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Champions League Final 2010 Preview
Champions League Final: Inter vs Bayern - the Battle of Europe in Madrid
Ozren Podnar
The new European champions will not be Europe's best team. It will be either Inter or Bayern, none of whom can realistically claim to be better than Barcelona or Chelsea, although Inter managed to defeat both. Maybe not even superior to Manchester United, even though Bayern, narrowly, knocked them out in the quarterfinals in the Theatre of Dreams.
But, both Inter and Bayern have master coaches, whose impressive understanding of the game and winning mentalities underlie the teams' recent successes. Frankly, Jose Mourinho's contribution this season has been greater than Louis van Gaal's. The volcanic Mourinho, as his current boss Massimo Moratti has labelled him, has transmitted his predatory instinct to Inter's players and instilled them with the aggression and guile they seem to have lacked in the previous campaigns, at least in Europe.
Robben and Olic Bayern's saviours
Van Gaal on the other hand has mostly to thank two players he initially did not even count on at the start of the season. The Dutchman Arjen Robben was signed on the last day of the transfer window when Real Madrid declared him surplus to requirements. The Croatian Ivica Olic had none of Van Gaal's confidence early on. The reports from Bayern's dressing room claimed the coach wanted to get rid of him, considering him the fifth striker behind Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose, new guy Thomas Muller and the Italian Luca Toni. Eventually, it was Toni who was offloaded (to Roma), while Gomez and even more so Klose found themselves on the bench more often than anybody could predict.
Robben and Olic provided Bayern the punch in European games, from the 4-1 thumping of Juventus in the decider of the group stage, through the knockout stages against Fiorentina, Manchester United and Lyon. Who can forget Robben's strikes in Florence and Manchester or Olic's runs against Juve, United or Lyon?
In fact, the Croatian could yet win the Champions League Golden Boot should he score in the final; level on eight goals with Messi, if he scores once, or alone, if he nets twice.
For four of Inter's players the return to Bernabeu will have an added spice: they all played in Real but were infamously ditched by the club's less-than-perspicatious human resources department. Samuel Eto'o managed just six League appearances before being offloaded to Mallorca and from there to Barcelona, where he attained worldwide stardom; Esteban Cambiasso and Wesley Sneijder were transferred to Inter after two seasons and Walter Samuel survived just one season at Bernabeu.
Will Mourinho stay in Madrid
The venue of the finals, Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu, could have a further symbolic meaning in the light of the negotiations between Real and Mourinho. The search for Real's new coach started as early as March, when Real lost to Lyon in Europe, only to intensify after the team's collapse in the League last weekend. Such is Real's frustration with another trophyless season that Mourinho has come to be considered the only saviour of the Galaxy. Madrid dailies Marca and As, which primarily cater for Real's fans, have engaged in an aggressive pro-Mourinho campaign, virtually bludgeoning chairman Florentino Perez into hiring him, no matter what.
When Inter's expedition landed in Madrid on Wednesday, the local press was all over Mourinho with one question on their lips: will he prolong his stay in Madrid after the finals in order to take over at Santiago Bernabeu? The fanatically ambitious coach has said on various occasions that his ultimate goal is winning the League championships in England, Italy and Spain. The first two conditions have been met, only Spain remains. And since Josep Guardiola is untouchable at Barcelona, and no other team but Barca and Real can win the Primera Division, there is no other choice for Mourinho but Real Madrid.
EUR 56 million for a coach?
"I will coach Real Madrid, 100%, but I don't know when," said the Portuguese "Special One" earlier this week, but after the finals, whatever the score, we'll probably find out when, as well. And it could be very soon.
True, Perez will have to pay Inter a 16 million euros transfer fee plus ten to 12 million euros per year to Mourinho. That would amount to EUR 56 to 64 million in four years, the highest price ever paid for a coach, but ending Barcelona's domination would be priceless for Madrid's boss.
The only problem seems to be: would Mourinho fit at Santiago Bernabeu? Would he listen to Perez and Valdano, who reportedly like to voice their opinions regarding the line-ups? Or will the club leaders, for a change, let a coach do his job without interferences?
"I do not think Mourinho would be an appropriate coach for Real," said Liverpool's Rafa Benitez recently. And he should know, since he was born in Madrid and worked in Real's youth teams. At Barcelona they most certainly hope Benitez is right.
Semifinals: Inter's close shave
The two finalists had very different kind of jobs in the semifinals. While Bayern eased past Lyon with a 4-0 aggregate (all four goals scored by Olic), Inter toiled against Barcelona, coming within inches of elimination in added time of the return leg at Camp Nou. But, Bojan Krkic's "good" goal was disallowed just six minutes after Gerard Pique's goal from an offside position was allowed to stand. Inter, who played an ultra defensive game that turned many heads, scraped through with a 3-2 aggregate win to qualify for their first Champions League finals in 38 years. Inter are slight favourites with the bookies.
Semifinal results
Bayern vs Lyon 1-0 3-0
Inter vs Barcelona 3-1 0-1
Finalists' results so far
Bayern Munich
Group stage
Maccabi vs Bayern 0-3 0-1
Bordeaux vs Bayern 2-1 2-0
Bayern vs Juventus 0-0 4-1
Round of 16
Bayern vs Fiorentina 2-1 2-3
Quarterfinals
Bayern vs Manchester Utd. 2-1 2-3
Semifinals
Bayern vs Lyon 1-0 3-0
Inter Milan
Group stage
Rubin vs Inter 1-1 1-2
Inter vs Barcelona 0-0 0-2
Inter vs Dinamo Kiev 2-2 2-1
Round of 16
Inter vs Chelsea 2-1 1-0
Quarterfinals
Inter vs CSKA Moscow 1-0 1-0
Semifinals
Inter vs Barcelona 3-1 0-1
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