Eto’o stuns Stamford Bridge — What Italy’s papers say

The Sport Review takes a look at the Italian media’s reaction to Inter Milan’s 3-1 aggregate success over Chelsea in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League.

“La Notte Perfetta”

La Gazzetta dello Sport ran this headline, ‘The Perfect Night’, in the wake of Inter’s victory at Stamford Bridge. The manner of the win and the style of play which the Italians produced in the second leg was described by the Italian daily paper as ‘Interissma’ — so Inter-like.

Valerio Clario describes the ‘surprisingly dull’ Chelsea and commends the attacking approach of Inter. ‘Special Inter’ knocked the London club out of Europe thanks to the inspirational Wesley Sneijder and the clinical Samuel Eto’o.

Indeed Calrio asks ‘who will stop Mourinho now?’ He suggests that Eto’o deserves an Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ as his scorching shot sealed their passage into the quarter-finals with Mourinho taking over the role of director. The Italian writer likens the performances of Lucio and Samuel to burly bodyguards.

This installement is finished for now but Calrio claims that the sequel will be even better.

“Trionfo Inter”

Corriere dello Sport describes the ‘triumph of Inter’, hailing the victory as ‘the masterpiece of Jose Mourinho’. Both Samuel Eto’o and Wesley Sneijder receive praise with the Dutch international described as once again ‘the man of the match’ for I Nerazzuri.

His ‘magic’ helped create the chance for his Cameroonian team-mate, sending the 3,000 travelling fans into a state of delirium. The result means ‘Italian football is breathing a sigh of relief’ as they will have a representative in the last eight following the exits of AC Milan and Fiorentina.

“Memourabile”

Tuttosport speaks about memorable display from Inter with a five-star performance from Eto’o and credits Jose Mourinho for his ‘courageous’ tactics. The paper points out that the Portuguese manager ‘risked everything for everything’.

An ‘imprecise’ Chelsea defence saw Terry and Alex as the guilty ones for allowing Eto’o to snatch the winner and failing to match the outstanding defensive displays by Lucio and Samuel. The article suggests that Inter will await the quarter final draw on Friday fearing no-one.