Barcelona, Bordeaux, Sevilla and Inter Milan hold the upper hand in their UEFA Champions League second round ties after the second set of first leg games.

With the first four ties being played last week, the rest of the second round ties commenced this week in the new format introduced by UEFA authorities.

On Tuesday night, Zlatan Ibrahimovic spared Barcelona’s blushes in the Mercedes-Benz Arena as he cancelled out Cacau’s header in a 1-1 draw with Stuttgart.

The Germans took a half-time lead through Brazilian-born Cacau, but Sweden international Ibrahimovic evened up the tie soon after the restart and the Catalan giants will be overwhelming favourites ahead of the second leg.

Elsewhere on Tuesday night, Laurent Blanc’s impressive Bordeaux side took a creditable 1-0 win away from the Karaiskakis Stadium against Olympiakos.

Michael Ciani got a victorious head onto Yoann Gourcuff’s cross on the stroke of half time to send the French champions on their way to victory.

With home advantage and a slender lead, Bordeaux seem in complete control of their tie as they look to continue their surprisingly good form in the competition this season.

Meanwhile, at the San Siro, Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan grabbed a 2-1 win over his former club Chelsea in a pulsating encounter.

Diego Milito got the hosts off to the perfect start when he grabbed a third minute opener with a neat finish. Five minutes after the restart, Salomon Kalou got the English side back in the tie with his effort, which Inter keeper Julio Cesar should have kept out.

The equaliser was short lived, however, with Esteban Cambiasso restoring the Italians’ lead four minutes later. Chelsea piled on the pressure late on but were unable to find a second, making interesting reading for the return leg at Stamford Bridge.

At the Luzhniki Stadium, Sevilla earned a 1-1 draw to hold the upper hand in their tie with CSKA Moscow. Alvaro Negreda gave the Spanish side a half-time lead with a tap in from Jesus Navas’ fiercely driven cross.

Former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez got the Russian outfit back into the tie with a ferociously struck shot from all of 30 yards, which sailed right into the top corner.

The Spanish side should take nothing for granted ahead of the return leg, but bookies will make Sevilla favourites to progress to the quarter finals.

Jose Mourinho, manager of Inter Milan, has responded to the number of jibes aimed at him by Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti.

Chelsea and Inter meet this evening in a huge Champions League contest and the two managers have been locked in a war of words over the last couple of days in the build up to the match.

Mourinho has said that the only reason Chelsea are still a heavy weight of the football world is because of him while Ancelotti has focused his criticism on the inadequacies of the Inter squad and their Mourinho’s insistence on focusing on everyone but himself.

Mourinho said: “If Ancelotti says that, it’s because he knows, or because somebody told him. Or because he belongs to the clan. I just do my job. I’m here to play a game of football.”

“Ashley Cole at this moment has to take care of himself and take care of his recovery. I called him a couple of days ago because I care about him. I wished him a very, very quick recovery. Because I like him very, very much, my advice to him is to stay in England.”

“I watched Ashley Cole play until the moment he had his injury, and he played superbly. If he has problems, for sure they are not on the pitch. I think Ancelotti must give him advice, his family must give him advice and he must think for himself, but if he really wants my advice, I think he should stay in England.”

“The most beautiful thing in football for a coach is the passion and respect of his players, and the supporters of his own club. That happens with me all the time, at Porto, Chelsea and Inter. That makes me proud. What Didier keeps saying about myself makes me proud, but I know what will happen tomorrow. I know that tomorrow he will break his legs for Chelsea.”

Inter stand a very good chance of progressing into the next stage of the Champions League but it will be a lot more difficult for them. Chelsea are the strongest team in England at the moment and all of the pre-match stories will fire them up.

Mourinho is an expert in knowing how to push all of the buttons in the managers of teams his side are about to face. He did it for a long time in England and got away with it for a long time in England.

It is impossible to count the number of times he forced the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger to come out in the media with outrageous comments in the build up to a Premier League game.

Both sides are on top form and both sides will want to win more than any thing else. What it will come down to is who is up for the game more. Mourinho may just edge the tie on tactics but Ancelotti is no mug.

Former Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho, has started the war of words with his former club ahead of their Champions League clash tomorrow.

It will be the first time that Mourinho, now boss of Inter Milan, would have faced his former side and he has beaten Chelsea to it by releasing his statements in the press. Mourinho is no stranger to causing a bit of controversy in the media.

Inter Milan have a very good squad of players and there is nothing that the Portuguese will want more than to get one over on his former club. Chelsea are currently the best side in England and will fancy chances of their own.

Mourinho said: “Chelsea today is the consequence of what I built up. They haven’t forgotten what I did for the club and how I made history. Before I arrived they bought the wrong players. I brought in Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira because I needed them for specific positions and I knew the players.”

Chelsea boss, Carlo Ancelotti, responded: “I don’t know [what Mourinho is saying], because I think that Chelsea had a fantastic season also after he was there. Avram Grant did fantastic work here and [led Chelsea to] the Champions League final.”

“I never said he is my friend. We didn’t go to eat together and to drink wine together. Usually when you go to eat and to drink one, two, three glasses of wine, usually you have a good relationship, but we didn’t..”

“It is no problem because I will eat this evening and he will eat the same. In Italy we are not used to drinking wine after matches, but when he comes to England, maybe it will be no problem. It could be a good moment to improve our friendship.”

Chelsea will be looking to cash in on their good form of late and will want to take an away goal back to London with them. If they deploy an attacking system then this is a real possibility for Chelsea to make up for the heartbreak of missing out in the Champions League over recent seasons.

The problem is that this Inter side is still relatively new and has a number of good players who will be hungry and wanting to make a point. Mourinho has quickly built the strongest side in Italy and his team do look to have a good balance.

Hopefully Chelsea can take the attack to Inter and do English football proud. However, they can be encouraged and a little wary of comments coming from the Inter boss like this.

On the one hand, it is a sign that Mourinho is very determined to get one over in his former side and prove his team can beat English sides after last year’s defeat to Manchester United. On the other, it is possibly a sign that he is a little nervous ahead of the clash.

It all makes for a mouth watering game of football as England and Italy’s finest lock horns once again.

Inter Milan had their lead at the top of Seria A cut to seven points after their second successive draw, this time at the hands of Napoli.

Jose Mourinho’s men started the weekend nine points clear but were held 0-0 in Naples, a result which moves the home side back into fourth spot which they temporarily vacated to Sampdoria, who beat Fiorentina 2-0 on Saturday night with goals from Franco Semioli and Giampaolo Pazzini.

Also on Saturday night, second-placed Roma demolished Palermo 4-1 at home, with a Matteo Brighi brace, a Julio Baptista strike and a John Arne Riise goal helping them to three points.

Fabrizio Micolli garbbed a consolation for Palermo and the three points took the Romans to within six points of the Champions, before their draw increased the gap to seven.

On Sunday, Juventus climbed back into contention for a UEFA Champions League spot after beating Genoa while Lazio enhanced their chances of Seria A survival.

With Roma and Sampdoria having won on Saturday night, the pressure was on Alberto Zaccheroni’s men not to fall further behind the leading pack.

And they duly obliged, coming out on top of a fiery encounter at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin in a 3-2 win over Genoa. Marco Rossi gave the away side a 16th minute lead before Brazilian striker Amauri levelled for the Old Lady just before half time.

Veteran forward Alessandro Del Piero put the home side in front just after the hour mark after he was teed up by Diego. The lead was short lived, however, as Rossi grabbed his second of the game to even up the game once more.

Captain Del Piero continued his influential performance as he won and converted a penalty twelve minutes from time to give Juventus a much needed win.

At the bottom, meanwhile, Lazio eased their relegation worries with a well-earned 2-0 win over ten man Parma at Ennio Tardini.

Guglielmo Stendardo finally broke the deadlock on 68 minutes and the home side had Luis Jimenez dismissed five minutes later for a deliberate handball.

Lazio entered cruise control with the extra man and former Birmingham forward Mauro Zarate grabbed his 8th of the season in stoppage time to round off the win.

Elsewhere, Cagliari continued their impressive league form with a 3-1 home win over Bari, taking them up one position to 8th place.
The hosts were cruising by the break through goals from Daniele Conti and Brazilian forward Nene, but Salvatore Masiello pulled a goal back for the visitors on 52 minutes.

The two goal lead was restored just a minute later, though, as Andrea Cossu took full advantage of Bari ’s vulnerability having just got themselves back into the game.

Basement club Siena grabbed a surprise 1-0 win away to Chievo to give their faint survival hopes a much needed boost with three points. Brazilian striker Reginaldo scored only his second of the season on 73 minutes which was enough to settle the contest.

Meanwhile, Livorno’s survival hopes took a turn for the worst as they lost 1-0 at home to Bologna, dropping them into the relegation zone in place of Lazio.

Veteran striker Marco Di Vaio, 33, grabbed his ninth goal of the season on 22 minutes, sealing the win which was enough to maintain their 14th position in the table.

Elsewhere, Gianpaolo Bellini saw red for two bookable offenses in a 0-0 stalemate between Catania and Atalanta at the Stadio Angelo Massimino
The defender was dismissed with 73 minutes on the clock, but the hosts were unable to break down the sturdy ten men in the closing stages, with Atalanta worthy of their point.

Champions Inter Milan went nine points clear at the top of Seria A despite being held to a 1-1 draw with Parma at Stadio Ennio Tardini. Jose Mourinho’s men played the final 20 minutes of the match with an extra man after Parma’s Francesco Valiani received two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes in what was Inter’s game in hand over their title rivals.

Earlier in the contest, on-loan Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov handed Parma the lead with his fifth goal of the season on 54 minutes before substitute Mario Balotelli restored order four minutes later.

Despite the hosts then being reduced to ten men, Inter were unable to break down Francesco Guidolin’s men once more but the point takes Inter a step closer to retaining their title after opening up a ten point gap from Roma.

For Parma, the point takes them eight clear of the relegation zone as the team edges slightly closer to securing their status in Italy’s top flight for another season after returning to the division following a year in Seria B.

Indeed, it was this fixture on the final day of the 2007-08 season in which Inter condemned the Gialloblu to relegation with a 2-0 win, but Parma’s surviving players from that day showed no affects of that forgetful experience as they dealt with Inter’s prowess aptly this time around.

Despite Mourinho marching towards his second title in two seasons at the San Siro, speculation continues to surround his future in charge with rumours of a rift with club president Massimo Moratti the subject of media frenzy in Italy.

Reports suggest the Portuguese coach is ready to fork out around £5million from his own pocket to walk away from the club as his erratic behaviour on both the touchline and behind the scenes begins to take its toll on the dressing room morale.

Moratti has accused Mourinho of trying to force his way out of the club with Real Madrid and Liverpool believed to be monitoring his situation, prompting the former Chelsea boss to offer to buy out his own contract to prove he is not after a cash settlement.

Moratti is also believed to be unsatisfied with Mourinho’s efforts in the UEFA Champions League, where the San Siro giants continue to lack any real threat to the rest of Europe’s elite. Inter face Mourinho’s former club Chelsea in the second round knock out stage, to begin next week, having been easily knocked out of the competition by Liverpool and Manchester United in the last two seasons respectively.

Thus, the two-legged meeting will have added spice as Mourinho will not only be out to topple his old club but also prove a point in his war of words with those above him in the club’s hierarchy.

The problems behind the scene, however, do not look to be halting the club’s charge towards a 5th consecutive Seria A title with the result against Parma also taking them eleven points above bitter city rivals AC Milan.

Manchester United are preparing their first attempt to try and sign a player using the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer cash. United are reportedly piecing together a bid for Inter Milan striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as they look to bring in a high profile target to replace their former Portuguese play maker.

United have been knocked by a lot of people in the game over the last two weeks or so because of their failure to move in securing the signatures of a lot of influential players who are all moving to Spain. They have just missed out on signing Karim Benzema from Lyon and Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich looks set to follow his fellow Frenchman to Real Madrid.

There is no dancing around the fact that United need a big and high calibre striker, as they are short up front. The arrival of Michael Owen at Old Trafford was nothing more than a stop gap move and they were always going to be linked with a big name player sooner or later. United are going to need a big player that has the ability to change a game instantly and someone that can bring other people into a match just by his presence at the top of the pitch.

Whether Ibrahimovic is the right person for United is highly debatable. Sir Alex Ferguson clearly rates the six-foot plus tall Swede but a lot of pundits would call it a bad move as he rarely turns up in a lot of big games. Furthermore he is well liked by Jose Mourinho who will be incredibly reluctant to let the player leave unless it is in a huge deal.

This is a deal that probably wouldn’t justify the player and United could well be better off looking at other options. The English champions still have a lot of time before the next season starts and they should not panic about trying to find a striker to lead their attack in the coming campaign.

It is easy to see why United may be interested in such a player because he does have a lot going for him. He is tall and very quick on his feet for a player of his height. United will need a big target man up front as they will not now be able to play their slick and aggressive passing football as Ronaldo was so integral to the success of this style of play.

Although a lot of people have called Ibrahimovic quite selfish in the past a move to United and England could end up revitalising his career. The player has already hinted that he wants to move away from the Italian game, which apparently does not suit his style of play and is too slow. He would probably be quite grateful for a move to English football and would therefore be a good signing as United are going to need someone who will sweat blood for the side.

The point is however that a lot of people are supposedly telling Sir Alex Ferguson to steer clear of any bid he is considering making for him. He could get a lot more for his money and the Swedish front man has not really done enough to justify such a huge price tag.

In a football world that is becoming increasingly dominated by cash, Inter are clearly trying to make the most out of a bad situation and United need to keep their business heads on otherwise they could well end up being ripped off.

Ferguson will have a long list of targets and he needs to weigh up how important each one is to his United side. It is important to remember that Ferguson will probably now be considering reinventing his side as he lost two very influential players so far this summer in Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

Ferguson has a very good idea of where he wants to take the current side and if Ibrahimovic fits into this philosophy then United will be hard pushed to find someone to match his characteristics. However, they really do need to proceed with caution because the Swede can be very temperamental at times and United will need someone who can raise his level of performance consistently.

Ibrahimovic cannot always do this easily and on a consistent basis and many will say that this, equipped with his slight ego, are the two main reasons why Ferguson should not go any where near the player. It will be interesting to see how the move develops as United could do a lot better.

However, if they do sign one of the top scorers in the Italian leagues then they will have to work very hard in basing the team around him. Ibrahimovic does not strike the ordinary fan as a player that can adapt himself to a team and this will make United’s job a lot harder as they restructure to have another go at European and domestic success.

It is impossible to say at this moment in time whether it would be a gamble that pays off because the move has so many advantages and disadvantages. The money being talked about is a lot of cash in the current climate and United should only spend it if they are absolutely certain that this player is the person to help them move forward.

They may let the move go because the doubts are too big to ignore. Being the top scorer in Italy is totally different to being the top scorer in England where the league is a lot more difficult to play in.

Ibrahimovic is a player that relies on time on the ball and not being pressured in order to make space and bring other players into the side. These are things that he would not get in the Premier League and they are things that mean United may be better off in going for another target. I’m sure with this player that if Real Madrid came in and tried to poach him, United probably wouldn’t be too annoyed.

Now Steve Bruce may have been a pretty good footballer and could be a great bloke, but why oh why would Sunderland consider hiring him as their next manager? It’s not a wise idea. Especially considering it would cost them three million pounds in compensation to Bruce’s current club, Wigan. And to make matters even more puzzling, it’s believed that former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini would gladly take the job and it wouldn’t cost Sunderland a penny.

To me, this is a no brainer. I don’t see anything on Bruce’s resume that would make me consider him for a moment as a Premier League manager. He’s mediocre at very best and that’s exaggerating it. To me, hiring a mediocre manager will do nothing more for your club than….. let’s see… make them mediocre. And that’s exactly what Sunderland is now, so I don’t see how Bruce is going to improve them.

But, let’s not slag him off until we back it up with some numbers and facts. Well, this season it was probably regarded that Wigan were quite a bit better squad than Sunderland, but Bruce only managed to get an extra nine points out of them by leading them to a 12-9-17 record, which tied them for 11th place. And three of those extra nine points came against Sunderland. Yes, that’s correct, 12 wins out of 38 league games for a winning percentage of 34.4%.

How does that compare to the rest of Bruce’s managerial career? Well, it’s about par for course as his career winning percentage is 38.3. In fact, the only time he’s managed to hit 50 or higher was an 18-game stint with Crystal Palace, where he went a fine 61.1%. But 18 games is just a blip on the radar screen when we are looking at his career total of 478 games. When studying Bruce’s performance, without the Crystal Palace job, we see a trend forming and it’s not a good one.

Bruce’s first year as a full-time manager was back in 1998 with Sheffield United and he did reasonably well by winning 40% of his matches. But every year after that his winning percentage has gone down, not up. This tells me he’s not really improving as a manager with more experience, actually the opposite is true. Bruce hasn’t shown a lot of loyalty either as far as I’m concerned by taking on six different managers jobs in just over a decade. Sunderland would make seven.

On the other hand, let’s look at the 44-year-old Mancini. This fellow has been managing three years less than Bruce, but has won three consecutive Serie A titles (2006 to 2008), two Italian Cups (2001 and 2004) and two Super Cups (2005 and 2006) for Inter, making him the most successful Inter manager in the past 30 years. His league winning percentage was 61.7 in 227 games and his success rate in the Champions League was 52.9%. Granted, his first league title was handed to him after Inter ended up in second place and league winners Juventus were stripped of the title because of match fixing.

Mancini’s career got off to a rocky start with Fiorentina in 2001 as his winning percentage was only 22.2 in 27 games, but he at least compensated for that by winning the Italian Cup that year. He also won the cup during his stay at Lazio from 2002 to 2004.

The numbers just don’t add up for Bruce, not positively anyway, and I honestly can’t see why he’d be chosen to manage Sunderland if they’re trying to climb their way up the standings. But I’m afraid that’s the way football seems to work these days, especially in England. As soon as a manager is fired because of poor results, there are about five teams ready to hand him a long-term contract. In this case, Bruce would be leaving of his own accord. But it’s still the same scenario of a weak manager being hired by even an even weaker club.
If the guy wasn’t any good at any of his other clubs, why would you want him?

Perhaps Sunderland will come to their senses before getting Bruce to sign on the dotted line.