At the Camp Nou Inter were forced to play with 10 men for over an hour after Thiago Motta was sent off. The Nerazzuri lost 1-0 but held out to go through to the final 3-2 on aggregate. Barcelona threw everything they had at the Inter Milan defence, yet the Blaugrana continuously hit the brick wall that had been erected by Lucio and Samuel. The two centre backs put in monumental performances along with the majority of the Inter team. The last 15 minutes of the match was a complete siege on the Inter goal, the Camp Nou became and infernal cauldron, the noise at times even drowned out the voices of the television commentators. Nevertheless the Nerazzuri were able to hold out, this is solely down the incredible discipline and sacrifice shown by Jose Mourinho’s players. An example of this was Samuel Eto’o’s performance; in the 77th minute he tracked Bojan’s back post run to perfection in order to deny the young Spaniard a great goal scoring opportunity. It is not often that one sees a centre forward doing a left back’s job in international football these days, but this was what Eto’o and Milito did all night at Camp Nou.

In fact, the Cameroonian striker’s desire is key to Inter’s success this season. With Samuel Eto’o in the side, the Nerazzuri play a completely different style of football to that played last season. Ibrahimovich did not sacrifice himself the way Eto’o does, and one can be certain that if that exchange had not taken place, Inter Milan would have been knocked out, and we would all be talking about the possibility of Barcelona being the first team to retain the Champions League since Sacchi’s AC Milan.

Instead, we are singing Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho’s praise, and rightfully so. His side produced a truly incredible display; defensively it was one of the best performances you will ever witness. It was not a pure Italian ‘Catenaccio’ until the last 15 minutes of the match. Prior to that Inter Milan simply held a high defensive line with brilliant discipline and completely suffocated Barcelona’s playmakers. This meant the Blaugrana often resorted to long balls aimed at Ibrahimovich, as their usual through balls were being regularly intercepted by the always-aware Inter Milan back four. This tactic meant that until the final fifteen minutes when tiredness began to show, Inter Milan were able to play without too many threats being created by the Catalan side. It is fair to say, that although Inter Milan certainly had a little bit of luck over the two legs, they ultimately deserve their place in this year’s UEFA Champions League final.

Inter Milan have been dominating in Italy for four straight years now. One cannot deny that Jose Mourinho’s men are the strongest team in Serie A at the moment. In addition to this, they seem to have a real chance of going the distance in the Champions League, something that in previous years always looked unlikely. Mourinho has created an incredible mental strength amongst the Inter ranks, this, combined with their already considerable physical strength on the pitch makes them a difficult opponent for any team to face. Furthermore, President Massimo Moratti has provided Mourinho with a fabulous squad of players. This summer, many Inter Milan fans were angry at the sale of their star Zlatan Ibrahimovich, but Moratti promptly silenced any criticism by signing Diego Milito and Thiago Motta from Genoa, Eto’o from Barcelona, Sneijder from Real Madrid, Lucio from Bayern Munich and Goran Pandev from Lazio. When one considers that A.C. Milan replaced Kaka by signing Huntelaar, Thiago Silva and Beckham, it becomes clear that Moratti did a fantastic job on the transfer market.

The improvements to the Inter Milan team are clear for everybody to witness, however, if one analyses the facts and figures of this season, they tell a very different story. Inter currently sit top of the table, five points clear of Roma and seven points clear of Milan, although the Rossoneri have a game in hand that will be played on Wednesday before Inter take on Chelsea in the Champions League. It is undeniable that Inter are a superior team to Milan, this was demonstrated in the two derby games. However, when one takes those six points away, Inter Milan have in fact amassed only a point more than Milan in the league, this not including Milan’s game in hand. Therefore it becomes clear that in actual fact Inter and Milan have matched each other with the exception of the derby games where Inter showed they were the stronger side. When one considers this statistic perhaps one could argue that Inter are not as strong as they appear to be.

If one begins to compare the number of points Inter Milan had amassed at this same stage of the season in previous years, one might argue that this look of invincibility is something derived from the incredible mental strength of the coach and players, and not something gained thanks to results on the pitch. In fact, in the 2006/07 season, at this stage of the season Inter Milan had eleven points more than they do this year. In the 2007/08 Serie A season, they had six points more at this stage of the season, and last year at this stage they had four points more than they do this year.

The above figures should be looked at as a positive by all Serie A teams as it indicates a rise in the quality of teams in Italy. This is by far the best squad of players Inter Milan have had since becoming the leading force in Italy. Yet, they are not even close to amassing the same number of points as in previous seasons. Teams should be looking at this statistic and realising, that yes Inter are a fantastic football team, but they are certainly not invincible, something that Chelsea will no doubt have realised. The sooner other teams in Italy come to terms with this reality, the sooner we will all be able to witness a title race with more than just one team.

Serie A has been criticised a lot recently with people claiming Italian sides are no longer formidable opponents. Certainly if one were to look at recent Champions League results, and consider the fact that Serie A risks losing a Champions League place to the Bundesliga, this becomes an easy argument to make. However, it is important to point out that Italian teams have been slightly unlucky in recent years when it comes to their Champions League opponents. For example this year the Italian teams were handed some of the most difficult match-ups in the second round, with AC Milan facing Manchester United, Inter Milan going up against Chelsea, and Fiorentina (who went through first in their group) facing the toughest of the second place teams: Bayern Munich.

            Nonetheless, this must not be seen as a good enough excuse considering that all the Serie A teams have the ability to beat their respective opponents in the second round. The problems that face Italian football are quite another, they are mostly down to the structure of their league as well as the infrastructure of their league. This is due to the fact that when one considers the financial aspect, Serie A teams are all ‘in the green’ with the exception of Inter Milan, which has some considerable debt. This is truly impressive when one considers the levels of debt present in the Premiership; the ‘Big Four’ for example have all got hundreds of millions of pounds worth of debt.  In addition to this, the level of teams in Serie A is considerably higher than those in the Premiership. A fact that was recently re-iterated by Jose Mourinho in an interview for The Sunday Telegraph: “In Italy it is more difficult to play, because all the teams are much more organised from a tactical point of view than anywhere else in Europe.” Therefore, when considering the two factors above, one can understand that these are not the reasons for Italian football’s recent decline.

            One might argue that the two most determining reasons are intertwined. Firstly the level of Serie A’s stadiums is not good enough. They are unable to withstand extreme weather conditions as they are lacking the modern technology now available to aid with such problems. Furthermore they are not spectator friendly, particularly in winter, as the majority do not have covered seating for example. The fact that stadiums are unable to withstand extreme weather conditions such as the snow that has recently hit much of Northern Italy means that Serie A is forced to take an extended winter break. The Premiership teams on the other hand, play throughout the Christmas and New Year period. Demetrio Albertini, Vice-President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) recently highlighted this exact point.

            The fact that Serie A teams are forced to take an extended break during the Christmas and New Year period means that players lose their fitness levels. This is perhaps one of the explanations behind why Italian teams always seem to struggle with the pace of English teams; they are simply not fit enough. One might argue that if Serie A carried on playing through the holidays, their sides would be in better physical condition by the time of the Champions League second round in February.

            The immediate conclusion that one can draw when examining the facts is that Serie A needs to re-build its stadiums. All teams must now follow Juventus’ lead regardless of weather Italy wins their bid to host the 2016 Euro; and build new spectator friendly and state of the art stadiums. This will certainly create a financial burden for several sides; however, the money they subsequently make from the inevitable improvement in ticket sales will make it worth it. Furthermore, such a project will aid Serie A to improve on every aspect including style of play. Yesterday Andrea Pirlo stated that the quality of pitches in Italy just wasn’t good enough, and therefore teams like Milan, which try to play exciting and beautiful football, find it more difficult. Better stadiums would lead to improved pitches, and hopefully improved styles of football from all teams.

The re-birth of Milan’s ‘Seleção Brasileira’ has led to Rossoneri’s return to good form. Dida is making decisive saves on a regular basis, Ronaldinho has started running back and helping the midfield by pressuring the opposition, Thiago Silva is protecting Nesta during those rare moments where Sandro struggles, and Pato seems to have grown even stronger since emerging from the dark period he suffered after Siena. The youngest of the Brazilians looks like he has freed himself of Kaka’s shadow. Ronaldinho recently said: “with Leonardo it’s easier.” This may be true, but it must be kept in mind that Leo was not always nice with Ronaldinho, leaving him on the bench for quite some time at the beginning of the season. Leonardo’s strategy seems to have paid off however, as Ronaldinho’s performances have been improving every week and he is slowly becoming more and more important for this team having scored three goals and provided six assists already.

Perhaps the most difficult case to resolve was that of Nelson Dida. Dida has always been criticised and was dropped to the bench due to his regular injury problems, Nelson was even relegated to last place on the goalkeeping ladder. Yet, chance brought about another opportunity for the Brazilian, injury to Storari and Abbiati meant he had to play against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu. The rest of the story is worthy of a Hollywood movie script; his dreadful error for Raul’s opener, Milan’s comeback to win in the Bernabeu for the first time in History, and the subsequent miraculous saves he has made in every game since then including the last minute save on Raul in Tuesday’s return leg at the San Siro. When asked about Dida, Leonardo explained: “It’s a fantastic story. Nelson’s entire career has been made up of extreme highs and lows, but no matter what, he has always come out on top.”

Leonardo himself did not have the easiest of times. He began his career as Milan manger dreaming of Santana’s Brazil, a dream he lock away in his bedside table while he re-built morale, only to bring out it again at the right time. The results are there for all to see, Leonardo often states: “I’m Brazilian, I will always attack, it is in my nature.” It was for this very nature that Galliani and Berlusconi decided to appoint Leo as Milan manager, it is with these same ideas that he has brought Ronaldinho back and recovered Pato after he had seemingly lost him. Pato went through a very difficult period after his goals in the opening game at Siena, nevertheless Leonardo played him in every game and displayed complete faith in the young Brazilian, a faith that has since been fully re-paid with excellent performances.

The final piece of Milan’s ‘Seleção Brasileira’ is Thiago Silva. Compared to the rest of the stories, his seems almost boring. However, he is one of the most important pieces of this team. He has been impeccable since his first game at Siena. In addition to his performances, Thiago has shown an incredible level of maturity considering it is his debut season in Serie A, a league where defending is constantly scrutinised.

Milan’s rebirth began when Ronaldinho scored his first goal of the season at Bergamo against Atalanta to save a point against a team that were at that moment bottom of the league. That point meant that the players were able to go into an international break with some sort of serenity. The first game after the break was against Roma, a game that signalled Milan’s comeback, since then, the Rossoneri have been transformed due to a number of factors such as Alessandro Nesta and Marco Borriello’s return to fitness, Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo’s incredible work in the midfield but also thanks to the Brazilians mentioned above, and a coach that threw caution to the wind in order to play attacking football, a style of football that has seen them go from 15^th to 4^th in Serie A, and top of their Champions League group. Whether Milan will be able to keep it up is hard to say, but certainly all of Italy hopes they can as they have started providing all Italians with entertainment due to the football they play.

As night fell and the final whistle blew at the Bentegodi Stadium in Verona yesterday it became clear to all: Alessandro Nesta is back to his best. During this summer’s American tournee, while Milan were being criticised left, right and centre, there were a couple of people that began to whisper under their breath: “Nesta is Milan’s best acquisition this summer.” Meanwhile there were many sceptics that were still saying: “we need to see how long this comeback is going to last though.” Three months have passed since then, and Nesta, the 33 year old ‘comeback kid’ is enjoying the feeling of scoring two goals in a match for the first time in his illustrious career. Furthermore, these two goals were fundamental to Milan’s season; they mean that for the first time this year Milan are in the top four of Serie A. These goals are the signal that Milan are on the way up again, two headers that Nesta will still be feeling today as he takes a trip to the doctor’s office to make sure that his nose is okay after the knock he took on it in order to score the first.

There are stadiums that confirm players, the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid for example. Pato scored two goals there in midweek to prove to the World that he truly is a World-class player. Leonardo after that game in the pressroom explained: “Sandro Nesta is an example for all players to follow, a true leader.” As a leader, Alessandro Nesta had spoken after the draw at Atalanta a few weeks ago saying: “we are confused in attack and struggle to create chances due to this. It’s important to be humble and admit it.” Much of the media interpreted this comment as a criticism towards both his coach Leonardo and his team mates. Yesterday on the other hand, Nesta was satisfied not only with his performance, but also because the media’s perception had changed: “After Bergamo everybody said I had been too harsh, but now everybody can see the results we have put together. This is also a great night for me considering I rarely score. Unfortunately we have a tendency to start on the back foot by allowing the opposition to score early. Always having to chase the game means we use a lot of energy, but it was important to get back into the European positions, so it’s okay.”

Since Nesta’s incredible return to football, he has been Milan’s man of the match in almost every game since the start of the season, showing an amazing level of fitness in addition to his usual defensive brilliance. Furthermore, considering that Milan play with a very high defensive line, he has begun to show his value up front, creating the assist for Ronaldinho’s goal against Atalanta, winning the penalty against Roma, and now scoring two goals against Chievo to win the game. Many are now calling for him to make a return to the National team, but Nesta is sticking to his guns and will not go back on his word: “the National team? I won’t return so as not to put too much pressure on my body. Lippi knows how I feel about it, we understand each other.” This is now an answer that Italians are all too familiar with, as he has stated this on several occasions. Nesta is now fully concentrated, like the entire Milan team, on a return to the highest positions of Serie A, something that just a few weeks ago seemed impossible for this group of players. Yet, now they are close, just three points from Juventus, and even Dida has returned to form after the horrific error in Madrid. “He rescued the game for us with that incredible save” said Nesta. This is certainly true, but it was Sandro who created the possibility of a win, and only a true leader can achieve that.

Diego Armando Maradona, what can be said about him as a player? Arguably the best player of all time, a man capable of almost single-handedly guiding Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986. A player often attributed with scoring both the greatest goal of all time and the most controversial goal of all time against England in that same World Cup. However, in the recent past, Maradona has lived a difficult life under the scrutiny of the sporting press for his many drug related problems. In November 2008 he seemed to have finally recovered from all his troubles when he became the head coach of the Argentina national team. Unfortunately for Maradona, this experience has led to further problems, this time of a footballing nature.

Argentina currently lie fifth in the South American World Cup qualification table, just two points away from Colombia in eighth and are facing the very real possibility of not qualifying for a World Cup for the first time since 1970. Maradona took over from Alfio Basile after Argentina lost to Chile in October 2008, however since taking over the Argentine side has won two and lost four of the six qualification games played with Maradona as coach. Most recently, Argentina were outclassed by their archrivals Brazil, losing 3-1 at home, this was followed by a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay, which has left the national in a precarious position.

When considering the latest defeats, it must be said that the majority of the blame falls on Maradona’s shoulders particularly when one analyses his team selection. Against Paraguay Maradona opted to play with the following 4-4-2 formation: Romero, Zanetti, Dominguez, Heinze, Papa, Veron, Mascherano, Gago, Datolo, Messi, Aguero. There are several questions that need to be raised about this formation, firstly in defence; Dominguez was playing in only his second international having debuted against Brazil, surely in two games of such importance a coach should opt for experience. Furthermore, Gabriel Heinze was played in the centre of defence despite the fact that he has been playing at left back for the past three seasons at club level.

Although there were some surprising selections in defence, the midfield was even more worrying. All four midfielders have defensive characteristics, Veron is perhaps the most offensive of the four but as he has aged he has become more of a defensive playmaker rather than an offensive one. The most significant issue is the fact that there was no connection between the midfield and the attack; Messi and Aguero are two players that require a link to the midfield in the form of a ‘trequartista’, a role that was not executed by any of the four midfielders largely due to the fact that they are not capable of it. These factors led to there being a total lack of understanding between any of the players, the football was stunted and Argentina never looked dangerous. In fact Argentina’s football was so limited that Messi was voted worst player in the match, a tall order for the future European and World footballer of the year.

Yet, perhaps the most worrying aspect of all was the substitute bench: Burdisso, Schiavi, Bolatti, Brana, Palermo, Lavezzi. Apart from the fact that the majority of these players are largely unknown, the most shocking aspect is that their average age is 34. It is incredible to think that this was the extent of the Argentine national team on Wednesday evening against Paraguay, particularly when one considers the amount of talent the Argentine coach had at his disposal around the world. For example, Diego Milito was left in the stands against Paraguay despite having scored 24 goals for Genoa last season.

In fact, here are a just a few of the players Maradona has failed to call up recently: Mauro Zarate (16 goals – 8 assists in Serie A), Gonzalo Higuain (24 goals – 9 assists in La Liga), Walter Samuel one of the most experienced defenders in Serie A, Gonzalo Rodriguez of Villareal, one of the most promising young defenders in La Liga, Maxi Rodriguez, Cristian Ledesma, Lisandro Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez. Unfortunately the list could go on, one needs to question why these players are not being included in the side, more importantly, one needs to wonder where Argentina might be had these players been selected for the six World Cup qualifiers that Maradona has been in charge of.

It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that such a marvellous player has become such a nightmare as a coach, but perhaps the toughest thing to accept is that Argentina might not actually qualify for the 2010 World Cup and therefore we will all be deprived of some of the most brilliant talent on show in world football today. A team once capable of producing this:

Carlo Ancelotti recently published his book ‘Preferisco La Coppa’; in it he dedicated a chapter to Milan’s recovery after the 2005 Champions League final defeat against Liverpool in Istanbul. Although that situation and today’s are very different, some parallels can be drawn. Milan mentally collapsed after conceding the first goal against Inter on Saturday night. The team’s inability to remain calm and carry on playing their style of football was worrying, it is something that should not happen to a team with so much experience. Rino Gattuso being sent off in the manner that he was further demonstrates how badly Milan dealt with the situation. In his book, Ancelotti speaks of how after the Champions League final in 2005, he went back to read the thesis he wrote when taking the managerial course at Coverciano. His thesis concentrated on player management, how to get the best of his players and how to maintain a strong mentality and unity in the squad. Leonardo is yet to complete his course at Coverciano, but perhaps he should go and read Ancelotti’s thesis in order to help him re-install the confidence and mental strength that Milan so desperately need after suffering such a heavy defeat. In addition, Leonardo needs to ensure that Milan never collapse the way they did against Inter again. This will not be an easy job for the in-experienced manager but it is crucial if Milan are to realistically contend for trophies this season.

Unfortunately for Leonardo, this is not the only problem Milan face. On Saturday evening Milan conceded three of the four goals due to mistakes made on the left wing, namely by Jankulovski. He has been poor recently and Milan need to address this issue. If Jankulovski fails to find some form the manager will have to find a new solution. During the entire summer Milan searched for a solution on the left wing, it seemed one had been found with Aly Cissokho, however a series on confusing events took place, from failed medicals to disagreements over the price that should be paid by Milan. Perhaps now the club directors are wishing they had tried harder to resolve the problems, as it seems Jankulovski is the club’s best option. A possible option could be to play with Kakha Kaladze at left back. Although in recent years he has always played in the centre, he was bought as a left back and could therefore prove a strong option especially considering he would guarantee more defensive cover. Nevertheless these issues must be addressed and therefore Leonardo faces a tough few weeks ahead of him.

When analysing the games against Club America and Chelsea there are a few aspects to highlight about Milan’s style of football. Firstly while Leonardo has often set his side up in a 4-3-3 formation, they tend to revert to a 4-3-1-2 during the game with Ronaldinho playing behind the two strikers. Nevertheless the new style of football requires an enormous amount of effort from the players.

When attacking Milan rely heavily on the support of the wingbacks as well as the support of one or two of the midfielders. This effectively means that Milan attack using seven men leaving the defence exposed to the counter. It is for this reason that the team must be in exemplary physical condition, because while the wingbacks and midfielders are expected to aid with offensive phase of play they are also expected to take part in the defensive phase.

A further key aspect of Milan’s new style of football is the constant movement of the attacking players. This was something that Borriello and Pato did very well against Chelsea. Both the strikers would often receive the ball on the wings and pull defenders out of position allowing the midfielders to insert themselves in the space created. Milan’s goal against Chelsea was an example of this, with Seedorf coming from the midfield into the space created, Seedorf also hit the crossbar prior to scoring from a similar move.

So far there are several positives, starting with Ronaldinho’s performances. Silvio Berlusconi said: “he needs to remember that he is a champion, I’m expecting a lot from him.” So far he has played well providing assists and hitting the crossbar both against Chelsea and Club America. All he needs to do now is improve his physical condition, he played three games in five days and looked good in all three, however if he able to lose a few more kilos he can still be the player that takes Milan from being a good team to excellent one.

However there are further positives for Milan, Flamini has started this pre-season the way he ended last season, perhaps even better than his form at the end of last season. His long balls to the forwards have proved dangerous on all occasions and his incredible work rate has massively helped a defence that has been slightly behind the rest of the team in terms of preparation and physical condition. Meanwhile Inzaghi has confirmed himself to be forever young as he continues to score goals on a regular basis even at 36 years of age. Finally, although the defence has been slightly behind Milan can be happy that Nesta seems to be back to full fitness after a year long injury and Thiago Silva is steadily growing. It is from Ronaldinho and these positives that Milan should look to build, although this does not mean that are not in need of at least one striker and another wingback.

Mark Hughes and Manchester City have since made it very clear that their primary target is England and Chelsea Captain John Terry. Having already had a £30 million bid rejected this summer; City raised their offer to £40 million (a potential world record fee for a defender should it be accepted.)

Chelsea are yet to formally reject the £40 million offer and John Terry’s extended silence has led to much speculation that he is considering leaving the Blues. It is believed that Manchester City are offering Terry a contract worth around £300,000 a week; this is double his current salary and would make him the highest paid player in the world.

It is understandable that most Chelsea fans would struggle to come to terms with his departure considering they witnessed the club’s most successful era under his leadership. Having said this it could prove to be a positive deal for Chelsea.

There is no doubt that John Terry is a fantastic defender, a leader, and as Carlo Ancelotti explained: “the symbol of Chelsea.” But his form has seen a significant dip in the recent times, in fact Chelsea win more games when Terry is not playing (68%), than when he is (64%). There is not much of a difference and an argument would be that a player of Terry’s calibre is instrumental in big games. However, in the games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, Chelsea won just once last season. Terry was involved in all of these games.

Furthermore John Terry has suffered several fitness problems in the last two seasons. He has damaged his ankle, foot, knee, shoulder, cheekbone and back, on which he receives treatment after every game. Despite this, Terry still managed to play 48 games last season, however will be able to carry on this way? It is difficult to see how a 29 year old can carry on playing more than 40 games a season with continuous injury troubles.

A further worry is that as John Terry ages his lack of pace will become more evident. In recent years it was rarely noticeable due to Ricardo Carvalho’s presence alongside him. One might argue that the Portuguese international has been Chelsea’s best defender throughout the ‘Abramovich era.’ However, Carvalho’s presence alongside the skipper is no longer a guarantee, particularly due to Carvalho’s recent injury worries.

A final point to consider is that John Terry is huge presence in the dressing room, and one that most would consider irreplaceable. Yet, Chelsea are perhaps the only side that have a natural replacement in their ranks: Frank Lampard. Such comments may be difficult to digest for Chelsea fans, but it is important to understand the extent of the opportunity being presented to Chelsea: £40 million (for an ageing, injury-plagued defender) could prove useful in the hands of a new manager who is building a brand new era of stability, growth and youth.

It is unlikely that the transfer will go ahead unless John Terry himself decides it is time to move on. Nevertheless, should this happen Chelsea fans should not lose faith and remember that when David Beckham left Manchester for Madrid, Manchester United became stronger, when Van Nistelrooy chose to make the same journey, Manchester United further improved, and when Ronaldinho was sold to AC Milan, Barcelona went on to win the treble. Some transfer deals seem like the worst idea to fans but once done can end up being the best solution to a clubs path to success.

By Toufic Yafaoui.

Pre-season friendlies have become tradition, however nowadays it is customary to have small tournaments between some of the biggest clubs in the world such as the World Football Challenge 2009 currently being played by Chelsea, A.C. Milan, Inter Milan and Club America. In addition to this tournament Real Madrid have been in action for the first time since their summer spending.

Real Madrid have been training in Ireland for the past week and were able to showcase their incredible array of talent for the first time against Shamrock Rovers. Real Madrid won 1-0 thanks to a Karim Benzema strike, and while the scoreline is certainly not impressive, it flatters the Irish outfit somewhat as Real Madrid put on a good show. Kaka was not playing as he joined the training camp late following his appearances in the Confederations Cup, although Madrid fans were able to sample Benzema and Ronaldo for the first time. The French international was particularly impressive after coming on as a substitute, he scored one and hit the woodwork. More importantly however, Real Madrid played some excellent football with quick one touch passing and rapid movement from all the players. Certainly the performance in this friendly provides Pellegrini with a good base to work from for the future.

Chelsea have also impressed under new manager Carlo Ancelotti. They have beaten both the Seattle Sounders (2-0) and Inter Milan (2-0). Ancelotti used a variety of formations and changed the position of certain players. Against the Seattle Sounders Ancelotti played Deco in a holding midfield role the way Andrea Pirlo played in his Milan team; whereas against Inter Milan Deco was utilised in an attacking midfield position behind the two strikers. Malouda has also been used in different positions, playing as a wide midfielder against the Seattle Sounders when Ancelotti was playing with a classic 4-4-2 formation; against Inter Milan on the other hand, Ancelotti played with a 4-3-1-2, with Malouda as part of the 3 midfielders. This ability to adapt players to his tactics as well as the ability to play so many varying formations provides Chelsea fans with plenty to smile about so far. 

A.C. Milan have also been experimenting under their new coach Leonardo, he has played with both a 4-3-3 formation and a 4-3-1-2 with Ronaldinho behind the two strikers. Positives have been seen with both formations and positives can be gained from Ronaldinho’s performances both against Varese where Milan won 2-0 and against L.A. Galaxy (2-2 draw). However, the players are still not used to the new tactics and it is therefore difficult to tell whether the 4-3-3 is a formation that will prove successful during the season.

Inter Milan on the other hand may face some problems. It seems increasingly likely that Ibrahimovich will be at Barcelona next season leaving his place to Samuel Eto’o. This may force Mourinho to re-think his style of football due to the fact that Inter Milan were very reliant on Zlatan last season. In many occasions Inter Milan would play long balls up to Ibrahimovich and allow him to take it down and subsequently produce something special be it a spectacular goal or an assist. However the lack of the tall front man next season means that Inter Milan will have to find some extra creativity in their midfield which may not be easy considering they are yet to sign the ‘trequartista’ Mourinho so desperately wants.