The Italian Job

Your on a great run mate with just 1 loss in your last 8, where are you on the table bud?

walkinshaw - Thanks!! Third at the moment, but only 2 points from top spot. Going to start adding a league table at the end of each month starting with my next update though, so readers can get visual updates on my league position

February Review

Inter faced Fiorentina away in the first leg of the Coppa Italia at the beginning of February with the weight of expectation on their backs. English winger Raheem Sterling gave Inter the lead after less than a minute, with Wilfried Bony smashing in their second after only 13 minutes. But Fiorentina, with the twelfth man behind them, regrouped and made an emphatic comeback, with German forward Mario Gomez grabbing a brace. Yet it wasn't meant be, as defender Eder Alvarez Balanta secured a 3-2 win for the travelling side, who take a one goal lead into the second leg for a place in the final.

The second of their three consecutive matches against the Viola - this time in Serie A - ended in similar circumstances, with Inter earning another three points for their title challenge. Once again, it was Raheem Sterling that grabbed an early goal after 8 minutes to give his side the lead. Forward Mauro Icardi, a fan favourite, smashed in a second after half an hour to put Inter in complete control. The second half only saw one goal, Fiorentina's Mario Gomez scoring against Inter for the third time in 5 days to make it 2-1. In the end though it was Inter who were triumphant with Ronaldo all smiles at full time.

Surely it was going to be third time lucky for Fiorentina? But once again, it wasn't the case. Ronaldo made 10 changes from the side that started the league match on the weekend, with Roberto Pereyra the only player to keep his place. Raheem Sterling made it 3 in 3 for Fiorentina, with Fabio Borini also scoring, to give Inter a 2-0 victory, 5-2 on aggregate, securing a place in the cup final against local rivals AC Milan. Ronaldo will be pleased with the performance of his changed squad, and stated his pride at Francesco Bardi keeping a clean sheet for the side.

Ronaldo rewarded defender Matteo Darmian, loanee John Obi Mikel, and forward Fabio Borini, with starts after their impressive performances in the cup. And Borini maintained his fine form scoring a brace for the away side. The third goal came late on with European Golden Boy, Memphis Depay, finishing off their rout. The win maintained their fine form, with Ronaldo's men only losing once so far in 2016.

A Mauro Icardi double was enough to secure the three points for Inter as they hosted Empoli at the Giuseppe Meazza. In a game of little chances with both sides defending well, it was only a lapse of concentration from keeper Samir Handanovic that allowed Empoli to score, with the keeper registering an own goal in the closing minutes of the game.

Champions League football resumed for Inter at the Red Bull Arena in Austria, with the Italian side hoping to progress to the next round. Inter gave the Austrian supporters a masterclass on attacking football, achieving a four goal lead to go into the second leg. Three first half goals from Fredy Guarin, Wilfried Bony and Memphis Depay earned Inter an impressive 3-0 lead in the first 45 minutes of their cup tie. The second half was a lot more cagey, with Red Bull reluctant to suffer an embarrassing defeat. An Inter penalty, scored from Brazilian Lucas Silva, was the only additional goal of the game - giving his side a 4-0 lead to take back to Milan and an almost guaranteed place for Inter in the last eight.

Inter fans will be disappointed to see their side slip back to third at the end of February, only taking a point in Bergamo against Atalanta. Inter took the lead in the second half from Memphis Depay's volley, then a spectacular solo effort from Federico Varano levelled it up after 68 minutes. With 10 minutes to go it looked like substitute John Obi Mikel was going to be the hero as he stepped up to take a penalty - but his strike could only find the post. Inter fans though will have plenty to feel optimistic about at the end of a busy month, with the side only 2 points behind top of the table Juventus and making good progress in the cups.

Here is the latest league table at the end of the month:

Player Of The Month - Raheem Sterling

Marvellous March

Inter continued their impressive form with another convincing win against Udinese at home. An early goal from Roberto Pereyra against his former team gave Inter the lad. Pereyra, dismissed the usual courtesy of not celebrating against his old side, showing exactly what that goal meant to him. The Nerazzurri had a magical start to the second half, Mauro Icardi smashed in a second from inside the box to put his side 2-0 up. Then straight from kick off, a series of passes went back to Udinese's keeper, Ivan Kelava, who seemed to be daydreaming as he allowed winger Raheem Sterling to take the ball from his feet and tap it into an empty goal. The away side to manage to claw one back from a corner, with Silvan Widmer making it 3-1. But it was centre back Juan Jesus that ended any hope of a late comeback scoring a delicious volley straight from his sides corner to secure a 4-1 win.

Inter's run didn't look like concluding as Ronaldo's side faced Perugia away. Memphis Depay secured a hat-trick to help his side take another three points on their travels. Roberto Pereyra scored the other, having played his part in assisting two of [Memphis] Depay's goals. However, the home side did show some fighting spirit scoring twice from Gaston Brugman and Matteo Rubin. Despite this attacking threat, Inter were far superior going forward, winning 4-2.

A frustrating afternoon for Inter as they hosted Napoli at the Giuseppe Meazza. Ronaldo decided to rest his star man, Memphis Depay, for today's game, with the play in danger of burning out. And it looked like a wise decision for the majority of the game, Inter dominating possession and 2-0 up by the 67th minute with goals from Mauro Icardi and Raheem Sterling. But a last ditch tackle from Matteo Darmian, saw his interception go past his own keeper after 72 minutes, giving Napoli a surprising lifeline in the match. It was experienced Finnish international, Roman Eremenko, who equalised for Napoli with 10 minutes remaining, as he heading home a corner on the near post. Ronaldo stated his dissatisfaction at throwing away two points so easily - moreover, seeing Juventus and Cagliari drop points the same weekend will only add to the disappointment of the Nerazzurri.

Despite Ronaldo's decision to rest most of his star players, having won 4-0 in Austria a few weeks ago, Inter still managed to convincingly beat the Austrian side. Inter were 3-0 up at half time with goals from Fredy Guarin, Fabio Borini and Raheem Sterling. The second half was much the same, with super-sub Wilfried Bony getting a 45 minute hat-trick for the Italians. Emil Larsen did grab a consolation goal after 69 minutes for his side, but his reluctance to celebrate it said everything about Red Bull's performance over the two games. Inter manager Ronaldo will be happy to see his side in the hat for the last 8, with either At. Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid or Real Sociedad, to play in the quarter finals.

Inter moved up into second in Serie A with a win in their last game of March. Lazio hosted the Nerazzurri on the back of a 4 game lose streak, and showed no signs of improving. Inter's attack took advantage of a fragile defence - scoring twice from Inter's two top scorers, Memphis Depay and Mauro Icardi. Ronaldo was full of smiles in his post match conference, saying "It was an important win. We have tough matches against Juve and AC Milan coming up. So this win was always a must. The next month will be even bigger though, these next games could well determine who will be the champions in May".

Here is the league table at the end of March:

Player Of The Month - Roberto Pereyra

In other news, Inter secured the £1.5 million pound signing of 14 year old German left back, Benjamin Hornig from Red Bull Leipzig. The German will join his new club in July.


The Quarter Final Draw has also been announced for the Champions League:

Inter Remain Second After Difficult Month

In front of a bumper crowd in the Giuseppe Meazza Inter and Juventus played out a goalless draw to stay tied on points at the top of the table. Ronaldo highlighted Juan Jesus and Calum Chambers' performances as exceptional to securing a point for his side. Mauro Icardi had the best chance in the match to win it for Inter late on when he hit the post from close range. But in the end Gianluigi Buffon's goalkeeping was too good to find a way through.

For the second consecutive game Inter failed to register a goal in front of their home fans. Unfortunately, this time the opposition - Bayern Munich - were able to break the stalemate, after former Bayern man, Mehdi Benati conceded a penalty for a poorly timed challenge in the box. Xabi Alonso scored it, to give the German side a vital away goal, and a 1-0 lead to take back to Germany for next weekend's second leg.

Inter suffered late heartache in the latest instalment of the Milan derby, with Brazilian midfielder Giuliano, who signed for AC in the summer for £8.25 million, smashed in a screamer from 25 yards out, to send the red side of Milan into a wild hysteria. Ronaldo will be bitterly disappointed with the result, but Inter will be relieved to see Juventus and Cagliari also suffered defeats this weekend, meaning they've lost no ground in the race for the Serie A title.

Inter played out a five goal thriller in Munich's Allianz-Arena for a place in the Champions League semi finals. Ronaldo's men came into the game chasing an early goal, having lost the first leg. However, it was a nightmare start to the second leg with Polish striker Robert Lewandowski making it 1-0 on the night. A wonder goal from Italian Fabio Borini outside the box made it 1-1 after 30 minutes, meaning Inter went into the break with everything to play for. Similar to the second half, Bayern snatched another early lead, when Philipp Lahm struck a worldie from 30 yards out to give his side a 2-1 lead. Substitute Memphis Depay curled in a second equaliser to make it 2-2 on the night after 71 minutes. A second yellow card for Yuto Nagatomo meant an early bath, and an abrupt end to Inter's push for the match winner. However, the man advantage and Inter overloading their attack meant Bayern could exploit the Italians fragile defence, German Thomas Muller finished off a fantastic counter attack to make it 3-2, sending Bayern into the semi finals. After the match Ronaldo said, "I am proud of what we achieved this year. We showed that Inter can once again match Europe's elite, and next year who knows, with hard work we could progress even further".

Inter finally found their winning touch again having crashed out of Europe in the week. Dutch winger Memphis Depay grabbed a brace, but failed to bag a hat-trick, missing a second half penalty. A Tomas Rincon own goal and Raheem Sterling's superb solo effort, clinched a 4-0 win for the Nerazzurri.

Inter revealed their title credentials winning 1-0 away to title challengers Cagliari away from home. A goal from the current European Golden Boy, Memphis Depay, his 17th goal of the campaign, was enough to secure the win for Ronaldo's men. Cagliari's Danilo D'Ambrosio's red card just before half time diminished Cagliari's hope of mounting a serious comeback. The result means Inter now sit top of the Serie A table, with other results going Nerazzurri's way.

Inter will hope they won't look back at their home match with Spezia as a missed opportunity come the end of the season. With Juventus losing, this was a great chance for the home side to move away from their title challengers with only two games remaining. Sadly this was not the case. Spezia's Simon Thern will go into the clubs folklore after grabbing the only goal of the match after 24 minutes to secure a shock win at the Giuseppe Meazza. Perhaps some players had half an eye on their weekend cup final with AC Milan, nevertheless the Brazilian manager will be bitterly disappointed with this performance.

Here's how the league stands at the end of April:

Player Of The Month - Memphis Depay