Disappointing news arrives for Inter Milan fans as the club revealed that their new striker, Diego Forlan, apparently must wait until January before being able to play for the Nerazzurri in the Champions League as he is cup tied for the upcoming group stage.
This news was announced by Inter’s official site, not long after the club actually listed Forlan’s name in the fashion capital’s side Champions League for the group stage as it seems the club’s management wasn’t aware of the UEFA rules.
“The striker(Forlan) is cup-tied for the 2011/12 Champions League group phase due to his involvement in the Europa League third qualifying round against Norwegian outfit Strømsgodset, on 28 July and 4 August. The Spanish club subsequently reached the Europa League group stage after beating Portugal’s Vitoria Guimaraes (18 and 25 August),” read an official statement from Inter Milan.
This decision definitely surprised Inter as they obviously think that Forlan would be available right away from the Group stage just as Ac Milan’s new signing, Antonio Nocerino, who also played in the same round of Europa League with Palermo. Unfortunately, the case between the Uruguayan international is different from Nocerino as although the Italian international also played in the third qualifying round, his club was defeated immediately in that round whereas Atletico Madrid goes through until the group stage.
Apparently Inter’s management was not that careful in reading the UEFA rule book and must now sacrificed one player from their already submitted 25 A list players for the Champions League group stage. Luckily for the Nerazzurri, on paper they are on a pretty ‘light’ group as last season’s Copa Italy winner will only challenge the likes of Lille, CSKA Moskow and Trabzonspor who are beatable considering the players quality that the Nerazzurri possessed.
photo credit: americanistadechiapas
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