Mour success: Wesley Sneijder leaps on coach Jose Mourinho after Inter went 3-1 in front against BarcelonaSo they don't like Jose Mourinho in Italy? Try telling that to the hordes of Inter Milan fans who left the San Siro chanting his name last night after masterminding this pulsating Champions League victory.
Mourinho deals in results rather than popularity contests and now finds himself with the task he was explicitly brought to Italy for at least half completed.
If Inter can defend their two-goal lead next week the biggest European trophy will surely be on its way back to his employers for the first time since 1965. And if he really wants a move to Spain or back to England that could hardly frame his job application more seductively.
The brand of muscular pragmatism that Mourinho has brought to Inter was too much for the beautiful football of Barcelona, who buckled under the assault on them either side of half-time.
Such is the array of talent in their ranks that this tie is far from over, but Mourinho will know that it is his to lose, and that the eventual champions are likely to be whoever survives at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
The former Chelsea manager said: 'Experience tells us we've got a long way to go but today we did well. We didn't have time to think about their first goal, we just had to keep going, that's the mentality.
'We made a mistake for their goal which we shouldn't have. They pressed and created problems for us but after that we did our job.'
0-1: Pedro gives Barcelona the lead early onInter knew their lead was precarious, as you could tell by the whistles that greeted Barcelona's late possession after the outstanding Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito had answered the opener by Pedro Rodriguez.
It was a shrill cacophony that could have woken the dead, and the return should be no less dramatic.
Inter had declared their intention of disrupting the 'carousel' of Pep Guardiola's midfield. And so when Esteban Cambiasso dispossessed Lionel Messi in the opening exchanges the reaction was so deafening you might have thought the home team had taken the lead.
The opposite was to happen on 18 minutes, ironically just after Inter had their first clear opportunity and first spell of sustained pressure.
2-1: Brazilian defender Maicon slips the ball past Valdes to put Inter in front.Victor Valdes could only parry a Samuel Eto'o shot from outside the area but Milito could only square the ball across the area harmlessly. With the danger cleared, left back Maxwell picked the ball up and danced past three challengers - including his fellow Brazilian Maicon - all the way to the byline, pulling it back for Pedro to drive it past the despairing Julio Cesar from 12 yards.
But Guardiola's men then began to creak badly under a renewed home onslaught and Milito should have done better once again when fed by Goran Pandev, only to screw the ball wide of the post.
The manager will have groaned at the amount of space the absent Dani Alves offered to Sneijder on the half-hour, when he found himself in glorious isolation eight yards out to take advantage of the pass from Milito.The Dutchman's finish was far surer than the previous attempts of his provider.
3-1: Diego Milito heads in Inter's thirdFour minutes after half-time a superb run from Sneijder after Messi had lost possession allowed him to put through Milito, now rapidly redeeming himself. He squared the ball and Maicon, the Robocop who marauds up and down the right flank, lunged in to poke the ball home at the second attempt.
At the other end Sergio Busquets should have done better with a closerange header fired straight at Cesar before things got even worse for Barca. First their captain Carles Puyol incurred a booking that put him out of the return leg. Then Maicon fired the ball across from the right, and Sneijder headed it down and across goal. It hung tantalisingly in the air before Milito nodded it past Valdes.
Ever more conscious of their precious lead, Milan became decidedly edgy. As the minutes ticked by there was an all-hands-to-the-pump feel to their defending, exacerbated by the injury to Maicon, carried off with a blow to his face from Messi's elbow. Bodies were thrown at the ball and with minutes to go Lucio managed to get enough of himself in the way to block Pique's desperate stab from point-blank range.
There is likely to be more of this before the tie is decided and all Europe, whether still grounded by then or not, will look on in fascination.
source: dailymail
