New Delhi: With the Champions League draw for the quarterfinals dishing out a list if mouth-watering fixtures, the eight teams involved will be looking to make it to the English shores to feature in the the final at the Wembley on the 28th May 2011.
Each day we will take a closer look at each European giant and their chances of winning the most prestigious European club prize.
And today our focus will be on the only Italian club left in the competition, Inter Milan.
The Nerazzuri are the defending champions of the UEFA Champions League, and hope to break the hoodoo of the Champions League where no team has won the title twice in a row. Their form throughout the group stages has been anything but champion-like, with defeats to Werder Bremen and Tottenham away from home and drawing to Dutch side Twente FC.
They barely managed to qualify from the group, thanks to edging a 4-3 win over Tottenham at the San Siro and squeezing out a result against Twente, winning 1-0.
But this was all under the Rafael Benitez regime, a coach who clearly seemed to have signed up for something way beyond his repertoire.
But under new coach Leonardo, there is a certain fearlessness about the way Inter Milan play. Their style of play was unlike any Italian team, and this was very well displayed against the repeat of the 2010 final against Bayern Munich spread through two legs.
The Bavarians were lucky to nick a last-gasp goal at San Siro, and at one point were cruising through to the quarter-final draw in the second leg, but Inter displayed the kind of grit that made them champions under the reign of now Madrid coach Jose Mourinho,led by FIFA World Player of the Year elect Wesley Sneijder, to stun the German giants and reach the quarterfinals.
Throughout their group stage pursuits, the Italians were plagued by injuries to key players like Walter Samuel, Diego Milito and Maicon, but with all nearing a return except for Samuel who is out for the reason, expect a reinvigorated side to dazzle another German side, Schalke in the quarter-finals.
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