I thought, as we all desperately look for something to do while we wait the 2 days, 3 hours, 12 minutes, and 18 17 16 seconds until the final starts, that I would post our road to Madrid. It wont take your mind off the upcoming match but it might kill a few minutes (2 days, 3 hours, 11 minutes…)

Sept 16, 2009 Inter 0-0 Barcelona

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Sept 29, 2009 Rubin 1-1 Inter

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Oct 20, 2009 Inter 2-2 Dynamo Kyiv

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Nov 4, 2009 Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Inter

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Nov 24, 2009 Barcelona 2-0 Inter

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Dec 9, 2009 Inter 2-0 Rubin

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Feb 24, 2010 Inter 2-1 Chelsea

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March 16, 2010 Chelsea 0-1 Inter

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March 31, 2010 Inter 1-0 CSKA Moskva

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April 6, 2010 CSKA Moskva 0-1 Inter

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April 20, 2010 Inter 3-1 Barcelona

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April 28, 2010 Barcelona 1-0 Inter

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May 22, 2010 Bayern – Inter

FORZA INTER

*Rumour round up Italian style. Warning…This will feel a little like the national inquirer at times*

Let’s start with the stranieri rumours…

So Manchester City and Arsenal want Mario Balotelli. That’s what the good people at The Sun are saying , but then again they say a lot of things…

 Arsenal won’t pay a crazy price but like Balotelli nonetheless…Arsène’s Arsenal are also after Palermo’s Abel Hernandez and Catania’s Mr. Morimoto says The News of The World…also Angelina Jolie has adopted Fabio Liverani…

Real, Man City, Juve, Inter, Man United & Liverpool are after either/or Juan Manuel Vargas & Sebastian Frey valued around 20 Million each…

 …you can mix and match the above clubs however you like but Man United only spoke of Frey…If Fiorentina do go all Revolution on their own asses -with all this Prandelli/Della Valle squabble – 9 different sources are talking about ;

 Royston Drenthe if Real Madrid pick up Vargas or Frey then Cristian Llama, Cristian Ledesma, Alexander Kolarov and Andrea Mantovani with Emiliano Viviano mentioned as a Frey replacement…Prandelli would be replaced by Allegri, Giampaolo, Delneri or Conan O’brien.

Up north, Milan are looking at Franco Ivorian defender Guy Demel, from Hamburg  Werder Bremen’s Claudio Pizarro…and Dzeko of course…Mario Yepes is seemingly coming in for free to try the famous Milan Lab rejuvenation machine

…Flamengo are inquiring about Ronaldinho…Pato to Chelsea for 80 Million, Kaladze is leaving but Rafael Toloi is on his way in…Berlusconi did not have his face smashed or cock photographed by the press this week…

 Juventus are going after Gilardino, Cavani  and Kevin Kuranyi to replace Trezeguet… contending on the  Fabregas  front with Inter & Barça…if they can sell Diego to either Athletico Madrid or Lyon who have ”offered” 24 Million…or maybe Felipe Melo for too much money again…Melo has been linked with Arsenal…

Inter are linked with everyone and Fabregas…Real Madrid want Maicon says AS…They also need a coach soon

Lazio going after Humberto Suazo…Maybe looking at Koln’s Pedro Geromel and Philippe Senderos…Zarate is leaving for Spain, The Premiership or wherever pay more money land is. Kolarov is wanted by everyone…

Roma…funny how a scudetto push squashes a lot of rumours… Burdisso probably won’t go back to Inter, Menez is no longer linked with Mother Russia, William Gallas won’t come, links to Cassani, Simplicio, Clerc, Govou and Masiello. Bayern want to include Doni andor Mexes in Luca Toni deal

Mexes is wanted by Juve, Liverpool, Milan, Bayern as well as your mothers and daughters.

Oh and Bayern want Gargano…Napoli are going to sign Boriello because – He’s Napoletano – says Bigon…Napoli want to plunder Sampdoria by taking Palombo and Pazzini… looking at Darryl Goulon on the Le Mans Parametro Zero front. Cluj’s Lacina Traoré and Fluminense’s Fred are the alternatives if ever Pazzini or Boriello don’t come, you know, to replace German Denis….

And now for the even crazier

 Kjaer to Juve for Amauri + Money ?

Benitez to Juve with Mascherano and Fernando Torres following or Prandelli or Felix Magath now Roberto Mancini 

 Bayern is offering Ribery for Buffon. Manchester City is offering Dubai. Jorge Martinez and Stefano Poli to Man City also

Stefan Jovetic and Juan Vargas to Real Madrid for 53 Million Euros

Mourinho will move to Manchester City or Real Madrid while Benitez will go to Inter and Juventus will get Roberto Mancini and Leonardo will leave Milan if they don’t pick up Dzeko this summer…and Jay Leno wants Alex Ferguson’s job.

Philippe Mexes to Juve for Cash bringing in Fabio Cannavaro for cheap. Roma will then spend that cash on Luca Toni, Burdisso and Andrea Barzagli.

And my favourite ;  Juve buy back their half of Palladino by forfeiting their half of Criscito , then Criscito is sent to Inter with Ranocchia, brought back from Bari with Bonucci who goes to Juventus while Genoa get Rene Khrin and Sebastian Giovinco on loan while the Marassi pitch needs to be covered in gold or something

Fernando Rossi, Giuseppe Rossi’s dad, passed away today. He was 60 years old.Giusep was given permission to spend time with his father, from what I can tell, and thus hasn’t played for Villareal in a while.

I don’t want to overshadow his death by discussing something else in the same post, but tomorrow is the huge clash between Inter and Chelsea. I hope the Milan team win and dedicate the victory to the Rossi family, who are undoubtedly in a period of great mourning.

May he rest in peace.

Last week was bad. Fiorentina were robbed. Milan were valiant but ultimately fell short. And yet, despite these setbacks, Italian teams are not out of the Champions League. Fior in particular have a great chance of getting through, though Milan’s task of winning 2-0 away is much more daunting. However, I for one would love to see an Italian victory in the competition this week. And not just a moral victory, but a numerical one.

Inter host Chelsea on Wednesday. The game, as most undoubtedly know, is massive. Mourinho, Eto’, Drogba, Ancelotti… nearly every name is a household one, every player a winner. Inter must win at home, for their own sake but also to do the peninsula proud. So for this week, we’re all Inter fans.

As far as my personal feelings go, I think Inter can do this. Chelsea are weak on set pieces, Inter have the strongest frontline perhaps in the entire footy world, and they have something they didn’t have last year:

Drogba has been superb all season, and Chelsea won’t be pushovers. But if Inter play like they did against Siena, I can see them getting through this leg. They just have to do what they haven’t in years past- believe in themselves.

The reparation mercato is officially over, now starts the purge of the Parametro Zero players or as I like to call it, The Bosman Probing. Players with a contract expiring in June 2010 are now free to agree on terms with other clubs for next season. Some of the names on the market can become excellent cheap acquisitions but could also start some beef between teams. We might even see a few good old pissing matches over average players, as teams need to renew contracts and\or consider possible free transfers. From Pippo and Dida to Chamakh and Ballack, the Bosman’s are as mouth watering as a free Belgian waffle.

Take Roma for example, one of the many teams that have signed on Fabio Simplicio to their roster for next season, they will have to juggle many contract renewals, notably the ones of starters Marco Cassetti, Rodrigo Taddei and Julio Sergio. Cassetti & Taddei have attracted attention from Fiorentina, with Taddei being touted as a possible replacement for Mario Santana if ever the Argentinean intends to leave at the end of the season. Anyway, Fiorentina also have to deal with the Per Krøldrup and Massimo Gobbi situations. Rodrigo – I would like to play for Italy in South Africa – Taddei is also on the low cost radar of Juve and Genoa. The Preziosi owned club, after having already secured the services of Debrecen’s 24 year old attacker, Gergery Rudolf, are interested in offering Julio Sergio a new place to call home in Italy. Genoa, unsatisfied with Roman youth product Marco Amelia, knows the path to Julio Sergio is a complicated one but feel they might as well try.

Pippo Inzaghi is also attracting attention. Mr. Inzaghi, who should totally be TheOffside.com’s mascot by the way, would love nothing more than to break Gerd Muller European goal record of 69, and seeing how he’s at 68 right now he’s clearly looking for a Champions League team. So none of that Pippo to Parma or Piacenza sentimental crap for Signor Fuorigioco, not to mention the NY Red Bull rumours. In the end, seeing him renew with the Rossoneri is the likeliest of outcomes. Who knows ? Teammates Dida , expensive for a keeper his age , and Favalli , crappy in general , are other Bosman bound Milan boys

Sampdoria has a little situation, and I’m not talking about Angelo Palombo’s abs ; with Castellazzi, Lucchini, Guardalben and Franceschini to deal with. On top of those pesky teams surrounding Pazzini all the time. Lazio see Cruz, Baronio, Dabo and Siviglia with their bags packed. Ousmane Dabo is probably headed back to France and Bologna are keen on Roberto Baronio. Oh Yeah, Cristian Ledesma, not Bosman bound, might pull a Webster, invoking Article 17 to get out of his Lazio contract…This is way to lawyer-ish for me. Lazio might be looking at Daniel Van Buyten for free .

The international scenario has some meat around the bone ; Marouane Cha­makh, the 26 year old Moroccan Girondin attacker announced he won’t be renewing his contract come June. Chamakh’s many admirers include are very own Juventus, who haven’t been shy about their interest in the striker. Juventus will have to fend off the likes of Liverpool and Arsene Wenger if they decide to get serious.

The future intentions of Michael Ballack are uncertain. Retire, renew or move on are the options. Ballack did pull a Bosman on Bayern to Chelsea and there is talk of him visiting Uncle Sam. Joe Cole is another Blue in the same situation but Ancelotti would like to keep him. I just want someone to sign Edgar Davids…

Here are some of the most interesting names on the list ;

* Tonetto, Roma
* Cassetti, Roma
* Taddei, Roma
* Dida, Milan
* Inzaghi, Milan
* Favalli, Milan
* Kroldrup, Fiorentina
* Gobbi, Fiorentina
* Iezzo, Napoli
* Grava, Napoli
* Siviglia, Lazio
* Dabo, Lazio
* Brocchi, Lazio
* Baronio, Lazio
* Scarpi, Genoa
* Biava, Genoa
* Juric, Genoa
* Sculli, Genoa
* Bresciano, Palermo
* Simplicio, Palermo
* Mchedlidze, Palermo
* Lucchini, Sampdoria
* D. Franceschini, Sampdoria
* D. Zenoni, Parma
* Doni, Atalanta
* Lopez, Cagliari
* Parola, Cagliari
* Bombardini, Bologna,
* C. Zenoni, Bologna
* Lanna, Bologna
* Mingazzini, Bologna
* Lavecchia, Bologna
* Marazzina, Bologna
* Adailton, Bologna
* Barreto, Bari
* Jarolim, Siena
* Yepes, Chievo
* Pinzi, Chievo
* Luciano, Chievo
* Bogdani, Chievo
* Pulzetti, Livorno
* A. Filippini, Livorno
* Bergvold, Livorno

To the non-Serie A follower, Eminem look alike, Daniele – DDR – De Rossi , is notorious for the use of his elbows versus the USMNT in Germany 2006 and pretty much nothing else. However,Mr. De Rossi is so much more than a red card waiting to happen ; He is arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world today. I said arguably Mr. Essien !! De Rossi’s defensive work is irreproachable and he’s prone to the semi-regular goal, having netted 25 in his Roman career, with 5 already this season. The 26 year old’s been a Roman and Azzurri pillar for more than 5 years.

No wonder his name pops around every time the Mercato window opens. Manchester United,Chelsea,Barcelona and Real Madrid have all seriously inquired about Mr. De Rossi in the past, all receiving a nice ”Please suck it” from Roman management. Nevertheless, it looks like Real Madrid won’t take no for an answer.

This time it’s Real Madridare coming knocking on the Roman doors again. Reports indicate Madrid have contacted Ernesto Bronzetti, The Italian Calciomercato Ambassador in Spain, to broker a deal with Roma. Real Madrid have seemingly offered 40 Million Euro to Roma for the services of the author of the nicest goal of that 7-1 trashing to the hands of Manchester United. Madrid have shown strong interest ever since they got knocked out of the Champions League by Roma a few years back. After Roma’s win at the sacred Santiago Bernabeu the Spanish papers applauded De Rossi, AS going as far as saying that ; ” De Rossi is Gennaro Gattuso dressed in Armani ”

Capitan Futuro, as the Roman faithful call him, has manifested his eternal love for the Eternal City outfit many times in the past but so did Alberto Aquilani. 40 Million Euro is a huge sum for a nastily indebted Club like Roma, twice as much as Aquilani’s Liverpool move.

The Roma and Real Madrid management know each other well ; The Walter Samuel, Cicinho, Julio Baptista and Antonio Cassano deals come to mind.

However, Claudio Ranieri told the media this week ; ” 40M $ !?!? I wouldn’t sell him for 80…” President Rosella Sensi spoke after the Eternal city side’s win in Turin, claiming that ; ” Mr. Ranieri can sleep tight as De Rossi isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon ”

Maybe so Rosella but Roma have been getting rid of one big player every summer for the last 5 years ; From Emerson, Walter Samuel, Antonio Cassano, Chrisitian Chivu, Amantino Mancini, Alberto Aquilani… to Daniele De Rossi ?