Schalke Stun Inter Milan in 5-2 Away Victory

Edu scored two goals against Inter Milan

It really is rare seeing eleven goals scored in just two matches. Thanks to some brash decision-making, poor defending and wonderful moments of brilliance, fans got to see two amazing matches between Schalke 04 and Inter Milan and Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur. The final scores of the matches were a spectacular 5-2 win for Schalke 04, and a dominant 4-0 win for Real Madrid.

In Milan, Italian fans at the San Siro were very disappointed with their team's display. Although Inter Milan were a goal up after just 24 seconds, things ended up poorly for the nerazzurri. It was Stankovic's brilliant first time strike from Neuer's clearance which flew into the empty net. The Serbian scored from just past halfway, without the ball bouncing even once on the ground during his spectacular volley. While Stankovic's goal might've been the best I've seen this season, Matip's scrappy effort equalized for Schalke about 15 minutes later.

Milito putting Inter in front 2-1, but only temporarily...

At 1-1, Inter continued to push forward, and eventually restored their lead with Diego Milito scoring from a well crafted move which finished in the Argentine's tap-in. But yet again, Inter saw their hard work disappear when broke through the disorganized backline and shot at Julio Cesar. While the Brazilian keeper saved the shot, Edu quickly tapped-in the rebound to send the teams equal at halftime with the score at 2-2.

While the Italian fans expected a reaction in the second half from Inter, it was quite the opposite. Schalke came out and scored three with Raul and Edu both getting goals, along with an unlucky own goal for Andrea Ranocchia. The match finished 5-2 for Schalke, a truly amazing away display from the Germans. Inter now need to travel to Germany in the second leg and win by at least four goals if they want to progress, something which seems very difficult with their shaky back-line.

Inter Milan Defeat Seongnam Ilhwa 3-0 In Semi-Final Of FIFA World Club Cup

The Argentine finds his scoring boots

Inter Milan seem to have woken up from their terrible nightmare with a 3-0 win over Asian Champions Seongnam Ilhwa. This win gets Rafa Benitez's team to the final, where they will face African Champions TP Mazembe, which defeated South American Champions Internacional in a shock 2-0 win in the other semi-final.

The match wasn't too difficult for the European Champions, but they were set back in the first minutes when Sneijder received a tough challenge and had to be substituted by Thiago Motta. Although it seems like a simple muscular strain the Dutch midfielder will be missing the final of the tournament. But this setback was truly temporary, with Dejan Stankovic slipping through the Seongnam defence to score in the third minute.

A tough tackle on Sneijder

After that Diego Milito set up Inter's captain Javier Zanetti in front of goal with a delightful backheel, and Zanetti coolly volleyed into the bottom corner. In the second half, Diego Milito got his chance to score when Seongnam's keeper saved well from Eto'o's shot, but couldn't keep out Milito's finish from the rebound. While Inter Milan played well, they weren't always creating chances. It's an improvement from their recent performances, but there's room for improvement.

The final between TP Mazembe and Inter Milan will be played on Saturday. I'll certainly be watching it, and I advise you to watch it as well. I'm very interested in seeing how TP Mazembe will play against Inter Milan, and how they plan on scoring goals. Share your comments below!

Manchester United And Inter Milan Thrive With Goals Aplenty

This weekend might be slightly overshadowed with El Clasico coming up, but Manchester United and Inter Milan made sure to hit the headlines with goalfests in their league matches. Manchester United go top of the table with this win, especially after Chelsea only managed to draw 1-1 away against Newcastle, and Inter Milan rise up to fifth in the Serie A after their 5-2 win over Parma. Here's a look at both teams, how they're doing, and how they'll do in the future.

Manchester United

I've always said that Manchester United would be good this year, and I predicted that they'd win the title. Sir Alex Ferguson has an excellent mix of young and energetic players along with expert veterans to guide the team during tough times. And while some say that the team is missing a creative presence in the center of midfield, even if it's needed, Sir Alex Ferguson can splash some cash in the January transfer market to strengthen the team.

The 7-1 victory over Blackburn was easy for Manchester United, with Berbatov being assisted by the Blackburn defence's incompetence. And while Berbatov scored five, some will notice that Wayne Rooney scored zero, but you have to put things into perspective with the England international. Rooney assisted two goals, was part of some excellent build-up play, and instead of taking a crack at goal many times, he decided to be selfless and pass the ball for teammates. Just like Berbatov scored five, if this match was replayed Rooney could've scored just as many.

So what's next for Manchester United? They'll be travelling to West Ham on Tuesday for the Carling Cup and Blackpool next week in the Premier League for a couple of "easy" games, and after that they'll host Arsenal at Old Trafford, and then travel to Stamford Bridge to play against Chelsea. They also have a midweek game with Valencia at home squashed in there, but as long as Ferguson's side manages not to lose, they'll qualify for the knockout rounds in first place. So can Manchester United win the Premier League this year? It's a big question which I think has the answer, yes, but share your thoughts below by commenting!

Inter Milan

Inter Milan have been recovering from a spell of poor form, and a 5-2 victory against Parma is probably the best way to announce that you're on the way up. Rafa Benitez has been heavily criticized in Italy because of his defensive style which scored few goals in the past, but this weekend everything seemed to click for the Spaniard.

While the 5-2 win is interesting in itself, the more interesting thing is that Inter Milan had to play without a proper striker, and while Goran Pandev could be a supporting forward, he's certainly not a target man like Diego Milito, or a striker like Samuel Eto'o. But this way of playing seemed to free up Sneijder, Stankovic, and Biabiany, and all three players were excellent in this match, especially Stankovic who scored a hat-trick.

But Parma were dangerous to Inter, and they went ahead first with the former Inter player Hernan Crespo scoring aganist his former side. Inter would then go on to score three goals to make it 3-1, and then have Crespo score again to make it 3-2 at halftime. But in the second half substitute Thiago Motta scored along with Stankovic who finished off his hat-trick to make the final score 5-2, and earn Rafa Benitez three important points.

This win helps raise Inter up to 5th in the Serie A table, and they're seven points behind first placed AC Milan. But Inter have some tough matches coming up: next week they travel to face 2nd placed Lazio, and then they have a midweek Champions League match in Germany against Werder Bremen before they have to travel to Fiorentina next weekend. And if that wasn't hard enough, the week after they have to host 4th placed Napoli at the San Siro.

If Rafa Benitez can get his team to win all of these matches, he'll be a king, but if his team begins to crumble yet again, he could be facing unemployment soon. While I don't think he'll manage to win all of the matches, I think he'll be able to make it through this tough run with some positive results, and from there he'll be able to focus on regaining the top spot of the Serie A. What are your thoughts on how Inter will do? Share your comments below!

The Milan Derby

The Milan derby, il derby della madonnina, ended in a 2-1 victory for Inter Milan. The derby was a spectacular match and it showed that Italian football is not boring, Inter constantly had Maicon powering up the right wing providing crosses and scoring opportunities while The Emperor Adriano was in Splendid form showing Maldini, on his last derby, that it really should be his last as he sped past him and missed the opportunity with a stunning Abbiati protecting AC Milans net from further damage. With the line up being for AC Milan, Abbiati in net, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Maldini, and Zambrotta in defense from left to right, while in the midfield they had Ambrosini, Seedorf, Beckham, and Pirlo, and up front they had Pato supported by Ronaldinho. Inter came out with its usual 4-3-1-2 formation with Julio Cesar in goal, with Santon, Chivu, Samuel, and Maicon defending, then they had Muntari, Cambiasso, and Javier Zanetti, while Stankovic supported Adriano, and Ibrahimovic. With two sides like these you could tell that it was going to be a great match, but one key element for AC Milan was missing, Kaka. Kaka was out for injury and this let Ronaldinho start but it left Milan without many attacking options.

While the derby started off pretty equally Inter was playing much more offensively and they were creating more opportunities and as Jankulovski continuosly rose up the field to attack he left Maicon, the beast, too much space and Maicon dribbled up the wing, crossed the ball in, and Adriano with Maldini nowhere near him was able to head the ball which then hits his shoulder and goes in at the 29th minute. The ref didn't see the handball or he concluded it was involuntary and therefore Inter rose up to 1-0 over AC Milan. But Inter wasn't happy with one goal and so with a wonderful flick of the head from Ibrahimovic who sets the ball up for Stankovic, Stankovic blasts the ball in the net, showing Inter's supremacy over AC Milan. It was 2-0 at halftime. as inter continued to create scoring opportunities that they threw away AC Milan started to play better when Beckham having played a fairly undertone game went off for Inzaghi. When this happened Ronaldinho had more space and started to dribble past opponents and he eventually created the beautiful play that led to Pato's goal in the 71st minute. After this Inter started to cool down and played its usual waiting game while AC Milan tried to get the much needed equalizer. Inzaghi had many scoring opportunities and even scored a beautiful half volley but he was almost always offside and so the goal didn't count. With Julio Cesar making some AMAZING last minute saves that have convinced me that right now he is the best goalie in the world, he keeps Inter in the game and lets Mourinho gloat and Maldini cry.


Match details

29' GOAL!!! Adriano scores for Inter Milan
43' GOAL!!! Dejan Stankovic scores for Inter Milan
44' Ambrosini gets a yellow card-AC Milan
HALF TIME
47' Samuel gets a yellow card-Inter Milan
57' Beckham goes off for Inzaghi-AC Milan
70' Esteban Cambiasso gets a yellow cared for Inter Milan
71' GOAL!!! Alexandre Pato puts one in the back of the net for AC Milan
77' Kaladze for AC Milan goes off and Senderos comes on
80' Inter Milan's Adriano goes off for Viera and Stankovic goes off for Burdisso in the 84'
85' Burdisso and Vieira receive a yellow card for Inter Milan
88' Inter Milan's Muntari goes off for Maxwell
90' Julio Cesar receives a yellow card for Inter Milan

Final Score 2-1 for Inter Milan