Print

Mail

wiki links

Inter Milan anxious to rebound

Inter Milan forward Adriano, right, fights for the ball with Chievo Verona defender Paolo Sammarco during their Serie A soccer match at San Siro stadium in Milan on Sunday. Inter Milan face Bayern Munich in the Champions League today. PHOTO: AFP

Inter Milan is eager to rebound from its opening Champions League loss to Sporting Lisbon.

The 1-0 defeat in Portugal two weeks ago also included a red card for midfielder Patrick Vieira, meaning he'll be suspended for today's match against group leader Bayern Munich.

"We know it's a very important game for us," Inter midfielder Olivier Dacourt said. "In the first game in Lisbon we made errors and we want to regain the ground we lost right away."

Inter coach Roberto Mancini won't be making the same mistakes he did on Sunday, when he blamed his timing of substitutes for his team letting in three goals in the last 15 minutes of a 4-3 win against Chievo.

"We made it hard for ourselves in the last 10 minutes," said Dacourt, who was one of the players substituted. "At 4-0 up we probably already had our minds on the Champions League game against Bayern."

Still, Inter leads the Serie A, and will play at home today.

"A lot has been said about us," striker Hernan Crespo said. "They said we weren't playing well and too many words were spoken. But we must stay calm and keep our feet on the ground."

Crespo could get a start after striker Adriano was criticized by Mancini in the wake of the defeat to Sporting.

Bayern warmed up with a 2-1 win over Alemannia Aachen on Saturday, which sent it to the top of the Bundesliga. But coach Felix Magath said the team still needed more work.

"We're not yet where we want to be," Magath said. "That was nothing more than a routine victory, no doubt about it. That wasn't a gala display."

But Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness said the win boded well for today's match.

"Going top of the league restores the old morale and confidence, which we're missing at the moment," Hoeness said.

In Group B's other match, Spartak Moscow hosts Sporting Lisbon. Bayern beat Spartak 4-0 in the opening round.

Also today, it's: Levski Sofia v Chelsea, and Werder Bremen v FC Barcelona in Group A; Liverpool v Galatasaray, and Bordeaux v PSV Eindhoven in Group C; and Shakhtar Donetsk v Olympiakos, and Valencia v AS Roma in Group D.

Defending champion FC Barcelona drew Valencia 1-1 in the Spanish league on Sunday and moved into first place.

Barcelona beat Werder Bremen twice last season in the Champions League. Coach Frank Rijkaard has no injury worries but will recall defender Lilian Thuram, midfielder Thiago Motta and defender Sylvinho as part of his rotation policy.

Bremen drew Hamburg 1-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday to end a four-match losing streak. Striker Miroslav Klose, top scorer at the World Cup, and midfielder Diego both practiced on Monday after recovering from injury.

AS Roma has several injury worries ahead of its match against Valencia. Midfielder Amantino Mancini is out for 15 days with a strain, fellow winger Rodrigo Taddei has an ankle problem and striker Mirko Vucinic is also unavailable.

That's putting extra strain on captain Francesco Totti, who is still not 100 percent after left leg and ankle surgery in February.

Roma beat Parma 4-0 for its first win of the Italian season on Sunday, and nine different players have scored the club's nine goals in Serie A. Roma beat Shakhtar Donestk 4-0 two weeks ago.

Valencia beat Olympiakos 4-2 in its opening Champions League game. It will be without three Spanish internationals -- midfielder Ruben Baraja and defenders Carlos Marchena and Asier del Horno.

Chelsea could be without central defender John Terry at Levski Sofia after back problems forced him to miss Saturday's 2-0 win at Fulham in the English Premier League. After treatment, Terry was named in the squad for Levski.

In the past two seasons, Terry hadn't missed a Premier League game until Chelsea had secured the English league title.

"This is significant for us. I want him to play every game but to win without him and to do it without panicking and playing well was very important for us," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said.

Terry was replaced by Paulo Ferreira against Fulham.
This story has been viewed 1369 times.