Luciano Moggi may have a reputation in football the equivalent of Floyd Landis in cycling but he will forever have his finger on the pulse when it comes to the Italian game. Before the resumption of Europe's premier club competition he commentated that " "We will see that calcio is not competitive on the international stage. We will be lucky if one side makes it through to the next round." Now it may be reasonable to assume that had his beloved Juve been involved than his opinion could differ but across Europe esteemed commentators are sounding the knell for Italian hope's in the champions league. The opening ties in the last sixteen would, it seem to favour that opinion. Milan briefly sizzled before succumbing to a Wayne-Rooney inspired Manchester United while Fiorentina's indignation at losing in Munich to a Miroslav Klose goal that was clearly offside was well merited but their display did not smack of possible winners. It is the cream, the team who collects scudetto's for fun that Italian hope's rest.
Jose Mourinho's brief upon taking the manager job at Inter Milan was just that: brief. Win the champion's league was the resounding message from the club's somewhat eccentric owner Massimo Morratti. Inter have swept to the scudetto for the last four years and are romping away with it again this season. But as ever with the neazurri, inconsistency has plagued them in Europe. Barcelona were merely shadow-boxing with them at the San Siro in September and swatted them aside at the Camp Nou. It took some late goals in Kiev and a difficult win over Rubin Kazan to edge them into the last sixteen where they will meet Mourinho's former employer's, Chelsea. The Londoner's are comfortable favourite's heading into the tie but that does a dis-service to Inter's quality and the Mourinho factor.
Nobody knows this Chelsea team better than the so-called special one. It is still essentially his team. Only Nicolas Anelka and Branislav Ivanovic will be the two most notable player's involved for Chelsea that did not play under Mourinho. Nobody should be better equipped to deal with the savage subtlety of Dider Drogba than a centre-half coached by Mourinho. His tempestuous relationship with Carlo Ancholotti will only sharpen his focus. Chelsea deserve their favourite's tag. They have been the bridesmaid's of the champions league for so long now that the accepted wisdom is that they will eventually crack it, but Inter with Jose in the dugout and calcio's pride at stake could well qualify from this most intriguing of ties.
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