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MORATTI, LAST WARNING TO INTER

"Wake up!  Ranieri stays.  Now the spark with Juve."

The president: "The coach does no harm.  Oriali left unpleasantly.  If I keep Branca it is because he is good."

Milan - For now equilibrium prevails.  For now.  "Ranieri stays: he is a serious and responsible person.  He does no harm," said Massimo Moratti.  The Inter number one also chooses to send a strong warning to a club in constant trouble.  "Forlan said that we must return to winning ways?  He's right, winning a match like one in Turin can also change the situation.  They all must wake up and then I hope for a spark that can really push us: sometimes a win would be enough to reverse the route."  He then left his office shortly before 8:00 pm.  Was about to get into the car, he stopped, adjusted his glasses and began repartee.  He looked calm: serenity more evident and real than apparent.

President, were you thinking of the upcoming plot twists with your silence and escape after Inter-Atalana?

"But... I did not run away from the San Siro.  I only left when there were few minutes before the end of the game.  At the break, I got to the dressing room to try something new.  Did I do it for good luck?  No, no..."

Tell us, is Ranieri staying?
"You cannot take three days to make decisions which affect the future.  There is a risk and if we rush it, your plans could get ruined, everything.  Ranieri is a serious, classy and responsible person.  He is not the one that does the damage to the club.  In short: Ranieri remains, his post is safe."

In the meantime: do you have in mind the coach for the future?

(Smiles) "In the moment, I only have Ranieri in mind."

This team has not won at home since January 22, still see the soul?
"I think that this team has been through many situations and those less beautiful, they know how to handle such moments."

What is your position on Forlan case?  Have you spoken with the player and the coach?
"Yes, I have talked to both, first with the player and then with Ranieri.  It is not something serious but mostly what I think happened is a consequence of the relationship that exists between them a candid relationship."

Certainly not like Eto'o who played as a left-back...

"We'll leave the comparison with Eto'o aside: in that season, the situation was different and he was winning everything..."

Does the the world luck has anything to do with Inter today?

"I don't think talking about bad luck is appropriate. Sure, sometimes it gets in the way, but if you always see it as the main reason, well in the long run, it's gonna sound like you're making excuses."

Then there is a duel between your former director Gabriele Oriali and the current technical director Marco Branca?

"I always find it annoying that a person that is no longer at the club said those things...  If I keep Branca it is because I consider him good."

Sunday, Juventus-Inter: a spark to turn the season around?
"Maybe, certainly I hope so, a win could be an important spark.  Sometimes a game can reverse course, it can really become the shock of the season that we need."

Tell us the truth: the coach for next year is Italian or a foreigner?

"Good evening eh..."

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport

vs.

Our glorious cycle is officially over. 15 trophies in 7 years. Thousand of clubs wish to have that record. FORZA INTER PER SEMPRE.

STARTING LINEUPS:

MILAN - Here are the starting line-ups for Inter v Olympique Marseille, the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 return leg being played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan's San Siro this evening (20:45 kick-off).

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 25 Samuel, 55 Nagatomo; 4 Zanetti, 5 Stankovic, 18 Poli,; 10 Sneijder; 9 Forlan, 22 Milito.

Subs: 12 Castellazzi, 23 Ranocchia, 37 Faraoni, 19 Cambiasso, 20 Obi, 7 Pazzini, 28 Zarate.

Coach: Claudio Ranieri.

Olympique Marseille: 1 Mandanda; 2 Azpilicueta, 21 Diawara, 3 N'Koulou, 15 Morel; 4 Diarra, 17 Mbia, 18 Amalfitano, 28 Valbuena, 20 A.Ayew, 11 Remy.

Subs: 1 Bracigliano, 13 Traoré, 24 Fanni, 7 Cheyrou, 12 Kaboré, 9 Brandao, 23 J.Ayew.

Coach: Didier Deschamps.

Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal).

Prediction: Inter 2-0 Marseille

FORZA INTER

SNEIJDERMAN, YOU SORT IT OUT!

Champions League night against Marseille where Inter will start down 0-1.

70 thousand fans at the San Siro to push the Nerazzurri.

INTER, EVERYTHING IN ONE NIGHT

The quarterfinals and the 50th win in the Champions League to keep alive the great cycle.

Against Marseille for a victory and a qualification that, after seven years of triumphs, could keep the Nerazzurri in the race for a trophy.

Appiano Gentile - Wes and Chivu lined up the balls and waited for the other one to take a shot first.  All smiles.  Chivu, tonight, will match the game because of a suspension while for Sneijder, he will look to qualify for what he is: one of the best players.  Both stopped.  Took the shot.  Rejected.  Ranieri was also there watching in the middle of the field as if he was standing in front of the bench in a real game: stiff as an icicle, arms folded, eyes moist, very attentive.

Pedestal of a cycle Ranieri will also field Forlan alongside Milito who is also looking to return to form especially in Europe.  Just like Sneijder who has not scored since October 26 as Cambiasso and the same as Forlan who missed the group stage and now he wants space, goals and especially failing at Marseille after 10 minutes.  In short, tonight should be the night to see the true Inter.  There are 30 accredited French journalists, and all were next to Remy and to his brother Ayew.  One spot to become the top eight teams in Europe is on the line but that's not all.  For Olympique Marseille, its bench and prestige are on the line while for Inter, the passage to the next round is a pedestal of a cycle: for seven seasons, the Nerazzurri have won at least one trophy a season for a total of 15.  If they go out tonight, the cycle will be closed because Scudetto and Coppa Italia are impossible.

Vieille Garde A year ago it was Inter that knocked out Bayern: it was on March 15, 2011, the comeback was completed by Goran Pandev after a delicious ball by Samuel Eto'o and today it will be up to someone else to do it for Inter.  On that night, there same referee was there: he is Portuguese and called Proenca.  You never know...  Surely the Inter that night dressed as the real Inter only to collapse against Schalke 04 in the next round.  One year ago today is what Napoleon called the Old Guard (or Vieille Garde in French): it was composed of older veterans who fought three to five campaigns in the Napoleno's army, represented the elite of Grand Army.  From Julio Cesar to Zanetti.  From Lucio, Maicon and Samuel to Cambiasso and Milito.  And even Stankovic: "It is normal that president asks the max from us - said Deki - especially us the old guard."  It is so.  It must be.

Never scored against Marseille Inter will look to have its 50th win ever since the competition changed its name to Champions League (and the 200th in international tournaments of any kind).  However, Inter have never scored against Olympique Marseille in the three games the two teams faced each other: eight years ago the scorers were Drogba and Meriem, on February 22 it was Andre Ayew.  Cannot be like this anymore.

Silence and roar Everyone should be ready to go.  Someone like Maicon must give his opponents nightmare.  Someone like Milito who must relive the nights of that treble.  Cambiasso should return from spending a game on the bench against Chievo while Julio Cesar is always ready for a comeback speech in the dressing room.  Then there's Stankovic who said; "I would propose silence for a speech.  In games like this, there is not much to say.  We must do it."  They all will be on the field and the 70 thousand fans in the stands will be ready to roar.

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport

"MY INTER CANNOT GO ON LIKE THIS: YOU MUST DO IT."

"And if they knocked out Marseille, it may be easier to reach the Champions League final than achieving third place in league."

Materazzi, in these 50 days when Inter are struggling, what would you want to say to them over and over again?

"My heart bleeds, I cannot keep seeing them like this."

Like? What did you see?
"What I did not see was the soul of the past years.  And that beyond all the justifications which also exist."

What did you see on Friday against Chievo?

"More than anything, I saw an Inter with Stankovic in front of the defense, Sneijder behind the forwards and Poli in the midfield.  This team must have quality with people that run and know the lines of passing: Ranieri understood this so bravo Ranieri.  And the rest, like the saying where you come from, when the water level reaches your ass, everybody suddenly learns how to swim."

He has understood it but a bit late?
"It is never too late, there's still time to do things.  Ranieri deserves credit for trying to find stability through reliability.  But then, when it's time to speed things up, he needs much more."

Alluding to Sneijder?

"When there's talk that Inter could do without Wes, I said: 'The world is going backwards.'  But maybe Ranieri needs to stimulate a bit: he's the one that sees all the trainings and he knows if he needs to."

As a former player: changing the style/system of play often helps or confuses?
"For me it was a source of motivation. That wasn't the point though: the problem was that the tactics were changing, but the players were almost always the same.  And it is the coach who should be able to manage: the players always want to go on the field and for me it is a honor, not a defect."

Were you hoping to see more of Ranocchia?
"And a bit more rotation would not have been bad.  There is no pressure with the number 23 on his back but at the moment he is living more or less like my situation before the World Cup 2006 and this for him is before the Euro.  Here, I hope that Prandelli would be able to comfort him like Lippi did with me."

But little rotation is not just depended on a transfer market which was wrongly executed?
"To think that Alvarez is the new Kaka, Castaignos the new Henry and Jonathan is the new Maicon was doing an injustice to all of them.  Moratti has always spent the money but he is not one wants to do everything himself.  Everybody, including myself, congratulated Branca when he got every single choice right. However, you always get to a point where you should admit to your mistakes."

Is it delusional to think about the third place?
"I know what getting someone to come to Inter for the Europa League will be though.  But let be real: too many teams in front, too many points lost.  If they beat Marseille, it is easier to reach the Champions Final than third place in the league."

Three seasons to beat Marseille?
"Only one: you must get pass them.  A team that has made the Champions League for ten seasons cannot be afraid of Marseille after losing 1-0 in the first leg and we will be playing at home."

The San Siro effect?
"When it boils, that stadium can do everything.  And that would help pushing Julio Cesar or Samuel, Zanetti or Stankovic or Sneijder.  It would be much easier."

When that stadium was asking for a "strong man" was it right?
"After losing against Catania by a goal which was two meter offside, I would have said something else."

Which is more, Inter miss Materazzi or Materazzi misses Inter?

"I think the club misses me and the fans are saying the same thing.  Even my old teammates, to be honest: if it were up to them, I would have stayed.  If I wasn't good enough to play, I could have given serenity to the surrounding atmosphere at the club, or even not that, I could have brought good luck.  Apart from my first year, which was not up to me, I always made the Champions League."

Who decided that Materazzi was no longer needed on the field?

"I thought it was Leonardo but then he went away: evidently someone has ridden the wave of that decision, without the will to change it."

But off the field, wasn't there a role for you?
"Obviously, it was thought that I wasn't a good fit.  However, I spoke with the president a week ago: someday he will ask me to do something for Inter and he will have my full availability."

And in the meantime?

"In the meantime I do a lot of things, but one that is engaging me the most these days is to know as much as possible if Italy has the will to fight all the way in a battle against the criminal Kony."

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport

Among those that received a call to play in a friendly between Brazil and Bosnia is Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar.  But in his time with the Brazilian national team, Julio Cesar just could not help it and talked about the current crisis at Inter.

"I feel helpless.  A state of mind that I would not wish on my worst enemy.  This Inter crisis makes me suffer and after the defeat against Napoli, I was not able to sleep.  We cannot have suddenly forgotten how to play the game right?  It is hard to find a reason for this series of nightmarish results.  I cannot find it.  And then I try to think that not everything is over.  We can still turn the 1-0 result against Marseille around and climb up the standings."

He also talked about Massimo Moratti and the fans: "I understand the bitterness of the president and all the Inter fans.  It is right to fully assess the situation.  Now I just want to go straight onto the field and overcome this crisis."

GRANDMA INTER

THE OLDEST IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

At almost 32 years old: its average age is the highest among the 16 teams in the knockout round.

Milan - One thing is certain: Inter are the most outdated team out of the last 16 teams that took the field in Champions League knockout round.  The oldest in other words.  A statistical analysis that certifies what you could already envisioned: with an average of 31 years and 11 months old, the team coached by Claudio Ranieri represents the Old Style in this version of the Champions League.  A response that answers many questions.

Starting eleven These statistics have taken into account the average age for the starting eleven in the first game in the knockout stage: 38 years for Javier Zanetti who however was one of the better players in the game, 33 years for Stankovic, Cambiasso at 31, 32 for Julio Cesar, 33 for Lucio and Walter Samuel.  Translation: beyond the indisputable values of those who were champions of everything and on the top of the world, there is no doubt that Massimo Moratti and his staff must give another touch of freshness to a team that right now always seems to suffer physically more than then stamp on their identity.

Renew in June It's true that the renewing process has already gone underway for two years with the signings of Coutinho, Ranocchia, Castaignos, Juan Jesus, Alvarez, Nagatomo and Pazzini who are 25 and 27 respective but it is equally true that even more must be done, much much more: and for this changes are going to be made at the end of the season because guys like Lucas Moura, Yann M'Vila and others are the protagonists in the viewfinder of a rebirth that the fans can no longer wait.

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport

The day after the defeat against Marseille in the Champions League, the mood doesn't seem so great.  Despite the willingness and desire to overturn the bad results, Ranieri's men have started to feel the blow.  One of them is Wesley Sneijder who talks about the defeat at the Veldrome on Wednesday: "It all seems so difficult," Sneijder said.  "We played our game but we don't win.  Against Olympique Marseille, we lost at the last second and this defeat is definitely the worst."

Source: FCInterNews.it