Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship (UWCC) saw another defence today as champions Manchester United took on Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the Champions League.
It was the first time Alex Ferguson and "The Special One" had met since Mourinho's departure from Chelsea in 2007, and there was no lack of mind games in the build-up.
Both sides were top of their respective leagues and in good form. Inter Milan hadn't lost a league game at home all season, whereas United had gone 26 games unbeaten in all competitions. If they avoided defeat in this match they would also set a Champions League record for amount of games unbeaten, with 20.
They managed to clinch that record, but couldn't get an away goal as it finished 0-0.
United dominated for most of the first-half, with Inter Milan looking like they were lacking ideas and struggling to match the quality of Manchester United. The Inter attackers couldn't make the ball stick up-front, while the defence was having a day to forget.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs both had glorious opportunities, but Julio Cesar managed to keep them out.
United went into half-time wandering how they weren't ahead, while Francesco Toldo, Inter Milan's reserve 'keeper, went in wandering how he had picked up a yellow card while still on the bench. He was booked for dissent despite never setting foot on the pitch.
Mourinho took swift action to try and spark his team into life by replacing the disappointing Nelson Rivas with Ivan Cordoba, who proved his worth later on with a fantastic block on a goal-bound shot from Ryan Giggs.
Despite Inter improving in the second-half, it was nearly United who took away all three points as Ronaldo came close with a free-kick in the final seconds. A foot either side of the 'keeper and the headlines would have been his.
The result means that the UWCC stays in England, at least for now. Surely, though, it is only a matter of time before it heads abroad.
The closest poll for a while revealed that 62.9 percent of people predicted that Inter Milan would not beat United and win the UWCC title so well done to the majority!
Manchester United's run
West Ham 0-1 Manchester United (Manchester United become new champions)
Derby County 1-4 Manchester United
Manchester United 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Inter Milan 0-0 Manchester United
(Click here to see the complete history of Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship)
Manchester United's next title defence comes on Sunday when the UWCC is defended in a final for the first time as United and Tottenham go head to head in the Carling Cup. Can Tottenham win the Carling Cup and become the first two-time UWCC Champions?!
Note: Should the Carling Cup final go to penalties, the winners of the penalty shoot-out would win the UWCC title, rather than calling it a draw at the end of 120 minutes.
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