Inter went with an expectedly defensive formation: 4-2-1-3. It was always going to be very difficult to score against them not only because of the extremely strong defensive line of Samuel, Chivu, Lucio and Maicon but also because of (not one) two excellent defensive midfielders in Zanetti and Cambiasso.

Bayern went with the conventional 4-4-2.

From the start Inter looked the better team. Their passing was crisp and accurate. Even though they relied entirely on only 4 players for their attack, they seemed to be making better progress and in general making better use of the ball in the final third. Bayern on the other hand kept position largely in their own half and found it very difficult to make their way forward especially against Inter’s practically 6 man defence.

The first goal from Milito was sublime. Three touches from one end to the other and a goal. Great composure. Great finish. Most of the first half followed the same pattern: Bayern try to go forward and Inter crowd out the final third and take them on the break. Bayern’s strategy was simple: Pass it to Robben. He seemed to be the only player who could actually get past the Inter defence. Chivu, I have to say, did not mark him well.

The second half started with 2 chances in the first minute itself. A very bad miss from Altintop (IIRC): At that level hitting at the body of the keeper from 16 yards out is inexcusable, and a nice effort from Pandev with a nicer save to deny him from Butt.

For a moment it seemed Bayern had figured out something in the halftime break, but they quickly disproved this supposition. They kept trying to score with the same strategy that hadn’t worked at all throughout the first half. Inter kept crowding out their end of the field and Bayern could barely put a string of passes together.

Altintop missed a few chances to at least trouble Bayern by going for the near post on both occasions, which Julio Cesar had covered quite comfortably. Arjen Robben forced a great save from Cesar. There were some excellent defensive moments for Inter, especially the clearance off Muller’s shot.

Then came the second goal, out of nowhere really. A moment of magic from Milito.

A few thoughts:

Mourinho showed, once again, that he plays for results and not for the entertainment of fans. The match was rather boring from a neutral point of view. Just my opinion, but I don’t think this is how football should be played.

That said, people are going overboard saying Mourinho won the Champs League on the same strategy as Herrera did 45 years ago. Mourinho was slightly negative in his tactics but nothing as bad as cattenachio.

Inter showed throughout the tournament that they were the team most capable of adapting themselves. Bayern on the other hand showed one dimensional approach, though I suspect that is more because of van Gaal than anything else.

All should note what an awesome match Wesley Snejder played. Being the sole link between attack and defence isn’t easy and he performed the job today with aplomb.

Bayern missed Ribery. Very badly.

Inter showed a master class of one touch, quick passing in the game. Something Bayern could never find their rhythm with.

And of course: It was very nice to see Bayern give the ball back to Inter even in the 89^th minute when they put it out for Robben’s injury. Moments like these which make football the greatest game on Earth.

So going deeper into the situation. How many players would make the cut ? In my opinion , as of now , only Zidane and Figo. I am of the opinion that Messi will be one of the all time greats but he isn’t quite there yet. The only solace our unfortunate generation of football fans has is that this has happened before. The 80’s were equally bad. They had Maradona , but then I rate Maradona as the most over-rated player ever. Even for the sake of argument if we consider that Maradona was the best player ever , who else was there from the 80’s? We could go upto Baresi , maybe Rummenigge but thats it. Some of the best strikers of the generation were Lineker and Rossi , which really says a lot . I seriously would say that even the 2000’s are better.

Now that I’ve taken up the topic I might as well clarify that this is why I think Maradona was overerated . sure , he won the World Cup single handedly but then what competition did he have. How many great players did he have to match up against him? No-one. Compare this to Pele . He had Eusebio , Charlton, Di Stefano, Garrincha , Beckenbauer , Cruijff to contend with and he came out on top. Note however that Maradona was an amazing player. He just isn’t worthy of the hype he gets. Top 10 of all time . Nothing more.

Cribbing about the ack of greats in my generation is depressing . I would just like to point out that I’ve been very lucky to have watched sports in the  90’s. Tendulkar , Schumacher , Sampras , Zidane , Maldini , Baggio ,  Woods  , Graf . Can’t really ask for more. The 2000’s and more importantly the coming few years will be boring in comparison. But then the transfers make up for the lack of entertainment.

I have some free time today. So will write some stuff , at least today.

Wolves are on top by a long way with 47 points from 20 games. Birmingham City are second with 41 points. Reading is third with 34 points but with one game in hand. So if they win they’ll be 4 points clear of Burnley in fourth place. and 4 points away from Birmingham . There are still 26 games left in the championship. Anything can happen. Go Reading!

Man City were all over the place. Robinho and Wright Phillips got through a couple of times but did nothing with those opportunities.

Finally United will be relieved to finally win a match albeit by just the solitary tap in goal. They will be encouraged with their good performance in attack but something needs to be done about the lack of goals. Maybe Sir Alex should consider some experimentation. Like playing Rooney , Berba and Tevez together perhaps?

Aston Villa , West Ham and Portsmouth continue with their performance of last year and make up the next few spots. For all the hullabaloo about Robinho , Man city are way down in 11th place. The teams that came up from the Championship this year are doing well , with WBA in 9th place and Hull of course in 3rd.

Newcastle , rocked by Kegs’ departure , are languishing in 18th place. Totenham must be ruing their decision to see both all their good strikers (Defoe , Keane and Berbatov) . Modric , a midfielder cannot really provide the goals. Pavlyuchenko hasn’t really made an impact so far.

REview of this weekends action:

– Liverpool (as much as I hate to admit it ) played really well and deserved their win. Coming back fromtwo goals down is never easy and Liverpool surely showed a lot of grit and determination and chased the game to the very end.

-Hull is on fire ! Aftre beating Arsenal last weekend , they beat Tottenham this week with an amazing goal from Geovanni.

– Everton’s second goal against Newcastle was very well crafted . Some great build up play there , and quite a good finish Fellani . Though I have to say , the defense should have done better.

-Chelsea played extremely well and thoroughly deserved their win.  It’s nice to see them actually playing their game rather than stopping the opposition from playing .

Zola was definitely a great player , but he has almost no experience in  management . Italian u-21 team has done okay , but is that a sign of his competancy as a manager in arguably the most competitive league in the world ? I am not saying he will screw up , I just don’t see the point of letting a super experienced manager like Alan Curbishley (who did really well with West Ham) go and replacing him with a neophyte.