"Whoever wins this tie will get to the final, maybe they won't win the final but they'll get there . . ."
It has been a long week for Inter Milan's Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu. He has been talking a good game on the eve of tomorrow night's eagerly awaited Champions League quarter-final, first leg tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He has said the right things, showing just the right amount of respect for his opponents while at the same time giving the impression that his side are about to produce a really big performance.
For Lucescu and Inter Milan, it has been "psych-yourself-uptime". In truth, though, Inter have little choice. If your most recent results and performances have been poor, if your star striker (Ronaldo) is missing and if your recently-appointed (and soon to depart) coach does not appear totally in control, then what else can you do to engender a little pre-match confidence?
Lucescu and friends have been looking almost exclusively on the bright side of life this week. If you point out that the side are now sixth and 13 points behind Lazio in the Serie A title race, goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca cheerfully replies: "Fact is that we're an entirely different side in the Champions League from the one you see in Serie A."
Could be, but the Inter which struggled miserably to a 2-0 defeat by Real Madrid last September looked suspiciously like the one which has lost to Perugia, Parma and Lazio in three recent league and cup games. Even the Inter which staged a last gasp 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the return leg in November was not a thousand miles away from the one which performed poorly in a tedious 0-0 home draw with Juventus on Saturday night.
Be it in September, November or February, this season's Inter has looked consistently suspect in defence, error-ridden in midfield and, Roberto Baggio excepted, only sporadically dangerous in attack. Worse still, it has often looked like a side without either competitive will or identity.
Lucescu concedes that his side has had problems but is quick to suggest that they have turned the corner, leaving the worst behind them: "This team has been without Ronaldo for most of the season, obviously you miss such a player . . . Other players, Zamorano, Baggio, Djorkaeff, Ventola have all been out through injury but now they are all coming back, just in time . . ."
No one at Inter makes light of the absence of Ronaldo who, knee tendons allowing, ought to be back in time for the return leg. Inter's dependence on him is more psychological than tactical but it is a dependence for all that.
Without the Brazilian, Lucescu is pinning his hopes on the fact that for Inter, unlike United, this game could represent the end of the line. Out of the title contest and almost out of the Italian Cup, Inter MUST get a result. For once this season, competitive hunger is not optional.
The will to do battle and the stimulus provided not only by the Champions League but also by a prestige Anglo-Italian clash may help Inter, at least psychologically. Tactically, the side can rely on an excellent goalkeeper in Pagliuca, on a competitive battling midfield in which Argentinians Diego Simeone and Javier Zanetti are outstanding, and on a front line strengthened by the fearless centre-forward play of Chilean Ivan Zamorano, the experience of Frenchman Youri Djorkaeff and illuminated by the magical touches of the Little Prince, Roberto Baggio.
Furthermore, Lucescu believes his side will enjoy playing against an attacking side like United, one which will leave room for Baggio to exploit spaces behind the square back four. Lucescu had better be right for the same Djorkaeff-Baggio-Zamorano front line has been distinctly underwhelming in recent games against Lazio and Juventus.
Lucescu, too, had better be right when he plays down reports of tensions between himself and his Nigerian defender Taribo West. There are those commentators who now question the wisdom of the short-term contract appointment of Lucescu as successor to Gigi Simoni last December. It is at least arguable that the coach's authority with his players is undermined by the fact that most of them know already that they are going to be around at Inter for longer than him since he moves out in June.
Whatever way you look at it, the reality of this Champions League tie is that it represents a terrific opportunity for Manchester United. This Inter side without Ronaldo represents nothing like as serious opposition as the Lippicoached Juventus sides which have beaten Alex Ferguson's team in three out of four Champions League clashes over the last two seasons. If the men from Old Trafford are to stand up and be counted, tomorrow night is the night.
