JOSE MOURINHO SET TO JOIN REAL MADRID - 'Mou' departs from Inter Milan after historic treble

I know we've got the World Cup just around the corner, but who is now dying for the new Liga season to fire up? Jose Mourinho is all set to take over the hotseat at Real Madrid with a juicy three year contract on the table allowing the 'special one' to rake in a cool €10million a year. Never a man to pussyfoot around an issue, 'Mou' (as he is affectionately known in these parts) confirmed his departure from Italy with a parting shot at the treatment received during his two year tenure in Milan. 'I'm leaving Inter. I'm fed up of Italy'. And what a way to go, sealing Inter Milans first European Cup/Champions League since 1965 when they sneaked past Benfica 1-0 at the San Siro, thanks to two goals from ex-Real Zaragoza man Diego Milito.

How apt that he should do so in the Santiago Bernabeu. By all accounts Mourinho just needs to be convinced about the project on offer under Florentino Perez but if he likes what he sees, it's a done deal. Can you imagine the fireworks next season? Mourinhos Madrid v Guardiolas Barca. A journalists dream. Although it will only serve to widen an already gaping gap between the big two and the rest. But why should Real Madrid care about that? Mourinho will offer the club exactly what they lacked. A focus point or shield for the players from the press. The Portuguese coach is a master in the art of creating controversy to lift any pressure off his team. Who was talking about Diego Milito, Eto'o or Sneijder before tonights final? No-one. We were all talking about José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho.

Champions League: Barcelona crash out to Mourinhos heroic Inter Milan

Barcelona 1 - 0 Inter Milan
(1-0) Pique 84'

What an anticlimax. All that build up. All that bravado. All that expectation. All disappointment. The fans fulfilled their obligation, cloaking the Camp Nou in blue and red, bombarding the Inter players with a wall of noise as they entered into the arena. Shame tonights gladiators were dressed in white. It was such a flat performance from Barcelona, you would never have imagined that they were the same team that won six trophies in such emphatic fashion last season. Looking back at the tie, Inter earned their passage to Madrid last week in the San Siro.

As fluent and expansive as they were in scoring three crucial goals against Barca last week, tonight was all about closing spaces and throwing bodies in the line of fire. They defended like lions. Some call it anti-football. I found it inspiring. And to think they played for an hour with ten men. Even Samuel Eto'o played his part, filling in at left back once Thiago Motta had been sent off. Walter Samuel and Lucio were immense. Emilio Cambiasso rolled back the years marking Leo Messi out of the match, ably assisted by Christian Chivu. Sneijder and Milito were tireless in tracking back. Whatever Mourinho says to his players, it bloody well works.

It was proper yo-yo stuff. Barca mounted attack after attack. At times it was incessant. But not once did Inter flinch. I lost count of the amount of clearing headers, last ditch tackles and vital blocks. It was a credit to their lungbusting effort that Barca never really looked like scoring during a one-way first half. Messi produced one moment of magic that had Julio Cesar fingertipping the ball round the post. But his strike partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic was utterly anonymous. Infact he was worse. A display so desparate, you began to wonder why on earth Guardiola parted with so much money AND Samuel Eto'o to land this guy. Talented he is. A man for the big occasion he is not. La Ligas very own Dimitar Berbatov.  

Xavi clearly missed having Andres Iniesta by his side. Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure have their qualities, but when it comes to creating they leave Xavi horribly isolated. Lionel Messi simply never got into his stride. The main talking point from the first half was Mottas sending off. Did he really deserve to see red? Let's say he probably would have stayed on had Sergio Busquets remained on his feet, but you play with fire when you raise your hands in an opponents face. His histrionics after though were unforgivable.

Unfortunately for Barca the red card only served to galvanise Inter. It made them doubly determined to leave Spain as Champions League finalists. The second half followed the same pattern as the first. 90% possession for Barca, hundreds of sideways passes and still no way through that wall of white. Bojan came on and almost immediately had a chance to reignite the tie, but he headed wide from a glorious position. Had that gone in, we may well be talking about a different result. Gerard Pique, who was by far Barcas best performer on the night, gave the home fans hope with a superbly taken goal with six minutes remaining. Bojan had the ball in the net at the death, it was correctly ruled out for a handball from Toure. Then  and we were treated to a 'Mourinho moment' as he raced onto the turf, arms aloft. Reminiscent of that touchline burst at Old Trafford in 2004. There will be no dream Bernabeu final for Barcelona. Bayern Munich v Inter Milan it will be.

Barcelona v Inter Milan: Judgement day for Guardiola and his troops

With the greatest respect for Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan are the two best teams left in the competition. Tomorrows winner will go into the final as favourites and rightly so. Barcelona would enter the Bernabeu as reigning champions having overcome a two goal first-leg deficit against Italys best to reach the final. Inter Milan will have disposed of one of the greatest teams the planet has ever seen. The Barca squad have sought the help of their twelfth man, with Gerard Pique appealing for the fans to turn the Camp Nou into a fiery furnace of hell. ´When the Inter players walk out on the pitch I want them to hate the footballing profession' he said. Jose Mourinho has retorted with 'For Inter, reaching the final is a dream, for Barcelona it's an obsession'. Nothing untowardly there, but he has certainly touched upon the fever pitch currently swirling around Catalunya. It has been remarked that this is as frenzied a build-up to a match in Barcelona since Luis Figo returned to town as a Real Madrid player. Let's hope Eto'o is spared the pigs head.

There is no shortage of sub-plots surrounding the tie. Will Eto'o score against his old buddies? Will Messi escape the attentions of Javier Zanetti to reek havoc around Julio Cesars goal? Will Guardiola reverse his tactical defeat against Mourinho in the first leg? Will Barcelona get the ball on the deck and knock it around this time? Which Milito brother will be smiling come Thursday morning? All answers to be revealed tomorrow night. Are you ready?

Champions League: Mourinho masterminds Barcelona defeat (Highlights)

Inter Milan 3 - 1 Barcelona

(0-1) 19' Pedro, (1-1) 29' Sneijder, (2-1) 49' Maicon, (3-1) 60' Milito

They could well point to an arduous 14 hour bus journey. Or even an atrocious display of refereeing from Olegário Benquerença. But the brutal reality of tonights Champions League semi-final is that Barcelona were second best to an inspired Inter Milan. Jose Mourinho won the battle of the master tacticians as Inter maintained a suffocating intensity in midfield and defence that was simply too much for Barcelona. Ex-Madrid man Wesley Sneijder was irrepresible, with the Dutchman a constant thorn in Barcas side, operating just behind the two strikers. Diego Milito showed incredible strength and composure, holding the ball and laying it off to teammates as Inter broke out of defence every time Barca misplaced a pass. Mourinho employed a 4-3-1-2 set-up and with Pandev, Cambiasso and Thiago Motta immense in restricting Barca to sideways passes, and Maicon an everpresent threat down the right. Barca were made to look average.

Xavi and Messi never got into their stride, but they were never allowed to as they were swarmed out by a sea of black and blue. Sergio Busquets and Seydou Keita looked like a lost souls as they repeatedly gifted possession to the Nerazzurri. As for Zlatan Ibrahimovic; the big Swede was quite simply non-existant. Lionel Messi kept plugging away but he just couldn´t shake off his countryman, as 38 year old Javier Zanetti put in a gargantuan shift. Pedro had got Barca off to flying start as he slotted in following a surging run from Maxwell down the left. But for Barca the fun stopped right there. Ten minutes later Diego Milito, who had already missed a couple of sitters, sucked in the Barca defence helped the ball onto the unmarked Sneijder, who made no mistake from close range. Shortly after the break Maicon took advantage of yet another Milito lay-off to slot in.

Barca needed to react but they were let down by the linesman as Sneijders misplaced header fell invitingly across for Milito to nod in from an offside position. Payback time perhaps for all those favours that Barcelona received from Tom Henning Ovrebo that fateful night at Stamford Bridge, almost one year to the day. Dani Alves was shown a yellow card for diving when it appeared a stonewall penalty. Pique was flattened late on. Not a peep from the ref. Inter committed countless fouls as they sought to break up Barcas rhythm, but it was the reigning champions who were on the receiving end of five yellow cards. Barcelona pushed late on, in search of a potentially priceless second away goal, but Lucio and Julio Cesar deprived them of that luxury with some superb blocks in the closing moments.

Barcelonas dream final at the Bernabeu is now hanging by a thread. The defeat, and the manner in which they were thoroughly outclassed, will mean they leave the Italian capital with their tails firmly rooted between their legs, but there is still hope. They will only need to repeat their home match against Inter in the group stages to reach the final. Mourinhos gladiators are a completely different side to the one Barca faced in November, but with Barca backed by a vibrant home crowd, Inter will have to be at their very best to stem the Blaugrana tide once more. Camp Nou....Your team needs you.

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