LMSL

Photo courtesy Kris Voakes

UEFA Champions League nights in Milan can be enjoyed in very different ways, and Matchday 4 threw up polar opposite experiences for the city’s football fans.

Tuesday’s trip to the San Siro to witness AC Milan’s entertaining 1-1 draw with the Galácticos of Real Madrid provided the glamorous side of calcio, but it was Wednesday night’s nail-biter between Dynamo Kiev and Inter which provided all of the drama, and where better to experience this drama than with lifelong Interista Alessandro Polenghi, owner of Milan’s 442 sports pub, known locally as the first-choice place to watch football from all over the world.

With four screens capable of showing four different games at a time and walls covered by more than 200 scarves from around the world – plus more than 80 sat in the basement awaiting new wallspace from potential future expansion – the Milan pub is second only to the San Siro itself in the list of places to be in the city on Champions League nights.

As for Inter, their season has been very much the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde experience. Seven points clear atop Serie A, the Nerazzurri went into Wednesday’s match in Ukraine sitting at the bottom of Group F, more than a year on from their last win in European competition.

It was with this form in mind that landlord Alessandro predicted a long night ahead for his club. “We are not one of the best teams in Europe, and we do not play well in the Champions League, so I expect nothing tonight,” he claimed, expressing pessimism typical of those in blue and black on such nights. All this despite Barcelona’s failure to win at Rubin Kazan earlier in the night, meaning that an Inter win would see the Italian giants top their group with two games to play.

Alessandro’s pessimism seemed well-placed when ex-AC Milan forward Andriy Shevchenko’s deflected shot looped over Júlio César to give Dynamo a deserved half-time lead against a lacklustre Nerazzurri. Time, then, for Alessandro to vent his frustrations.

Or maybe not.

“I am calm because, as I said, I expect nothing from Inter in the Champions League.,” Alessandro said.  “If we go out, I’ll just buy some popcorn and watch everybody else fight it out for the trophy!”

What, though, of Inter manager José Mourinho, whose position has been questioned given the club’s precarious European future? “I wouldn’t sack him now, as it’s not a good idea to change mid-season, but at the end of the season he will be gone,” Alessandro told me.  “But at the end of the day, the manager can be the best or the worst in the world – It’s down to the players, and we don’t have the players for the Champions League.

“We have had only one chance and they have had three or four, but it was the same at home to Dynamo and also against Barcelona. At the end of the day, (those clubs) are just better than us.”

Wednesday’s second half threw up a change of emphasis for the Italian side, though, as a double substitution by Mourinho helped to bring about a more attacking second 45 minutes. Despite a number of chances coming and going, though, Inter still couldn’t break through.

Samuel Eto’o and Mario Balotelli squandered the best opportunities as the 442 customers grew increasingly nervous. A glance to the right told them Fiorentina were steaming past Debrecen, while the screen on the left was showing Liverpool’s late breakthrough in Lyon, but the locals’ own game still was not bringing them the result they craved.

By the time Diego Milito equalised in the 86th minute, Inter had more than deserved something from the game. In 4-4-2, the relief was palpable, but it had nothing on the atmosphere when Inter’s Wesley Sneijder fired home the winner three minutes later.

The scenes in the pub were akin to what you’d see on the Curva Nord inside the stadium.  Alessandro – a season ticket holder for Inter at San Siro – now buried under friends behind the bar as the Interisti celebrated their impending return to winning ways after eight consecutive European failures.

The result – and, more pertinently, the second half performance – suddenly brought new optimism, and Alessandro allowed himself a celebratory drink at full-time. “I think, in the end, Inter deserved it, though Dynamo defended very well. But that second half is as good as we’ve played in the Champions League for ages.

“Maybe Mourinho deserves some credit, but it all happened in the last five minutes. I didn’t expect a finish like that.”

So, could this dramatic win change Inter’s European fortunes?

“Maybe. We now have a great chance to qualify because Barca-Inter is now a kind of final for the group phase and we have the advantage of the draw,” Alessandro said.  “I still say there are better teams than us, but sometimes the winners are not the best team in the competition, like Porto and Liverpool were not.

“The Champions League is won in the last 16, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals… the final is a lottery. Hopefully we can now qualify as group winners and avoid a difficult game in the last 16.”

With that, he was back to work, but the bouncing and strutting that were now part of his demeanour had not been in evidence before kick-off. It typifies the new-found belief about Inter after their late, late show in Kiev. Don’t write them off just yet.

Kris Voakes