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发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Mon Feb 21 18:48:39 2005), 站内

Champions League Countdown (3): Italian Clubs’ Chances
2/18/2005 11:43:00 PM
Europe’s most prestigious club competition resumes next week. And in the
third of a series of articles assessing the prospects for Champions League
success of particular countries’ clubs, Antonio Michaelides runs the rule
over Italy’s remaining representatives…
With three of the original four Italian teams making it through to the
knock-out stages of this year’s competition, the tricolore flag is very much
still flying high. Apart from AS Roma’s dismal performances in this year’s
competition, Inter, Juventus and AC Milan have very much impressed from the
start and are amongst the favourites to reach this year’s final. These three
are by far the best Italy has to offer on the European stage and are going to
be hard to beat no matter who the opposition are.


INTERNAZIONALE

Inter will face defending champions FC Porto in their third round tie. The
Portuguese team are hardly the force they were under Jose Mourinho last
season and were somewhat fortunate in qualifying from their group. Inter on
the other hand, dominated their group and are also beginning to find some
form domestically. They will go into the match as favourites and will also be
looking to maintain their unbeaten record in all competitions this season. FC
Porto are not likely to be the team that stop Inter this season if indeed
they are stopped at all.

Inter are now playing as a team and any further improvements to the form they
have already displayed in this years competition could see them go all the
way. With such an array of attacking talent Inter will cause problems to any
team in the competition, Adriano and Christian Vieri have formed a promising
partnership up front and are supported by a midfield that always boasts great
creativity. The defence has stopped leaking goals since the return of
Cristiano Zanetti, his tenacity in the middle of the park has provided the
cover that was needed for the defence.

Roberto Mancini will be looking to land at least one major trophy in his
first season as Inter boss and what an achievement it would be if that were
to be in the form of the Champions League. With a little bit of luck and
continued good form they should make the semi-finals, where from then on
anything is possible.


JUVENTUS

Juventus will have to find away of taming Real Madrid’s Galacticos in a
fixture that promises to be a thriller if past meetings are anything to go
by. Capello has installed discipline into this Juventus side and they are an
outfit made for the Champions League. Their style is unique in a competition
that is very much dominated by attacking teams. In some respects Real Madrid
play straight into the hands of the bianconeri who are very much suited to
keeping things tight in the middle of the park and remaining solid
defensively at all times. This particular tactical approach has frustrated
Real Madrid on numerous occasions in the past, but I still believe this will
be the hardest tie of the round to call.

Fabio Capello and his team will have to be tactically perfect in order to
overcome a rejuvenated Real Madrid team, but then again this has been their
main strength so far this season. Though one thing is certain. Real Madrid
are beginning to find form and Juventus are not looking as solid as they did
in the first half of the season even if Capello will never admit this.

If Juventus make it through to the next round and therefore beat Real Madrid
over two legs then they will be in a good position to go all the way. This
team has fantastic character and all the players seem to be working for the
good of the team which is bringing in the desired results even if they are
not entertaining the fans with mesmerising football. In Capello they have a
manager who is one of the best in the world. He has been successful at every
club he has managed in the past and is perhaps the best tactician in the
world.


AC MILAN

Like Juventus, AC Milan will also have to overcome tough opposition if they
are to make it through to the quarter finals. Having drawn an in-form
Manchester United much will depend on how well Milan can cope under pressure,
this could well end up being their most difficult mission if they do make it
through. It will certainly be a huge confidence boost no matter who they
would draw in the quarter finals. Though Manchester United will feel just as
confident going in to the tie given the good record they have against Italian
opposition under Sir Alex Ferguson. Milan will have to keep an eye on Giggs
and Ronaldo at all times, as they will look to exploit the gaps on the
flanks.

At the start many believed Milan and Barcelona to be favourites to win the
competition this year, and it was Milan who topped the group that contained
both teams. However, if they are to do so they will need to remain focused at
all times. Lack of concentration was the reason for their shock elimination
to Deportivo last season, and a repeat of such a performance could see their
run in the competition come to a rather abrupt end once again. Prior to this
many in the football world were pushed to find a weakness in this Milan side.
Though they have proven on many occasions since that there is now fantastic
spirit within the squad and this collective unity is yet another strength of
this truly great Milan side that Ancelotti has built.

Players such as Andrea Pirlo, Kaka’ and Andriy Shevchenko will need to be at
their best going forth if Milan are to continue the march towards repeating
the success achieved in the 2002/03 campaign. Ancelotti has stated on a
number of occasions that the objective this season is to do the double (Serie
A and Champions League). The return of Filippo Inzaghi from injury could be
an influential factor in achieving this aim given his prolific goal scoring
record in the Europe especially.


Overall, all three teams will need to have their work cut out if they are to
reach the next round (Juventus and Milan more so) and will also need to
concentrate on the task in hand at all times. Capello and Ancelotti will have
to make sure that every element of the teams’ preparation is perfect and
that the tactics employed during the match are the right ones. Luck will also
have an important role to play in all three fixtures.
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