Holders Inter Milan look for Euro glory post Mourinho

Inter Milan will aim for a repeat treble ahead of their Champions League opener away to FC Twente on Tuesday.

ROME: Defending champions Inter Milan will aim for a repeat treble ahead of their Champions League opener away to FC Twente today. The holders, who also collected the Italian league and cup last season, were given a tough draw in group A alongside Tottenham and Werder Bremen.

But last season’s success has allowed a certain confidence and ambition to grow at Inter, who until the arrival of Jose Mourinho were known for flopping in Europe. Mourinho may be gone now after two successful years but he and his influence is not forgotten.

“He really is the Special One. Even when you’re dead on your feet and you can’t go on, as happened in the last two or three months of last season, he gets you to give 130 percent,” said Serbia captain Stankovic.

Wounded Barca target Panathinaikos

Barcelona are looking to put a humiliating league defeat to tiny Hercules behind them when they host Panathinaikos in their Champions League Group D opener.

“We weren’t ourselves but we don’t have to worry, we just have to do things better,” said coach Pep Guardiola. “We have to recover quickly, physically and mentally, to be ready for Tuesday’s match.”

It is Barcelona’s first Champions League outing since the painful semi-final exit to Mourinho’s dogged Inter Milan when Barcelona lost 3-2 on aggregate to the eventual winners. Barcelona are one of the favourites for this season’s title.

Fergie eyes Euro glory

The bitter memory of last year’s Champions League exit to Bayern Munich is driving Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United launch their latest quest for European silverware against Rangers at Old Trafford.

Despite already guiding United to two Champions League triumphs, Ferguson remains unshaken in his belief that the English giants could and should have had more to show for their efforts in Europe during his 24-year reign.

And nothing rankles Ferguson more than the manner of last season’s defeat to Bayern, when United raced into a 3-0 lead in the second leg before the Germans scored twice to advance on away goals. “We’ve only won it three times, which is not enough for this club, and we’ve been unlucky a lot of times. Last year still plays on my mind, that Bayern Munich game. I keep thinking about that game and keep getting angry about the way we lost it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2010.