The Centre Circle

The return of Jose Mourinho and his Inter Milan team to play Chelsea tonight I think will be compulsive viewing. Inter lead 2-1 after a pulsating first leg game at the San Siro. This game tonight potentially has it all with two managers who openly dislike each other.  An early goal could turn this one into a classic.

Watching the first leg I was incredibly impressed with Inter’s work rate, with Lucio in central defence being particularly outstanding. The most talented bunch of players they may not be, but the zeal they showed in outrunning and out working Chelsea was something I hadn’t seen in an Italian side in a long time. Jose has obviously worked his magic again with this group of players and if they can boss the midfield and cut the supply line to Drogba and Anelka then they do have a chance of upsetting Chelsea in their own backyard. Chelsea have to score, so watch Mourinho and his team to try to frustrate Chelsea certainly for the first half and to try and pick them off on the counter. This is what Man City did in Chelsea’s last home game to great effect. Mourinho would have taken note.

My Prediction – Chelsea 2-2 Inter after extra time with Inter and Mourinho progressing 4-3.

16th March 21.50 - Chelsea 0-1 Inter (1-3)

I’ve got to say, the game panned out almost exactly as I thought it would – maybe I got the eventual score wrong but I read the script to perfection. Chelsea pushed hard in the first half, but some great defending kept them out. Inter were the better team in the second half and thoroughly deserved to win.