Last night bore witness to a ten-man Inter Milan dump Barcelona out of the Champion's League.
What was the most striking sight of the night? Was it the Camp Nou filled to capacity with 96,000 screaming fans? Or was it the sight of Mourinho running onto the ground when it was over? Or was it Busquets going down like he was a shot after what seemed like a 'soft' push by Motta? I truly do not know. But what I do know, is that the character shown by Internazionale was the stuff of legend.
The build up to the match had been striking enough - between Mourinho stating that Barcelona was "obsessed" with reaching the finals in the Bernabau, home turf of their bitter-most rivals Madrid, Gerard Pique connecting with the fans and asking them to make the atmosphere electric enough to make inter hate football for 90 minutes, this had promised to be a cracker of a contest. When Inter won the home leg 3-1, several critics doubted their ability to hold out against a rampant Barcelona team on a wider pitch, with a faster outfield. But as it turned out, Inter Milan did all that - and more!
There was intense drama right before the match... Mourinho named Sneijder in starting eleven, even though the midfielder was not 100 percent fit after his hamstring problem against Atlanta. Messi had scored 17 goals in two Champions League tournaments so far - 9 in the last year's edition, and 8 so far in this year's. Barcelona's centre-back Gabriel Milito was set to face older brother and Inter's forward, Diego, as Barca looked to the home atmosphere to pull them through. Barcelona were also not without their injury problems, with Andres Iniesta (thigh) and Eric Abidal (groin) not in the squad.
Just a few minutes before the match, Jose Mourniho withdrew striker Pandev for defender Christian Chivu, citing an injury to the forward. But whether this was a genuine injury, or a tactical switch after seeing Barcelona's 3-4-3 attacking formation is yet to be seen. The Inter manager might be asked to produce evidence of the injury.
The match itself saw Barcelona hold all the possession - at one point it was close to 80%. But Inter looked pretty stable, with very little gap between their defense and midfield.
Incessant whistling followed Inter whenever they had the ball, with the home fans showing their displeasure towards Mourinho, who had worked as a translator at Nou Camp for four years in the early stages his career. More ire followed his words over the week, and about Figo's presence as Inter's ambassador. (The Barcelona fans never really forgave him after his move to Real).
Barcelona seemed to be camped inside the Inter half for long periods in the first half, but Inter matched them metre for metre, denying them any space at all. Then came Motta's sending off.
Thiago Motta had already been booked earlier for hauling down Ibrahimovic in the 10th minute, but was shown red for his challenge on Sergi Busquets. It looked like a soft push, though, and Busquets went down like a sack, clutching his face. Replays showed him looking at the referee in between, before writhing in agony once again, in a sickening display of what Mourinho had warned referees of before the game itself.
With Motta trudging back furiously, Inter adopted an even more defensive approach, with their lone striker, Milito striking a lone figure up front.
The second half continued the story of the first, with Barcelona having all the possession, but unable to put the final touch. Ibrahimovic was largely nonthreatening on the night, and fans looked to Messi to deliver the killer punch. Pep Guardiola replaced Milito with Maxwellat the break, and later Ibrahimovic with Bojan in an effort to infuse some fresh legs into his attack. Jeffren came on to replace Busquets.
Mourinho brought on Muntari to replace Sneijder, who had had an excellent night out despite his lack of fitness.
While Xavi and Messi dictated play in the Inter half, Barcelona failed to put a telling ball into the final third, the closest coming through Bojan, who headed Messi's delightful cross in from the left just agonizingly wide. Inter's night was pretty much summed up when even Eto'o was back at the post, making a vital interception.
But the game changed suddenly in the 84th minute, when Pique showed great composure to turn his marker, and slot the ball past the effervescent Julio Cesar into the empty net.
All of a sudden Barcelona fans were on the edge of their seats, and watched as Barcelona applied incessant pressure on Inter in the final five minutes, plus four minutes added time. And so it ended, Inter losing the second leg 0-1, but going through to the finals for the first time since 1972, on a 3-2 aggregate.
So this leaves us heading towards the Bernabau on May 22nd, where Mourinho will meet his former mentor Van Gaal, and Inter Milan will face Bayern Munich in the final. What a match that will be to look forward to!
