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A counter-attacking Colchoneros side got the better of Inter at the Stade Louis II to lift the 2010 UEFA Super Cup.

José Antonio Reyes and Sergio Aguero got their names on the scoresheet in the second half as Atletico made their chances count in European football’s curtain raiser.

With time running out Diego Milito had a penalty kick saved by David De Gea.

Rafael Benitez made one change from the starting XI that won us the Champions League and the Italian Super Cup, bringing in Dejan Stankovic for Goran Pandev.

Quique Sanchez Flores also made a single switch from the team that beat Fulham to win the inaugural Europa League, summer signing Diego Godin replacing Antonio Lopez at the centre of defence.

An evenly-balanced first half saw Samuel head over and Eto’o fire narrowly wide before two good chances for Aguero - one inches off target and the other well wide.

It was more Spain than Italy in the second half as Atletico found more space on the break, and Reyes broke the deadlock on 62 minutes. He combined swiftly with Aguero and rounded Maicon before firing past Julio Cesar at his near post.

Inter reverted to their Champions League-winning lineup with Pandev on for Stankovic and the Macedonian fired against the bar after De Gea had thwarted Milito, but the flag had already been raised for offside.

Another change was needed and Benitez handed brought on Coutinho for Sneijder. (continue reading…)

Inter Milan have announced that former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has agreed to become the club’s new coach.

“We’ve got an agreement, we finalised the last details that in any case weren’t important,” Inter president Massimo Moratti told ANSA news agency.

Moratti said Inter would on Tuesday confirm details of Benitez’s unveiling as the club’s coach.

Benitez, 50, left Liverpool last week after six years at Anfield and will succeed Jose Mourinho at the San Siro.

Moratti revealed negotiations with Benitez had not taken place in person and said the Spaniard was due to arrive in Milan this week ahead of finalising his move to the European champions.

“All that is needed now is a counter-signature,” added the Inter president.

Benitez has a strong track record in European football, having won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and the Uefa Cup with Valencia in 2004.

But he would have big shoes to fill at Inter, with Mourinho winning the league in both seasons he was at the club, not to mention securing the Champions League and Italian Cup last season.
And before Mourinho’s spell at the club, Inter won three consecutive titles under Manchester City’s current manager Roberto Mancini. (continue reading…)

RAFA BENITEZ is expected to be announced as the new Inter Milan manager within 48 hours - as exclusively revealed by SunSport.

Inter president Massimo Moratti will fly to Sardinia today for a meeting with ex-Liverpool boss Benitez at his holiday hotel.

Moratti considers the Spaniard an ideal replacement for Jose Mourinho, who quit to take over at Real Madrid.

He said: “I can only say good things about him.

“Benitez will be the new Inter manager. Over the next few days it will be decided. Benitez has beaten Jose five times - a sign he is well prepared.

“He works hard and in the important matches he makes no mistakes. It’s important we continue to do well in Europe. Doing well in the Champions League brings us satisfaction.”

Benitez’s No 2 Mauricio Pellegrini is also expected to join Inter, while outgoing Italy boss Marcello Lippi has been linked with Liverpool.

Inter Milan are lining up a move for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres should Jose Mourinho lure Diego Milito or Samuel Eto’o to Real Madrid, according to reports in Italy.

The European champions lost boss Mourinho to the Bernabeu this week and are bracing themselves for bids for forwards Eto’o and Milito, who scored twice as Inter beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

But the Italian giants are set to move for unsettled Spain hotshot Torres, whose future at Anfield is uncertain following the club’s disappointing season, which resulted in a failure to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.

Chelsea are also lining up a £70million bid for Torres, who is also wanted by mega-bucks Manchester City. But the Eastlands club are now unlikely to move for the star as their failure also to reach the Champions League makes it unlikely the striker would consider a move to Manchester.

Torres fuelled speculation surrounding his future last week when he refused to commit to Liverpool, insisting that he was focusing on a summer with Spain before deciding on his future. He said: ‘The more important thing for me now is the World Cup. My future is the World Cup, We’ll see later.’

Inter look set to join the race for his signature, but would be unlikely to bid should they convince Milito or Eto’o to stay at the San Siro. Mourinho is said to be lining up a double-deal for both Milito and full-back Maicon, but could fall back on Eto’o if the Argentina forward is unavailable.

Jose Mourinho is set to coach Real Madrid  in a deal between European soccer powers, leaving Inter Milan  less than a week after guiding the Italian club to the Champions League title.

The agreement was announced after a meeting in Milan between Madrid president Florentino Perez and Inter counterpart Massimo Moratti. Madrid will pay $19 million in two installments, the Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport said.

Real Madrid said Mourinho will be introduced Monday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. He replaces Manuel Pelligrini, who was fired Wednesday.

Mourinho confirmed he wanted to join Madrid after Inter beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Spanish capital last Saturday to win the Champions League.

In two years with Inter, Mourinho led the club to two league titles, one Italian cup and its first European Cup since 1965. Before that, he led Chelsea to two Premier League titles. He also won the Champions League with FC Porto of Portugal in 2004.

Mourinho is a defensive-minded coach and questions have been raised over how he will blend the attacking talents of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema.

”We have to know what we have and apply it in the best possible way to create damage,” Mourinho told the Spanish daily AS. ”Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka who are very good on one-on-ones. We have to find a style of play that allows them to do that. The principles of play depend on the players you have.”

Madrid has won nine European Cups but its last Champions League triumph came in 2002. Last summer, Madrid spent large sums on Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema but failed to progress past the first knockout round of the Champions League.

”I think Madrid have signed me because they know that they can demand aims in the short term, but that I am also capable of leaving a base for the future,” Mourinho said. (continue reading…)

“See you in Madrid,” Bayern boss Louis van Gaal texted his Internazionale counterpart José Mourinho, even before their respective teams had made it to the Champions League final. As it turned out, the appointment will be kept. “He’s a good friend from the world of football. And you don’t have many friends in the world of football,” said van Gaal, referring to his former assistant at Barcelona.

Inter’s Portuguese supremo, not otherwise known as a soft-hearted representative of his trade, responded with an unusually warm thought. “We’ll embrace before and after the match – I’m absolutely confident of that,” the 47-year-old Mourinho remarked.

Clash of tacticians

Despite their friendship, the pair will spend the whole of Saturday evening’s game trying to outwit and outmanoeuvre the other. “He’s a cunning tactician, just like our coach. They’ll be thinking about how to catch the other by surprise,” mused Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. More than any other Champions League final of recent years, the Madrid showdown is a battle between master strategists. Both have formed and led to the final teams which rated as unfancied before the start of the season. (continue reading…)

Inter Milan  beat Siena 1-0 Sunday to seal its fifth consecutive Serie A title and earn a shot at becoming the first Italian club to achieve a title trifecta.

Diego Milito took a pass from Inter captain Javier Zanetti and scored his 22nd goal of the season to break the deadlock in the 57th minute at Siena’s Artemio Franchi stadium.

Inter finished with 82 points, two more than AS Roma, which won 2-0 at Chievo Verona.

Roma scored both of its goals in the first half and had its hands on the title before Milito saved Inter.

Inter beat Roma in the Italian Cup final, and Jose Mourinho’s side will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final Saturday in an attempt to become the first Italian club to win the three titles.
On his 65th birthday, Massimo Moratti watched from the stands in Siena as his team wrapped up the club’s 18th Scudetto. (continue reading…)

José Mourinho has named a squad of 24 players (3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 8 midfielders and 5 strikers) for Sunday afternoon’s Serie A Week 38 match away to Siena (Stadio Artemio Franchi - Montepaschi Arena, kick-off 15:00).

Goalkeepers: 1 Francesco Toldo, 12 Julio Cesar, 21 Paolo Orlandoni.

Defenders: 2 Ivan Cordoba, 4 Javier Zanetti, 6 Lucio, 13 Maicon, 23 Marco Materazzi, 25 Walter Samuel, 26 Cristian Chivu, 39 Davide Santon.

Midfielders: 5 Dejan Stankovic, 7 Ricardo Quaresma, 8 Thiago Motta, 10 Wesley Sneijder, 11 Sulley Muntari, 15 Rene Krhin, 17 Mariga, 19 Esteban Cambiasso.

Strikers: 9 Samuel Eto’o, 22 Diego Milito, 27 Goran Pandev, 45 Mario Balotelli, 89 Marko Arnautovic.

Jose Mourinho has fuelled speculation he will move to Real Madrid this summer
by admitting he will coach the Spanish giants ’sooner or later’.

Former Chelsea boss Mourinho is currently preparing his Inter Milan side for this weekend’s Serie A climax where they go into the final round of fixtures two points clear of Roma.

Then comes the Champions League final, in Madrid, against Bayern Munich on May 22.

Recent reports have suggested the Bayern clash will be Mourinho’s last on the Inter bench before he switches to Madrid and he was doing little to quell the rumours in an interview with Panorama magazine published on Friday.

He said: ‘What they write about me having one foot in Madrid and one in Milan is false.

‘(But) Sooner or later I will coach Real Madrid. I coached a big team in England, I am coaching a big team in Italy, and then I will coach a big team in Spain.’

Mourinho has already led Inter to the Coppa Italia this season and is closing in on a treble. (continue reading…)