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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 23:16 |
Champions League wrap: “My team were fantastic” - Mourinho
Round-up of Portuguese involvement
 Jose Mourinho was pleased with his side’s efforts as the Nerazurri held European champions Barcelona in tonight’s standout Champions League tie. Meanwhile, Pedro Mendes’ Rangers earned what could prove a valuable point, but there were losing European debuts for Antonio Semedo and Ricardo Rocha.
Inter 0-0 Barcelona
The evening’s most eagerly anticipated encounter proved to be the only goalless match of the night, as Jose Mourinho’s Inter held defending champions Barcelona at the San Siro.
The visitors dominated much of the possession on the night, during a match which may have disappointed many neutrals. However, in his post-match interview, Mourinho said he was satisfied both with the point and the entertainment value displayed by the two teams.
"The best thing about tonight is that my team gave a very positive reply against a team that are European Champions," said he ex-Porto boss. "My team's reply was fantastic. We were compact and we could have won the game if we had scored, just like our opponents could have done.
"It was a match of details and jokingly I could use a word that I usually don't like, but with Guardiola it really was a war. A physical and mental war. It was a great match of a football. Looking at the result you might think the opposite, but those who understand football and who are able to analyse the true essence of the match can understand the importance of it."
Stuttgart 1-1 Rangers
Pedro Mendes’ Scottish champions Rangers got their group-phase campaign off to a positive start by coming from behind to earn a draw in Germany.
Former Porto midfielder Mendes played the full ninety minutes for the Gers, who fell behind on 18 minutes when Cacau cut the ball back for Pavel Pogrebnyak to open the scoring for the Bundesliga side.
However, the Scots would leave with a point after Madjid Bougherra combined well with Jerome Rothen before smashing the ball past Jens Lehmann with thirteen minutes left on the clock.
Sevilla 2-0 Unirea Urziceni
Antonio Semedo came off the bench to make his European debut for Unirea in Spain, but it was a losing start for the Romanian debutantes at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Goals from Brazilian duo Luis Fabiano and Renato saw the visitors already two goals down by the time Semedo emerged from the bench with around seventeen minutes left to play. The former Estrela da Amadora man is playing in the competition for the second season running, having represented Steaua Bucharest last term.
Standard Liege 2-3 Arsenal
Belgian champions Standard Liege took a two-goal lead early on against Arsenal, but were powerless to prevent the English club from staging a comeback and taking all three points.
Ricardo Rocha made his European debut for the home side, and things got off to an incredible start when Eliaquim Mangala put Standard ahead on three minutes. Milan Jovanovic doubled the Belgians’ advantage two minutes later from the penalty spot, putting Standard 2-0 up with just five minutes on the clock.
Nicklas Bendtner pulled a goal back for Arsenal just before half time, but the equalising goal had a hint of controversy. As well as a possible offside, Thomas Vermaelen’s strike also appeared to be preceded by a handball from Alex Song. Eduardo completed the comeback on 81 minutes with a simple finish from close-range after Standard had done a poor job of defending an Arsenal corner.
Champions League group tables
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