Nobody Likes Balotelli

This happened during the Coppa Italia Final.  I didn't watch the whole game so I can't really put this into context, but Totti takes a full swing at his leg.  That's basically trying to break his leg.  I'd go bananas on someone if they did that to me or a teammate.

Poppa's Picks: Champion's League Edition

Lyon X Bayern Munich - Today 2:45PM ET

Bayern hold a slight advantage on aggregate with the crucial 1-0 win in Germany.  The game will not see key players Franck Ribery and Jeremy Toulalan.  Lyon coach Claude Puel has asked for Lisandro and company to step it up on the attack and take advantage of their home field advantage.  On the other side of the ball, Louis Van Gaal has also claimed Bayern will implement an attacking style of play as to keep Lyon on their heels in order to defend their lead.  Lyon went to Madrid and qualified; look for them to do the same at home.  Lisandro equalizes, Makoun brings them back to Madrid for the Final, 2-0 in France.*


Barcelona X Inter - Wednesday 2:45PM ET

The Nerazurri stunned big, bad Barcelona 3-1 in the first game earning them a clear advantage heading into this leg.  However, Barcelona do not buckle under pressure.  In fact, they usually do just the opposite.  Inter will have to close down the wing threats of Messi and Dani Alves.  I think Mourinho knows "parking the bus" in front of the net probably won't work against the Blaugrana.  Look for a nail-biter here at the Nou Camp, with Barce taking a 2-0 lead with goals from Messi and Iniesta.  But Eto'o will net a 2nd half goal to give Inter a 2-1 Cinderella-type story to head to the Final with.**


*My biased for Lyon does not apply in this decision
**This decision also has nothing to do with a Mourinho biased.  I only want him to win Champions Leagues with Porto.

Inter Milan 1-0 CSKA Moscow

Inter Milan came away with a victory against CSKA through a 65th minute Diego Milito goal. Also, check out the goal-line clearance from Aleksei Berezutski that kept the game 1-0. Milos Krasic will miss CSKA's home leg next week through suspension.

Time to Go for Mourinho ?

Jose Mourinho made it very clear that he is not happy in Italian football, even though he claims to be happy at Inter. This comes out the night before his club's big clash against CSKA Moscow. Also, this will add fuel to the fire of the speculation of an exit from Inter at the end of the season. Liverpool and Real Madrid are rumored to be interested in the Portuguese skipper. He is also rumored to be Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement if he were to hang up the clipboard at United.
For story and quotes click here.

Poppa's Picks: Champions League Edition

Lyon X Bordeaux - Tuesday 2:45PM ET
Bordeaux travel east to Lyon in the first leg of the "Bataille de France."  Bordeaux have been in exceptional form, sitting atop the leaderboard domestically.  However Ligue 1 is officially the hottest race in Europe with just 3 points separating the top 6 teams.  Marseille has recently brought down both these powerhouses, eliminating Bordeaux from the League Cup last week and stripping Lyon of some much needed points.  Look for Lyon to try and capitalize at home, with a lot of attacking play.  Bordeaux won't score away. 1-0 Lyon.  Bafetimbe Gomis or Lisandro will score.

Bayern Munich X Manchester United - Tuesday 2:45PM ET
Rooney and company will be relishing the opportunity to return to England with an advantage.  This Manchester team has a chip on its shoulder after being written off with no Cristiano.  They proved this in the last fixture by destroying AC Milan 7-2 on aggregate.  Not to mention a dominate 4-0 win this weekend domestically.  Bayern is still looking for someone to really step up in the Champions League.  Their top scorer is Arjen Robben in the competition with just 2 goals.  Bayern are also coming off a major loss to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, losing their first place standing.  Robben and the Germans will get a decent result in Munich 1-1.  Nani scores for Man United.

Arsenal X Barcelona - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
Forward Nicklas Bendtner has recently stated, "Messi can be stopped."  I beg to differ...Arsene Wenger has already expressed concern over the upcoming tie, and little Arshavin has said the Gunners aren't good enough to challenge Chelsea and Manchester for the title.  Meanwhile Barce seem very focused, and a visit to London shouldn't ruffle their feathers all that much (unless you're Thiery Henry).  Andres Iniesta has already ruled himself out for the match, but I think the Spanish side will still come away with the victory 2-1 over Arsenal.  Messi, Arshavin, Xavi the scorers.

Inter Milan X CSKA Moscow - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
Inter were dazzled by Roma over the weekend, but that shouldn't hurt their confidence all that much.  After eliminating a strong Chelsea, Mourinho's side seem to have the formula down in the late stages of the competition.  With the Russian League just getting underway earlier this month, CSKA are fresh enough to challenge the Italians.  They've won 2 and drawn once thus far domestically.  But a lack of recent competition may hurt their chances.  Inter will take their home leg 2-0 in the Guiseppe Meazza.  Two for Cameroonian international Samuel Eto'o.

Eto'o's Bicycle

Sammy's 2nd goal of the night was a beauty, coming just before halftime.  Inter went on to defeat Livorno 3-0 at the Guiseppe Meazza.  Enjoy!

Fabregas Linked to Inter

Reports are flying out of Italy that 22 year-old Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas will be joining Inter Milan over the summer.  Jose Mourinho's side have even added them to the list of players on their insurance policy according to Sky Sports.  Part of the deal will see Nerazurri striker Mario Balotelli become a Gunner next year.

Interesting move by the San Siro side, making me believe "The Special One" had something to do with this.  Perhaps Mourinho will in fact be at Inter next season.  The former Barcelona product will fit nicely in the middle with Inter's experienced players, and he has an extremely bright future ahead.  Can't wait to see the transfer fee on this one!

Check out the full story at Goal.com

Champions League Highlights: Round of 16; 2nd Leg

Without Poppa to make his picks here are the highlights from Tuesday night's Champions League matches. Inter and CSKA both pick up wins on the road to advance into the quarter finals.

Chelsea 0 Inter Milan 1

Sevilla 1 CSKA Moscow 2

Becks Injured in Milan's Hunt for Scudetto

After Inter suffered a stunning 3-1 loss to Catania on Friday Milan had the opportunity to get as close as 1 point to the defending champions. Although Milan won the biggest news from the match was the torn achilles tendon on David Beckham's left foot that will keep him out for 5-6 months. Poor Becks will probably miss out on his last chance to participate in a World Cup. = (

AC Milan 1 Chievo Verona 0

More Serie A Highlights

Serie A Weekend Highlights

Juventus 0 Palermo 2
   

AC Milan 3 Atalanta 1
   

Napoli 2 Roma 2
   

Inter 3 Udinese 2
   

More Italian League Highlights

Inter X Chelsea Highlights

Inter Milan 2 Chelsea 1
   

Poppa's Picks: Champions League Edition

Today's Games

Olympiakos X Bordeaux - Tuesday 2:45PM ET
The French Ligue leaders hit up Greece for their first leg in the Round of 16.  The hosts are also contending for domestic supremacy, sitting just two points behind Panathinakos.  Bordeaux are not in their best form winning only 2 of their last 5 matches in the French League and Cup.  Olympiakos on the otherhand are coming off of 3 consecutive victories, followed by a draw.  However, I'm going to say a 1-1 draw here, a good result for Laurent Blanc's crew to head back west with.

Stuttgart X Barcelona - Tuesday 2:45PM ET
Pep has called for his side to step it up for the match at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.  Pssh ya Pep, first place in Spain with 27 total wins in this seasons' competitions just ain't cutting it.  Barce knocked Stuttgart out of the CL back in '07-'08.  The Germans are just not in form this season sitting midtable in the Bundesliga.  But you never know, teams can step it up for big games.  Having said that, I'm going to give Barcelona an away victory here 2-0.  Expect little Leo Messi to put one away for the Blaugrana.

Wednesday's Games

CSKA Moscow X Sevilla - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
Brrrr Russia...The Spaniards are coming off a big win against Mallorca, as they push forward to try and secure another spot in Europe next season.  Moscow's Milos Krasic leads all socrers of the match day with 4 Champions League goals this season.  The Russians have to take advantage and make a run this year as they most likely won't see Champions League competition in the '10-'11 season.  Look to see CSKA hold Luis Fabiano and company to a 1-1 draw.  I heard if they get a good result, Roman Abramovich will give them each a case of potato vodka...Russians love vodka.

Inter Milan X Chelsea - Wednesday 2:45PM ET
Perhaps the most hyped matchup of this round sees Carlo Ancelotti returning to the San Siro to take on the Special One and former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.  The Londoners are arriving in Italy after a weekend win over Wolverhampton, and Frankie Lampard has been cleared to play tomorrow.  Ancelotti joked that the country (Italy) will be cheering on the Blues on Wednesday night.  I am not so sure its much of a joke as hated as Inter is domestically.  Inter are a very physical side for Italy, but expect Chelsea to beast the Nerazurri and return to Britain up 2-0. One from Lamps, one from Didier Drogba.

Ghana Want Balotelli for World Cup

There are talks that Ghana manager Miroslav Rajevic may visit Milan soon to enter National team talks with Mario Balloteli.  The Italian-born Inter hot-head is the product of two Ghanian parents, making him an option for Ghana ahead of World Cup 2010.  "Super Mario" is also being persuaded to join by fellow Ghanian and teammate Sulley Muntari.  He has only graced the pitch for the under-21 Italian National squad.  FIFA rules would have no objections if Balotelli were to play for Ghana in South Africa.  Rajevic also has fellow Serb Dejan Stankovic lobbying for Mario's move to play for Ghana.

Rajevic thinks Balotelli would be an awesome acquistion for the African side, as do I.  He's praised the young Italian's ability...

 "He is a great talent and can become one of the best strikers in the world...
Mario has the chance to take part in the World Cup with one of the most interesting teams and his arrival would be welcomed with enthusiasm. It’s up to him: we’d be happy to have him at our disposal."

Certainly Balotelli will not throw this opportunity away, right?  Who wants to represent an openly racist country anyway?  Truely a Balotelli switch to Ghana is not good news for the likes of Portugal and Brazil.  What do you think Balotelli should do?

Crespo Brings Heavy Snow to Parma

Yesterday, the Argentinian completed a move to his first Italian love, Parma FC.  He featured for Genoa in the first half of the season, scoring 5 goals in 16 appearances.  Hernan has played for five different Serie A teams, including both teams of the San Siro.


Meanwhile, the Inter X Parma showdown today is postponed due to heavy snowfall in Parma.  The game will now be played on February 10th.  However there were Italian Cup semifinals scheduled for this date.  These matches have been pushed back to April.

Fernandes Inks Up with Inter

Jose Mourinho has taken in Valencia's Manuel Fernandes for an undisclosed fee.  Fernandes said he had spoken to Quaresma about the club, and is happy to be joining the Nerrazurri.  Manuel  also said, "I also spoke to Mourinho on Friday. It's a dream to be coached by him."

An interesting signing this is...Surely the Portuguese international will not get the playing time he was supposedly seeking on his way out of Valencia.  It will be hard to make the World Cup squad with the likes of Zanetti, Sneijder, and even Cambiasso standing in the way of a starting spot in that midfield.  Perhaps Valencia was seeing him off due to the "situations" he and fellow countryman Miguel had been getting themselves into over the years there.  Fernandes scored 2 goals for "Los Che" during his time in Spain.  This season he appeared in only 6 games for Valencia, starting once.


For more on this story click here 

Big day for Inter

Manuel Fernandes is joining Inter Milan. There were many reports that he was heading to Sporting CP, however he decided to join fellow Portuguese Ricardo Quaresma and coach Jose Mourinho at the Serie A giants. I'm not sure of this move, however. If his goal was to get playing time, how will he get some there. I mean, there's more competition at Inter than Valencia. Doesn't make sense to me.

Also, Inter beat Juventus in the quarters of the Coppa Italia today 2-1. Lucio and Balotelli scored in the come from behind win. Diego scored Juventus' only goal. Goals and highlights here.

Def Comedy Presents: Jose Mourinho

This past weekend featured one of the biggest derbies in soccer, the Milan Derby. Inter was hosting AC Milan (the San Siro is both team's home stadium) who had been on a hot streak up to that point. Throughout the game, Milan seemed to get better decisions from the referee than Inter, who had Sneijder and Lucio sent off. However, with a classy finish from Diego Milito and a beautiful freekick from Goran Pandev, Inter won the match 2-0.

After the match, Jose "The Special One" Mourinho made some hysterical comments about the referee. "We were perfect. We would have won this game even with seven men," said Mourinho. "Maybe with six we would have struggled, but we would have won with seven." What a cocky, arrogant son-of-a-puta. I love that guy! He needs to get out of Italy. I've heard rumors about Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United as his next stop.

For more of his post game comments go here.

Inter Milan vs AC Milan 2-0

Inter Milan vs AC Milan Highlights – Serie A

Good for you Jose...now finish up and win the league so you can get out of that God-forsaken country...just kiddin' Guiseppe Rossi and all other Guiseppes around the world.

It was a good derby, following suit to all the pre-match shit talking from both sides..


Highlights After the Jump