Inter Milan carried their poor league form into the Champions League as the Italian outfit were defeated by Marseille with a late goal from Andrew Ayew at Vellodrome.
The result was obviously disappointing for the Nerazzurri who were actually very close in earning a pretty precious point if not for defensive mistake right at the dead which allowed the home team to knick a goal.
Serie A Saturday fixtures yesterday left a bitter experience for two Serie A top teams, Inter Milan and Napoli, as both picked up a defeat while in the other hand, Ac Milan revived themselves by getting a convincing victory.
The Nerazzurri didn’t share the same result as their their city rival this weekend after being pinned back by Catania 2-1, while Napoli surprisingly were beaten by struggling Parma at San Paolo. Milan, who looked to finally found their best suited formation trashed Palermo 3-0 in San Siro, with former Rossanero man, Antonio Nocerino played an important part.
The poor performance by Italian clubs in Europe last season has caused the Italia football federation (IFF) to change the rules. Effectively immediately, each club in Serie A will be allowed to sign a second non-EU player.
A year ago, after Italy’s first-round exit at the World Cup, the federation reduced the number of non-EU players from two to one with the goal of giving more Italian players playing time.
But the move to help the national team backfired as no Italian club made it past the quarterfinals of the Champions League and the Round of 32 in the Europa League last season.
Caught me by surprise as I did not expect the announcement to this weekend, but Inter have today named Gian Piero Gasperini as its new coach. Gasperini has signed a two-year contract.
Gasperini, 53, led Genoa to promotion from the second division in 2007 and qualification for the Europa League with a fifth-place finish in Serie A in 2009. He was fired by Genoa in November.
“Gian Piero Gasperini will be the new Inter coach,” a club statement said. “President Massimo Moratti, currently out of Italy, confirmed ‘his full satisfaction with the choice’ and, together with the entire club, wishes Gasperini ‘the success that brought Inter the title of world champions’.”
It has been building all week and yesterday Inter officially confirmed that Leonardo would be leaving the club after six months as coach in order to take up a position as sporting director at French club Paris Saint Germain.
Inter chief executive Ernesto Paolillo told Bloomberg:
“Leonardo is going to Paris and the club is looking for a new coach. We wanted to keep him but he has decided to leave us.”
Inter have already been turned down by former Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa and Moratti said earlier on Friday that Fiorentina’s Sinisa Mihajlovic was unlikely to be an option. Moratti also said that Carlo Ancelotti is not in the running.
Schalke completed a memorable victory at Inter Milan, twice coming from behind en route to a comprehensive win that leaves them on the verge of a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time.
An end to end match got off to a remarkable start as Milito raced on to a fine through ball by Esteban Cambiasso only to be denied by Manuel Neuer, who showed great presence of mind to race out of his area and head away. His clearance reached the halfway line, where it was met by Stanković and a superb first-time shot that sailed back over the goalkeeper’s head.
A new Deloitte report showed that the combined revenues of Europe’s top 20 clubs exceeded 4bn euros (£3.8bn) for the first time in the 2009-10 season, and that four Serie A clubs made its Top 20 list.
AC Milan claimed the the top Serie A spot with revenues of 235.8m euros, passing Inter, even though their city rivals won the treble last year. Here is a snapshot about what Deloitte said about the four Serie A clubs: AC Milan, Inter, Juventus and Roma.
Wesley Sneijder has been ruled out of Saturday’s Club World Cup final against TP Mazembe after scans to his left-leg showed a second grade muscular strain to his hamstring.
The midfielder limped off after just 60 seconds in Inter’s 3-0 victory over Seongnam Ilhwa on Wednesday. His injury has now been confirmed. And, unsurprinsingly, the Dutch midfielder is not happy.
“I am very angry,” he told the press. I felt ready 100 percent for this and I have great will to play the final. It’s almost a joke of destiny.”
Inter took a big step towards being named FIFA Club World Cup Champions with a comfortable 3-0 win over Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa. Dejan Stankovic and skipper Javier Zanetti’s first-half goals set Inter on their way before Diego Milito sealed the result in the 73rd minute.
Inter will now meet TP Mazembe in Saturday’s final after the DR Congo side became the first African team to reach the title decider following their 1-0 win over Internacional yesterday.
After rumors about the possibilities of loosing one of their best players, Douglas Maicon, emerged from the media, it looks like Inter Milan is already preparing life without the Brazilian International. Although theres haven’t been any agreement reached by both Real Madrid and Inter regarding the possible transfer, the media in Spain in Italy believe it will only a matter of time before the deal is struck and as a step forward the Italian giant reportedly has line up a replacement for the 29-years-old right back.