And finally here we are. I’ve got to say first that I’m Italian so it’s a bit hard for me to write these few words so be patient I’ll try to do my best.
It’s been a long time since Liverpool and Inter Milan played against in the 1965 semi final, so few of us can remember that match.
We are not in the position we expected at the beginning of the season and I don’t want to talk about the reasons because we are still in one of the greatest football competition of the world. Our opponents are dominating their league and still playing in the Italian Cup “Coppa Italia”. Maybe they are favourites for their current condition and our recent results, but we are Liverpool F.C. and we are used to be underdogs. We played Juventus, Milan and Barcelona in a similar situation and we all know what’s happened.
Now there’s a new crucial clash to win over two legs. Anfield is once again called to play the 12th man role and then we’ll travel to Milan to make San Siro hear our voice. I’m sure we will show why we are among the best supporters in the world, but now let’s have a look at the Inter fans point of view.
Being Italian for me is easy to interview some Inter supporters. First of all I have to mark a big difference between Italy and the England. Here when you grow up you have 4 choices equally divided of supporting Juventus Milan, Inter or your local team (obviously there are some exceptions like me. lol). In fact I live 40 km from Milan but a lot of my friends support Inter and this gave me the chance to make them these few questions.
How has the season been shaping so far?
COMI: well…it’s going well cause we’re fighting in every competition. First in the league, qualified for the Italian cup semi final and ready for the CL last 16. We’ll have to play well our cards cause we have such a large and strong team that we could do the treble.
GHISE: very very good till this point. It’s an easy answer especially after Juventus victory over Rome that increased our advantage to 11 points. Now we can calmly focus on our travel to Anfield.
PIBE: well we are comfortably at the top of the table. There has been some criticism about some referee decisions but we showed that we deserve our position by winning easily against Livorno, we know it’s not a top side but it’s the same team that forced Milan to a goalless draw.
What are your expectations for this season? Have they changed from day one?
COMI: like I said before, it should be fantastic to make a treble but it’s not easy, it’s a long way to the end of the season. We accept every trophy we could win (lol) but I sincerely prefer the Champions league cup, it’s my dream…and if we finish first in the league it’s better. We are still racing for every competition so our expectations haven’t changed.
GHISE: win both Scudetto (Serie A title) and Champions league but we now it’s very hard cause our player are inexperienced at European level only Luis Figo has already won it. People want us to prove that we deserved last season title by winning this one with Juventus back in the Serie A and no club with points penalization. And we want the European cup to show that we are the strongest on an international level. No our expectations are still the same.
PIBE: league title and Champions league cause it’s missing for a too long time. We have to gain respect in Europe and the best way to do it is to win the Big Ears cup. A.C. Milan, our local rivals, shown us what the CL means on international level and we won to show them that we are able to do it too. No, nothing has changed since day one.
Who do you think is your most important player(s)?
COMI: Cambiasso is my preferred player, I think he’s fundamental for our team. While Ibrahimovic is simply a phenomenon
GHISE: Cambiasso is our key player, he makes the team work together.
PIBE: they are all fantastic players but Ibra is the most amazing and spectacular.
Your worst player(s)?
COMI: our worst player? Mmh I think they are all good players maybe only Adriano and Solari hadn’t played at their top level.
GHISE: maybe at the moment only Crespo due to physical problems that kept him out of the action.
PIBE: Viera cause if he’s not injured he has been sent off by the referee.
Do you have a particular memory of any previous meeting between our clubs? Say something that happened to you that day or a decision you disagreed with?
(none of them was born so they have nothing to say about it)
Any young up and coming players in the squad that we might not know about?
COMI: Mario Balotelli is a very promising talented striker, he showed his skills against Juventus in the Italian Cup and helped the young team to win the “Carnevale Cup” in Viareggio which is a young teams tournament, but he isn’t eligible for the CL. There’s also Pelč who is a good midfielder
GHISE: the only news eligible for the CL is Jimenez while Balotelli looks very promising for the future, a complete striker who can score in every way and he’s only 17.
PIBE: Balotelli of course is the surprise of this season helping us with two goals against Juventus in the Italian Cup.
What sort of line-up will be put out against us?
COMI: Julio Cesar | Maicon, Cordoba, Materazzi, Maxwell | Stankovic, Cambiasso, Viera (Chivu), Figo (Jimenez) | Ibrahimovic, Cruz (Crespo).
GHISE: Julio Cesar | Materazzi, Cordoba, Chivu, Mawxell | Zanetti, Cambiasso, Viera, Jimenez | Cruz, Ibra
PIBE: Julio Cesar | Cordob, Materazzi, Burdisso, Maxwell | Zanetti, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Pelč| Ibrahimovic, Cruz
Do you have any favourite/best chant(s) and perhaps any that require an explanation?
COMI: “non mollare mai” (= never give up)
GHISE: “mi pippo un sasso con Cambiasso” it’s a joke it means that “I will use cocaine with Cambiasso” it’s only a metter of rhyme I don’t think Cambiasso is addicted to any drugs.
PIBE: “amala! pazza Inter amala!” is the official anthem and it means “love it! Crazy Inter love it”
Where do you expect (whoever) - and Liverpool to finish in the Premier League?
COMI: third place but I hope in something more cause I sympathize for Liverpool.
GHISE: in my opinion Liverpool will finish at the fifth place
PIBE: maybe at the fourth place
Which Liverpool player will you fear the most?
COMI: noone in particular I fear the way Liverpool can play as team in this kind of matches.
GHISE: Torres he has pure talent.
PIBE: Peter Crouch he is capable of scoring spectacular goals.
Care to predict the score?
COMI: no I don’t want to predict the score.
GHISE: I usually bring bad luck when I predict the score so I won’t do it.
PIBE: I hope 1-1 not so good but not that bad.
Inter fans like Liverpool for the way we won against Juve and Milan in 2005. But a lot of them are sure they’ll win against us. Maybe I’ve seen more times Liverpool play then a lot of Inter fans did in the last few years despite they live near Milan and I live in Italy (surely a travelled more, lol). There’s a poor attendance at San Siro during the season if there are not big matches. Inter supporters spent the last 19 years desperate to win the league almost like us but now they are very confidents in theirselves. In the past years people used to joke a lot about Inter bad luck, but now they are too strong and noone can say anything to them. I tried to do my best translating what my friends answered me I hope you’ll enjoy this article.
