Ibra? he's great against Parma, Siena, or Livorno ...... but he's a BIG MATCH FLOP!

Torres is something else! If Liver wins ch.l. this season Torres will be Kaka's heir in Ballon d'Or.

"I prossimi due mesi e mezzo saranno gli ultimi alla guida dell'Inter - ha annunciato il tecnico ai giornalisti al termine della partita con i Reds -. L'ho già detto ai ragazzi ed è giusto renderlo noto a tutti. E' una decisione che avevo già preso e non dipende dalla sconfitta di stasera"

Big match flop. Tell me in how many big matches did Kaka' perform? Against the reserve-defense of Man Utd last semis?

Kaka' against Inter and Juve was non-existent in the past 2 years. Same for Liverpool against Mascherano.
Same against Roma although I hope he proves me wrong next weekend.
He was class against the likes of AEK...

Torres is totally different from Ibrahimovic. But both are world-class.

Big match flop. Tell me in how many big matches did Kaka' perform? Against the reserve-defense of Man Utd last semis?

Kaka' against Inter and Juve was non-existent in the past 2 years. Same for Liverpool against Mascherano.
Same against Roma although I hope he proves me wrong next weekend.
He was class against the likes of AEK...

Torres is totally different from Ibrahimovic. But both are world-class.

Big match flop. Tell me in how many big matches did Kaka' perform? Against the reserve-defense of Man Utd last semis?

Kaka' against Inter and Juve was non-existent in the past 2 years. Same for Liverpool against Mascherano.
Same against Roma although I hope he proves me wrong next weekend.
He was class against the likes of AEK...

Torres is totally different from Ibrahimovic. But both are world-class.

Big match flop. Tell me in how many big matches did Kaka' perform? Against the reserve-defense of Man Utd last semis?

Kaka' against Inter and Juve was non-existent in the past 2 years. Same for Liverpool against Mascherano.
Same against Roma although I hope he proves me wrong next weekend.
He was class against the likes of AEK...

Torres is totally different from Ibrahimovic. But both are world-class.

I do remember a good match vs. Inter from Capello's Juve in San Siro where Zlatan scored and played a nice match.

Inter lost I think. It was in San Siro. 

No matter what you say Ibra chokes in the CL. And this is not objective, he proves it every single season... Is Skrtel any better than the United subs? I don't think so... Even so, it was a CL semifinal and if it was so easy then more world-class players would do it. Also, until the day Ibra does something similar I'm going to believe he cannot do something similar...

Kaka against Inter and Juve is always being kicked around and earning 2 or more yellows... of course he cannot shine under such circumstances and it's easy to block him down by isolating the only forward we've played with in these games (which is supereasy). Ibra has done better in these games but Kaka did not flop. At least that's what I believe.

As for the game against Liverpool... no player from either team managed to do anything special. Even so, Kaka still managed to win the free-kick from which our first goal came and also made a perfect through ball for Pippo for the second which was the most brilliant thing in the whole game.

Of course Ibra and Torres are both world-class. I think Ibra does other stuff other than scoring goals too. But I cannot remember a big game from him in the CL (against a great opponent).

How can someone say "Kaka' is class, Ibra sucks" ?

FFS guys. Let's put this straight: Ibrahimovic is the best player in Italy at the moment. He might have a cnut attitude but he's miles away from any other player.
Did he choke in CL big clashes? Yes. Thouh he was their best player tonight along with Zanetti.

Kaka' is having a poor moment. Not even against Flamini...

                  Inter fans curse their luck

Everyone belonging to the posh quarters of the Fourth Estate should, once, watch an important football match within earshot of the home fans. Or, on second thought, it shouldn't. The experience can be wildy exhilarating, veering from the ridiculous to the sublime in the blink of an eye, ascending to the heights and plunging to the depths of what, basically, attending a football match entails.

On Tuesday, at the San Siro or Meazza in Milan, your humble correspondent did just that. Not on purpose, mind you. The extraordinary number of Press credential requests for Inter v Liverpool meant that, as for other Champions League matches in the same venue, some of the media had to sit in the overflow section. Among the fans, that is, which has a tendency to create a whole new atmosphere.

In short, not often have I heard as much swearing as I did on Tuesday. And that was towards Inter players within a few minutes of kick-off, not against the red-clad visitors playing their cat-and-mouse game on the pitch. Boy, what an international, cosmopolitan way to learn new swear words. And what a confirmation of that old cliché about how we Italians make up with creativity and ingenuity what we lack in industry. Although the swearing went on for so long it did require some lung strength.

On the subject of body parts, considering Inter had little left in their legs even in the first half, which should make the remaining of the Serie A season much more interesting than I thought, the tale of the game might well be enriched by the soundtrack of the high-pitched, gravel-voiced, hoarse-voiced, angry, bilious fans.

Their cause severely undermined by the result from the first leg, and with an emergency situation in central defence as their top three choices were out either by suspension or injury, Inter had an even harder task than a side trying to recover from a 0-2 result should. Coach Roberto Mancini could not risk leaving his central defenders, Cristian Chivu ('*******', as one of his own fans dubbed him before five minutes had passed) and the pompously nicknamed 'Tyson' Rivas, exposed to Fernando Torres' speed, so he had no choice but to use dependable utility man Esteban Cambiasso ('you square-footed idiot') in his customary position patrolling the space in front of them.

With Liverpool closing down space in their very organized manner, Inter had no avenues left, not with Vieira ('you slow *******!') on his last legs and Zanetti ('pass the ball once, you ****', but still a lot of respect for the hard-running captain) struggling to find breathing room. Inter never got into a flow except for a stretch of the first half when good use of the flanks meant they created a couple of half chances, the best one as Julio Cruz ('you ******* misfiring Argie!') shot just wide of the far post on a great through ball by Zlatan Ibrahimovic ('booo!').

In another instance, a brilliant, reaction back-heel by Cruz ('do the simple thing, you &%$£!!!') brought an athletic save by Pepe Reina, but Liverpool kept pressing and defending as a unit, forcing Inter to resort to increasingly desperate attempts by Zanetti to go past his man, only to find another red jersey blocking his path, while Vieira ('...', ok, you get it) seemed to spend ages bringing the ball under control, thus allowing opponents to close him down quickly.

Inter's cause was not helped by Dejan Stankovic ('you useless piece of ***!')having a less than impressive outing in his position just behind Ibrahimovic and Cruz, where he was supposed, no, make it expected, to draw defenders out of position and pull Liverpool's defence apart, but the discipline Rafa Benitez's men displayed in the middle of the pitch meant Stankovic was forced to roam for space, and this deprived him of yet another facet of his effectiveness, as - you've guessed it - yet another visiting player would pop up there, too.

Further abuse was heaped on Mancini when he failed to take Stankovic off after the interval, but while Figo (sorry, not insults for him, he was barely seen from the stands) was completing his warm-up and preparing to go in Nicolàs Burdisso ('you empty-brained nobody!') got himself sent-off with a silly second yellow card, which did not go down too well with Mancini, who complained of a double-standard (actually, he said 'triple') as hacking from behind had been punished at Anfield - two Inter players were booked within 15 minutes there - while that was not the case at the Meazza on four occasions in the first half.

Any lingering criticism of the ref ('you fat, tanned, bald *****') was quickly forgotten, though, when Mancini memorably asked for a moment's attention from the Italian media ('the English media probably don't care about this') and announced his resignation, effective at the end of the season. He then left, the equivalent of lighting a fuse then leaving the room and wait outside for the blast.

What left everybody stunned was not the content of Mancini's statement, as he'd been rumoured to be on his way out at the end of the season, but the nonchalant manner of the announcement, which obviously evoked a collective frenzy of phone-calls, text messages and hand gestures, all meaning the same: 'Hold the back page'. In the Italian sports dailies world this actually means the first, second and perhaps third pages. And given the circumstances under which the announcement came, you could just picture Inter fans on their way home adding just another little icing on the cake of a swear word, perhaps thinking ahead to the effect Mancini's resignation will have on his players in the next two months of the Serie A.

Of course, this whole story is not meant as a criticism of Inter fans, who on the whole supported their side with vigour, were already in good voice a couple of hours before kick-off and even found the strength to let out one of their customary cheers as the curtains came down on yet another European season for them. I have seen enough matches to know this could have happened, on the night, anywhere in Italy.

But as I nudged a colleague sitting next to me, who was unprepared for such a stream of abuse erupting around him and tried unsuccessfully to change seats midway through the first half, a thought occured: if this is the abuse, or more like pent-up frustration, fans of the best side in Italy express towards their own players, what kind of language would you hear during a relegation six-pointer?

thanks for the help, you guys are great

SEMI FINALS:

Arsenal - Liverpool vs Fenerbahce - Chelsea

Schalke - Barca vs Roma - Man U.

Why's everyone giving Chelsea so much credit? they won't make it to the final imo. not when there's Liverpool in their way!

You know, everyone's discounting Fenerbahce. They're hardly favourites but I've been rather impressed with them. Chelsea may not find it that easy of a tie -- especially the away leg in Istanbul.

You know, everyone's discounting Fenerbahce. They're hardly favourites but I've been rather impressed with them. Chelsea may not find it that easy of a tie -- especially the away leg in Istanbul.

You are giving Liverpool too much credit. They won't even make it to the semis this year.

Arsenal - Chelsea

Barca - Roma

OFFICAL:
LIVERPOOL-ARSENAL
BARCA-SHALKE
FENERBACHE-CHELSEA
MAN UNITED - ROMA

I'm surprised how you people underestimate Liverpool. you can mark my words...

Liverpool will knock Arsenal OUT!
We know...