Newsgroup: it.sport.calcio.estero
Titolo: VIDEO: Inter vs Barcelona 3:1 - Goals & Highlights - Champions league  semis

http://tinyurl.com/VIDEO-Inter-vs-Barcelona-3-1
Hard job for Barca

Internazionale came from behind to stun holders Barcelona 3-1 in the
first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Stadio Giuseppe
Meazza.
Pedro put Barca into the lead after 19 minutes before Wesley Sneijder
started the Nerazzurri comeback with the equaliser after half an hour.
Maicon swooped to put Inter ahead just after the break and Diego
Milito added a third on 61 minutes as Jose Mourinho's side inflicted
Pep Guardiola's heaviest defeat since he took over at Barca.
Having thrilled the world with their quarter-final performance against
Arsenal, Barca failed to reach the same heights again having been
forced to make a 14-hour bus journey to Milan for the game. Inter,
meanwhile, moved a giant step closer to ending years of frustration in
Europe's top competition by winning a first European Cup since 1965.
Inside an expectant Giuseppe Meazza, the game exploded into life after
18 minutes when former Barca player Samuel Eto'o fired on target from
the edge of the box and Victor Valdes could only parry into the path
of Milito. But the Inter striker fluffed his lines from a tight angle
and pulled his shot wide of the mark.
Milito was made to rue that missed chance as when just a minute later,
Maxwell surged forward into the space left vacant by the daydreaming
Maicon before pulling back from the by-line to Pedro. The Barca
academy graduate slotted neatly past Julio Cesar to put the holders
ahead.
Inter responded well to going behind and would have been level just
three minutes later had defender Lucio not made a hash of a free
header from a set piece.
Likewise on 27 minutes, when Milito spurned a second great chance to
get his name on the scoresheet after Sneijder's cute little pass
through put him into a shooting position. Again his effort was dragged
wide of the far post.
The statistics showed that Barca had enjoyed 63 per cent of possession
at that point yet, Pedro's goal aside, the European champions had
failed to create any clear-cut goalscoring opportunities. Inter were
more incisive going forward, when they could get the ball, and the
hosts were rewarded on the half-hour mark with the leveller.
Sneijder got it, firing past Valdes after Milito had controlled
Eto'o's scuffed cross, turned and laid it on for the in-form Dutchman,
who got the fightback underway.
Inter took heart from the goal and ended the half strongly; Barca
midfielder Sergio Busquets's booking for slamming the ball down into
the turf in frustration told its own story.
The hosts doubled their lead soon after the restart as Mourinho's men
emerged from the dressing room in the mood for more goals.
Milito had already signalled Inter's intent with a great ball into the
danger area that Goran Pandev narrowly failed to reach before Maicon
put the Italian champions into the lead.
The Brazilian atoned for his earlier error for Barca's goal by
controlling Milito's awkwardly bouncing ball and prodding home from
close range as Inter broke quickly. A later accidental collision with
Lionel Messi ended Maicon's evening and his involvement in next week's
return leg is now in doubt.
Messi was far from his world-beating best on the night, although he
did sting Julio Cesar's fingers with a wickedly swerving shot on 53
minutes as Barca looked to respond to going behind.
Moments later the Inter keeper was again brought into action,
repelling a Busquets header from six yards out when the Barcelona
midfielder should have done better.
But Barca's pressure counted for little as Milito swooped just after
the hour mark to put Inter 3-1 up. Messi's Argentina team-mate had the
simple task of knocking over the line after Sneijder's miscued header
from Eto'o's cross had found him at close range.
It was the first time any side had scored three against Barca this
season, and the visitors appeared aggrieved. Cue intense late pressure
as the current Liga leaders poured forward looking to reduce the
arrears.
It did not come, despite the best efforts of Messi, from a free-kick,
and Gerard Pique late on, and now Barcelona have it all to do in the
second leg if they are to retain a chance of defending their crown.
The two teams reconvene in eight days' time at the Camp Nou for the
second leg, with a place in the May 22 final in Madrid at stake.