22 May 2010
BAYERN MUNICH 0
INTER 2 (Milito 35, Milito 70)
A sudden burst took Robben past Chivu and he stole a yard on Samuel with a feint but Olic, under pressure from Lucio, miscued horribly. Butt was forced into a brilliant save from a deflected Sneijder free kick. Muller showed tremendous skill when he controlled a deflected cross before hooking it over his head as he turned to face goal, Lucio made a clumsy and dangerous attempt to tackle him, missing the ball and almost kicking him in the head, the ball broke to Robben but he shanked his volley high, wide and handsome. Ten minutes Sneijder did the same at the other end then from nowhere Inter scored. Maicon gave a back-pass to Julio Cesar who belted the ball deep into the Bayern half, Milito backed into Demichelis and he flicked onto Sneijder and ran forward, looking for a return pass, which of course was perfectly weighted, Milito left the slow Bayern defence for dead and sold Butt with a dummy, sending him crashing to his knees and the ball into the back of the net. Sneijder should have got on the scoresheet himself two minutes before the break. He started a counter attack with a pass out wide to Milito, Milito checked inside Demichelis and angled a pass beyond Van Buyten but Sneijder smashed his first time shot straight at Butt.
A frantic start to the second half saw chances for both teams. Van Bommel's fantastic back heel caught Lucio flat footed, Altintop touched the ball forward to the onrushing Muller but like Sneijder minutes earlier, he shot straight at the goalkeeper. Milito was again heavily involved in an Inter counter attack, he turned the giant Van Buyten before pulling the ball back to Pandev, his first time shot was spectacularly tipped over the bar. The goalmouth action was precipitated by a 20 minute lull. Julio Cesar was equal to Robben's fantastic curling effort. As Olic pulled the trigger on a Klose flick on, Samuel threw himself at the ball, Sneijder gained possession and passed to Eto'o who spread the play out wide to Milito, Van Buyten backed off, Milito dragged the ball inside him and shot into the bottom corner as Butt was forced off his line. Brilliant goal. The striker's 30th goal of the season. Mourinho ensured Milito received a standing ovation for his man of the match performance by substituting him in the 1st minute of injury time.
Milito shook hands with Van Gaal and gave his mentor a hug seconds before referee Webb blew for full time. Inter's 45 year wait is over and they did it by defeating the champions of England (Chelsea), Spain (Barcelona) and Germany (Bayern Munich). It doesn't get much better than that. Mourinho is without question THE greatest coach of his era and if (probably when) he leads Real Madrid to a 10th European Cup he'll become the greatest coach of all time.
Attendance : 74,954
Assists : Sneijder, Eto'o