The UEFA Champions League semifinals start today with the titanic clash of two superpowers like FC Barcelona and Inter Milan and, with all due respect to Bayern Munich and Lyon, this is the real championship game as we know it. The tournament champion will be decided at Inter's Giuseppe Meazza and Barca's Nou Camp, not the Santiago Bernabeu.
Inter has a massive inferiority complex, having never won the Champions League since 1965, while Barcelona has the cockiness and confidence of a team that knows that's playing with house money.
Barcelona may be favored, but Inter can put up a good fight if you break the teams down position by position.
Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter) vs Victor Valdes (Barcelona). Edge: Inter. The brazilian goalkeeper has been going through a rough patch lately, but he is more solid than his Spanish counterpart.
Defense: Maicon-Lucio-Samuel-Zanetti (Inter) vs Maxwell-Pique-Puyol-Dani Alves (Barcelona). Edge: Inter. By a landslide. Barcelona's attacking style of play leaves gaping holes in its defense sometimes, while Inter's success comes from its rock solid defensive mindset.
Midfield: Cambiasso-Motta-Sneijder (Inter) vs Busquets-Xavi-Keita (Iniesta). Edge: Barcelona. Cambiasso evens out with Keita, Motta with Busquets, but Xavi is better than Sneijder. Xavi is smarter and a better ball handler.
Forwards: Milito-Eto'o-Pandev (Inter) vs Messi-Ibrahimovic-Pedro(Barcelona). Edge: Barcelona. Messi is a monster right now, and nobody can stop him. However, Milito could dramatically increase his chances of going to the World Cup as Argentina's sixth forward if he has a good series.
0 comments:
Post a Comment