May 22nd was a great day for futbol as Inter Milan and Bayern Munich went head to head for the UEFA Championship. The German club had not won the prestigous tournament since 2001, but it was Inter who ended their dry spell with their first Champions League title since 1965.
Suprisingly neither team won their group stages in the tournament. Munich was bested by Bordeaux, and it was Barcelona who won the opposing group with Inter trailing by only two points. There is no such thing as an easy trail in this tournament as both teams had stiff competition to reach the finals.
Bayern Munich met Manchester United in the quarter finals where the end result was 4-4 on aggregate with Munich advancing by having more away goals. The next round Munich had another close game, beating Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 in Milan. The two teams looked equal in drive and skill as fans awaited another close finish. The Italians however seemed to have learned their lesson in England by burrying Lyon in their home field. The subsequant 4-0 was one of the largest aggregate ratios in the tournament as they reached the finals.
Inter’s quarter final match seemed more of a defensive effort. After defeating CSKA Moscow 1-0 at home, Jose Mourinho’s squad seemed comfortable with the lead and added another goal to make it a safe 2-0 aggregate. Next they would be facing the defending champions Barcelona. The Spanish club seemed to be the team to beat with Lionel Messi playing his best futbol, but Inter were up for the challenge. They drew a home field advantage in the first round and exploited it with goals from Wesley Sneijder, Maicon, and Diego Milito. Barcelona were only able to score twice in the two games allowing Inter to ride their lead to the finals in Madrid.
After all the memorable matches, the finale would truely be a battle between champions. After the end of the regular season, Inter Milan has won the past five seasons in the Serie A while Bayern Munich has collected five domestic titles in eight years. For these clubs however too much is never enough and the only way to prove superiority is to play the superior.
Aside from Franck Ribery and Thiego Motta, each team had nearly their entire squad in place for the whistle. Today’s match however weighed heavily on two key players. From the stats throughout this tournament and in this match we have seen that both teams have a solid back line and good goalkeeping. The difference was made by the elevated play of both Diego Milito who scored both goals for Inter. On the other side Arjen Robbin’s performance paled in comparison. He looked sluggish and was only able to create half chances from distance. Robbin’s cut inside and shoot technique was expected and as Munich were unable to find a better solution the game ended scoreless for the club.
Nevertheless, the game was enjoyable as both teams deserved to be there. The level of futbol set a new peak as players climb closer to the World Cup. We will see alot of familiar faces in different jerseys but playing an all too familiar game.
