevez and will face Chelsea for a place in the final.
United's triumphs in the Club World Cup in November and last weekend's League Cup took Ferguson's total of trophies to 24 in 23 seasons and his team is also seven points ahead in the Premier League title race with a game in hand. Ferguson rested Cristiano Ronaldo and put Dimitar Berbatov on the bench to keep them fresh and fit for the return leg against Inter. Defender Nemanja Vidic returns to the side for the second leg after missing the first leg in Milan through suspension.
Held 3-3 by AS Roma and beaten 3-0 by Sampdoria in the Italian Cup semifinals, Inter rallied with a 2-0 victory over Genoa on Saturday with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring after two minutes having missed those two earlier games.
"I feel good. I'm better than a few days ago. I played 90 minutes and I didn't feel any problem," said Ibrahimovic, who has a poor game in the first leg in Milan. "We're going in with even more confidence. Anything can happen and we're going there to win."
Barca welcomes Lyon
Three of tonight's games start off level while AS Roma has to overturn Arsenal's 1-0 advantage. FC Porto-Atletico Madrid are level at 2-2 and Barcelona hopes to beat Lyon and make it to the last eight.
Barcelona's four-game run without a victory ended with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and Josep Guardiola's team, now six points ahead in the league and also in the Copa del Rey final, is chasing three titles.
"We have corrected a few things and we have shown our best level although if we don't win, the doubts will return," Guardiola said. "We're on the right track. Sometimes you can play badly but the attitude is always good and people value that."
Barcelona's victory over Bilbao was marred by captain Carles Puyol picking up a left ankle sprain which will rule him out for three weeks.