CL - Football - Europe - CL - Champions League

Huge CL derby today between the teams of Inter and Chelsea. The stage of the first leg will be Milano.
Inter is undoubtedly the best Italian club at the moment. They have comfortable lead on top of the table in Serie A. So I expect Mourinho will have the freedom to sacrifice some League games in order to perform well in CL. i think this is one of the reasons the team has 3 draws in the last 3 games played. Even thougn the good record of the team still is on as Inter is unbeaten in the last 3 months, as the last time the team lost was against Barca in the Group stage of the tournament.
But even more interesting is the first time Mourinho is opposing his former club in official game. Of course in his traditional style the portugese specialist started attacking opponent through the media a week before the matchday.
For the game today Mourinho is without Chivu, while Santon and Materazzi are doubtful.
Chelsea is leader in the Premiership table, but the lead of the team is not as convincing as Inter's. The Blues are on only a point in front of United after the Red Devils smashed Hammers yesterday.
As a whole the performance of the team with Ancelotti is great, but I think there is one very important thing that the club lost with the departure of Mourinho. It seems to me the team just lacks charackter when the match went out of control and the the team has to come out with something different to get out of the situation winning something.
We say in the recent games from the League that the Blues are experiencing difficulties in the away games, as the team won only one of the last 3 visits.
Every year since Abramovich took the club we heard that the CL is the main priority of the team, but it's always slipping away from the Blues.
Now the manager is new and more experienced in the tournament, but I wonder if the players believe they can lift the trophy.
At the moment Chelsea is weakened as Ashley Cole, Zhirkov Essien, Deco and Bosingwa are out due to injuries.
This leaves the question who will be the left back as the only typical option left is Ferreira and he is not registered for the competition. I believe this gap that opens in Chelsea squad will be used by the experienced Mourinho.
Frankly I expect the game to be lead by Inter. I doubt Chelsea will take risks today as they know they will be able to decide the game in England, even if the result today is negative by 1 goal for example.
As a whole I expect good performance by the Italians at home ground and I think they will use the best way the problems in Chelsea defence.
I bet on Home DNB.

Record Date : 24/02/2010 13:52