Nigeria Content Online

With
sixteen Champions league titles between them, the match between the
Rossoneri and Los Merengues takes the cake as Day 3 of the most
lucrative club competition resumes today.

Jose Mourinho loved
Inter Milan but never settled well in Italy. Today, he gets another
chance against his former neighbours, AC Milan when Real Madrid files
out against the 7-time champions at the Santiago Bernebeu.

Against all
expectations, AC Milan are top of the Serie A and boast of a forward
line that is the envy of all European clubs – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (a
former Inter Milan player under Mourinho), Robinho, Ronaldinho,
Alexandre Pato and ageless Fillipo Inzaghi. Milan will also be buoyed
by last season’s 3-2 win with a brace from Pato.

That lineup plus
last season’s win should put fear in the heart of any defence line and
their manager but one thing the ‘Special One’ does not know is fear.

Yet to lose

Real Madrid is yet
to lose under Mourinho and have only conceded three goals in nine
matches both in the league and in Europe. The Portuguese was hired
specifically to win the Decima – a 10th European Cup and to end
Barcelona’s dominance, both in Spain and in Europe. He is top of the
Primera division currently with Cristiano Ronaldo’s league-leading six
goals.

Mourinho’s drive for excellence was encapsulated in his statement after his side beat Malaga comfortably 4-1 away.

“I do not like
Malaga’s goal. Alright you have to give credit to them as a team, who
have certainly worked hard on their move and succeeded. But, my team
knew this move, and knew what to do. We knew the play of Malaga but
seemed to relax a little. It would have been better for us if the game
was completely dead because we play again on Tuesday, and that goal
made us work harder.” Well, work he will if he is to preserve Real’s
unbeaten start to the season and score one of the most prestigious
scalps in the history of the competition.

Real Madrid – 9 – 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1965-66, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2001-02

AC Milan – 7 – 1962-63, 1968-69, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1993-94, 2002-03, 2006-07.

Chelsea return to scene of misery

The Blues take on
Spartak Moscow at the site of their agonising 2008 Champions League
defeat to Manchester United on penalties – and who can forget the slip
from John Terry on the last penalty kick? If he had scored, Chelsea
will be boasting of a win today.

Both teams are
unbeaten with perfect records – six points from two wins. One statistic
will fall today as both of them cannot win today.

The match is to be played on an artificial turf which tends to affect players who are not used to the surface.

Tottenham complained about it after their trip to Switzerland to face Young Boys in an earlier fixture.

For Spartak,
holders of the unenviable record of 22 successive Champions League
games without a win that stretched for more than five years between
2001 and 2006, Tuesday’s match will be the stiffest test yet of their
European ambitions.

Spartak are aware
that a win against the English champions will almost guarantee a place
in the knockout round for the first time since the 1995-96 season.

Spartak coach Valery Karpin told the press that he understands the test that his side will face against Chelsea today.

“We had a great
start, probably better than some of our fans had expected. But we all
know that beating Chelsea would be a totally different proposition from
what we had before. So we’re not getting carried away by any means.”

Drogba and Lampard not available

Chelsea will still
be without a recuperating Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba who is yet to
get over a fever that sidelined him from the Aston Villa clash on
Saturday.

Meanwhile, Jose Bosingwa is back after a year of injury, and Carlo
Ancelotti could also have the services of Salomon Kalou, Daniel
Sturridge and defender Alex, who has recovered from a thigh injury. But
Spartak’s own Alex has been ruled out with the same thigh problem.