Inspiration Meets Preparation as Mourinho's Inter Milan Take On Barcelona

The Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona should produce an intriguing clash of styles. In the last round of the Champions League, Arsenal tried to play Barcelona at their own game and conceded six goals. There is absolutely no danger whatsoever that Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan will fall into a similar trap.

Mourinho is a master at sending out well organized teams who can simply stop the opposition from playing. In recent years, at Inter Milan and Chelsea, he has had an embarrassment of riches at his disposal, but it wasn't always like this for Mourinho.

He made his name taking Porto to first the UEFA Cup final, and then the Champions League final, winning both. Although Porto had the likes of Deco at their disposal, they were far from the best team in Europe. Under Mourinho's guidance though, they somehow found a way to consistently get the better of more illustrious opponents using any means, fair or foul.

Mourinho was able to create a team which was far greater than the sum of its parts, using a combination of swift counter attacking football and a well organized defence. When all else failed, they weren't afraid to resort to underhand tactics, and their UEFA Cup final victory over Celtic was tainted by accusations of systematic diving.

There can be no doubt that Mourinho will have done extensive research on his side's Champions League semi-final opponents, and little is likely to be left to chance. I suspect Inter's pre-match preparation will have focused almost exclusively on how to prevent Barcelona playing. Mourinho knows his side are not good enough to outclass their opponents, so instead they will try and squeeze the life out of Barcelona.

The plan for Inter must be to frustrate Barca, and make the most of any goalscoring opportunities which might fall their way. Barcelona will not be afforded either the time or space they were against Arsenal. Messi may be in for a taste of what the World Cup has in store for him, with defenders dedicating themselves to attempting to mark him out of the game.

Inter have two of the finest central defenders in the world of football in Lucio and Walter Samuel. Former Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Cambiasso will be focusing mainly on defensive duties, and may well be joined by another defensive minded midfielder, Sulley Muntari, for the occasion.

In Wesley Sneider, Inter have an outstanding attacking player of their own, but first and foremost they will look to defend. Mourinho is the master of the understatement, but when he mentioned that he felt Lionel Messi 'deserves special attention' you can be sure he meant it. If all goes according to plan for Mourinho, as it quite frequently does on these occasions, Messi might be in for a frustrating couple of European encounters.

The last time Barcelona were defeated by Italian opposition the Spanish media was less than enamoured with the Italian team's performance. Juventus soaked up relentless Barcelona pressure before Marcelo Zalayeta grabbed an extra time winner prompting one Spanish newspaper to complain that, "Juve played like bloodsuckers and sucked the life out of Barcelona."

Inter will need to suck the life out of Barcelona if they are to progress to a first Champions League/European Cup final since 1972. There is no team in club football capable of playing Barcelona off the pitch at present, but if there is one team capable of suffocating the Spanish champions for 180 minutes, it is Jose Mourinho's Inter.