Inter Milan Keen to Sign Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt from Liverpool

As English Premiere League is closing in clubs are getting busy signing up players. Manchester City is eyeing Aston Villa’s midfielder James Milner for £24m. Aston Villa’s manager, Martin O’Neill, is going to use the money to sign up Tottenham striker Robbie Keane and Celtic FC’s winger Aiden McGeady.

Inter Milan, the new home of former Liverpool coach, Rafa Benitez, is planning to pick up Javier Mascherano and Dirk Kuyt of Liverpool. Mascherano, on July 26, 2010, talked to Liverpool coach, Roy Hodgson, about leaving the club. Though Benitez, while leaving for Inter Milan this summer, agreed not to sign his former players for three months, he would make an exception for Javier Mascherano.

On the contrary, Massimo Moratti, President, Inter Milan, is not ready to spend money on buying players. He finds no reason to spend so much money for Inter Milan, which won Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League last season.

Moratti is planning to spend £25m for Mascherano.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan is now focusing on the sell of Mario Balotelli and Brazilian football player Maicon Douglas Sisenando. It is believed that Balotelli has been picked up by Manchester City for £24m while Maicon is almost close to seal a deal with Real Madrid for similar figure.

After selling these two players, Inter Milan would pick up Mascherano and Kuyt. Though Mascherano’s move is confirmed, Kuyt is has not shown any sign of moving to another club and Hodgson is not ready to give a player who can play in several positions.

Barcelona Football Club is going after Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. It received £24m from City for Yaya Touré and would use this money to pick Fabregas. Catalonian Football Club is looking to pick up Villarreal CF’s Marcso Senna.

Barcelona vs Inter Milan Live Updates: 28 April 2010

Barcelona (1) vs Inter Milan (0)

INTER MILAN in CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009-10 FINAL on 3-2 aggregate.

90+4 minutes: Corner for Barcelona and it is perhaps the last chance, but nothing happend. That is the final whistle.

90+2 minutes: Barcelona scored, but it was suspended as it was handball.

90 minutes: 4 minutes of time added on.

88 minutes: Barcelona is now on all out attack.

86 minutes: Mariga comes in place of Eto.

84 minutes: Barcelona at last scored thanks to Pique. They just need one more goal to reach the final.

80 minutes: Inter Milan defense has done very well so far.

75 minutes: Barcelona is still trying to score.

70 minutes: Time is running out for Barcelona.

67 minutes: Sneijder has been replaced by Muntari.

66 minutes: Corner for Barcelona, but poorly taken.

63 minutes: Ibrahimovic went out and Karic came in.

59 minutes: Barcelona once again threatened, but nothing happened.

55 minutes: Barcelona is still dominating in the game, but could not score yet. It is still 0-0 and Inter is ahead 3-1 on aggregate.

46 minutes: The second half started just now. inter has the first attack.

It is now half time at Camp Nou. Barcelona could not score any goal, despite keeping the pressure on Inter Milan. Inter is now playing with 10 players. We will be back with the second half action. Till then, be with us.

45+2 minutes: First half finished at 0-0.

45 minutes: Two minutes of time added on.

43 minutes: Inter is now on counter attack, but failed to keep the possession of the ball. Chivu shown yellow card.

40 minutes: Barcelona keeps attacking now. However, Inter Milan defense is showing character.

35 minutes: Julio Ceser was shown yellow card for killing time.

32 minutes: A good save by Inter Milan keeper.

28 minutes: Motta received marching order.

23 minutes: A good chance for Barcelona as Pedro's shot went outside.

20 minutes: A rare attack from Inter Milan.

18 minutes: Barcelona has 80% of ball possession, while Inter has 20%

13 minutes: Barcelona has kept the pressure on Inter Milan

10 minutes: Thiago Motta was shown yellow card

5 minutes: Barcelona is attacking more now.

2 minutes: Barcelona got a free kick, but was poorly taken.

0 minute: the match has started just now. Barcelona is in attack now.

Barcelona takes on Inter Milan in the second leg of the Champions League semi final tonight. The match kicks off at 18:45 GMT at the Camp Nou stadium of Barcelona. The home side will be looking to overturn their 3-1 deficit of first leg.

In this entry, we will be giving live score and text updates of the match after every few minutes. So, be with us and enjoy the updates.

Chelsea out of CL 2009-10: Sweet Revenge for Jose Mourinho

Last night Chelsea lost to Inter Milan and got themselves out of Champions League 2009-10. This is a very big blow because for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and all the supporters. Champions League was a very important trophy to win. The bad part is that they could not even reach the quarterfinal and they got out from the round of sixteen. To add some insult to the injury, this defeat came against Inter Milan club of which the coach is Jose Mourinho. Mourinho was the former coach of Chelsea and he was removed in a very bad way by Roman Abramovich. So, it was a very sweet victory for the former coach.

The bad part of Chelsea this season is that when they look very strong then they stumble. At one stage, it looked like that they would easily win the trophy of English Premier League. Now, they are level on points with Arsenal having played one game less then Arsenal. The irony is that Chelsea has defeated Arsenal twice in this season. But yet they could not do well against weaker opponent.

Now, both Manchester United and Arsenal are very close to Chelsea in the point table and anything can happen. Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he is more worried about Arsenal than Chelsea in the league table race. May be, he is right after all. We have to wait another few weeks to see what happens.

Inter Milan to Tour USA in Summer 2009

(This entry was originally published on Friday, March 13th, 2009)

Italian club Inter Milan will tour USA at the end of this season with a view to training at the U.C.L.A. and playing three exhibition matches. First, Chelsea would face local MSL club Los Angles Galaxy where David Beckham is playing. The first friendly match will take place on 16 July. Then Jose Mourinho’s side would face his former club Chelsea in a high-profile friendly. Inter Milan would play their last match in the US against arch-rival A.C. Milan. Earlier, it was expected that Inter Milan would play against a Major League Soccer All-Star team in their visit to U.S.A in Summer 2009.

Related article:

New York Times

Jose Mourinho: Zero Percent Chance of Signing Didier Drogba by Inter Milan

(This entry was originally published in this blog December 2008 and it is based on the information of that time.)

Since the departure of Jose Mourinho from Chelsea, striker Didier Drogba was linked with a move away from Chelsea. After Mourinho joined Inter Milan as the coach, Drogba was also linked with a move to Inter Milan. However, it seems all these things have been ended now. Recently, former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho said that there was no chance Didier Drogba could make a move to Inter Milan in January transfer window at this moment. However, the Inter Milan manager termed Drogba as one of his men and said that the door of his club is always open for Drogba. Reports have it in the media that Drogba talked with Inter Milan officials last month for a possible move to Italy.

IHT reported:

“If one day Didier has a clear situation in his life with his club — which is a club I love — and he is on his way out and I am Inter coach, Gamba Osaka coach, Red Bulls coach or whatever coach, everyone knows he’s one of my men,” Mourinho told Sky Sports on Thursday.

“He’s one of my men. Whatever club I am at the door is always open for him, but he’s a Chelsea player, a very good player, and at the moment there’s zero percent chance of him coming to Inter in January.”

There are reports out in the media suggest that Chelsea might put Didier Drogba in their bid to bring Adriano in January transfer window. However, Jose Mourinho ruled out this report too. Drogba is definitely not at his best at this moment after coming back to action recovering his injury this season. On the other hand, Adriano is also struggling with injury for the last one year and has been at his best yet this season. Now, let us see if the reported swap linking Drogba and Adriano comes into existence in January transfer window.

Massimo Moratti Vows Adriano will Stay at Inter Milan

(This entry was originally published in this blog December 2008 and it is based on the information of that time.)

For the last few weeks, Brazilian striker Adriano has been linked with a move to Chelsea in January transfer window. Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari recently expressed his wish to recruit an attacking midfielder in the January transfer window. Adriano could not impress at San Siro over the last three seasons as he is suffering from injury and poor form. However, he impressed in the pre-season training earlier this season after spending six months at Sao Paulo on loan and Inter Milan is not interested to let him leave the club.

Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti has recently insisted that Adriano will not leave Inter Milan in January. He now hopes that Adriano will come back in action as soon as possible after recovering from his muscular injury. So, it is not yet confirmed if Adriano will move away from Inter Milan this January.

Related article:

ESPN.Soccernet

Didier Drogba Not Linked with Inter Milan, Claims Agent

(This entry was originally posted in this blog on December 4, 2008 and the information is based on that time.)

Chelsea’s Ivorian striker Didier Drogba has once again become the newspaper headline for wrong reason. This time, rumors out in the media suggested that the striker was going to leave Chelae in order to join his former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan. However, Drogba’s agent Thierno Seydi has recently made it clear that the Didier Drogba has no link with Inter Milan yet and the player has not met anyone from Inter Milan.

Fansfc reported:

“Officially, I tell you firmly, Didier never met anyone from Inter,” Seydi told Le 10 Sport.
“It is disrespectful to say that. His priority is to give his best for Chelsea. He is absolutely not unhappy. To talk about a transfer is just not topical, despite everything you hear and read - there is nothing.”

Moreover, a few weeks earlier, Didier Drogba said that he would like to finish his career at Chelsea. He also added that he was very happy with the new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari who wanted Drogba to stay at the club after his arrival at the North London club during last summer. Following the departure of Jose Mourinho, Drogba publicly talked in favor of his former coach and it was pretty much certain that he was not happy with Mourinho leaving the club. That became an issue during Summer transfer window when many linked Drogba with a move to Inter Milan, the current destination of Jose Mourinho.

Well, as of now, Didier Drogba wants to stay at the club. However, things change pretty quickly in the transfer market. So, let us just wait and see for how long the striker would stay at the London based club.

Robert Mancini Admits a Tough Match against Liverpool in Champions League

Liverpool is going to travel San Siro to take on Inter Milan in the second leg of last 16 round match of Champions League. Inter Milan has to overturn 2-0 deficit to see Liverpool from this round. However, it would not be that much easy for Inter as Liverpool has come back to the right track in premier league with projecting four consecutive victories. Liverpool thrashed Newcastle United 3-0 recently and after that it is almost sure that Inter Milan would have to have everything on the right track in the match.

Inter Milan Coach Robert Mancini thinks that Inter must have a special night on the day to confirm a place in the next round. He admitted that it would be a tough game for them as they would have to come from behind and he also added that his side was not in excellent condition. He will miss some of their key players, while he could not confirm Hernan Crespo to be available for the match as he is still recovering from injury. However, Mancini has already prepared for disappointment.

Soccernet.espn reported:

'It is going to have to be one of those nights when everything goes well,'' he said.

'We have to play the game with our head and not allow them to settle, then the fans can try to give us a hand.''

'Liverpool have been able to get lots of players fit, but we have not.

'We are not in an excellent condition overall. Tuesday has got to be a special evening.''

Liverpool has two goals advantage ahead of the match and if they go on with their present form then they are most likely to get into the next round. Inter Milan has to play exceptionally well to outperform Liverpool. However, it is almost sure that fans are going to have a competitive match at San Siro this week.