Sunday, May 23, 2010

Milito double as Inter Milan crowned champions of Europe

Diego Milito scored in each half as Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the Champions League final and claim an historic treble.
Jose Mourinho's men had already claimed the Serie A and Italian Cup crowns ahead of Saturday night's showdown with Bayern, who had also achieved the domestic double in Germany.
Two clinical finishes from Milito in the 35th and 70th minutes settled an enthralling showdown in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid and left Mourinho as only the third coach to win Europe's top club competition with two teams.
He achieved the feat with Porto in 2004 before leaving to manage Chelsea in the English Premier League.
Bayern had made the better start in terms of possession without creating a clear cut chance before Inter scored the decisive goal.
Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar hoisted a long kick forward and Milito held off Martin Demichelis to work it back to Wesley Sneijder.
The Argentine forward reacted quickly and quickly turned to receive a perfect return pass from Sneijder and clip the ball over Hans Jorg Butt in the Bayern goal.
Growing in confidence, Inter should have been two up before the break as Milito turned provider to set up Sneijder, who shot straight at Butt with the goal at his mercy.
Bayern, missing the suspended Franck Ribery and with Arjen Robben only an intermittent threat, had a golden chance to equalize in the opening attack of the second half.
Hamit Altintop played in Thomas Mueller but the young German striker fluffed the opportunity as he shot straight at Cesar.
Robben forced a one-handed save from Cesar before Milito gave Inter a two-goal cushion with more clinical finishing.
Fellow strike partner Samuel Eto'o gave him the chance to run at the heart of the Bayern defense and he left Daniel van Buyten trailing before beating Butt with some ease.
It was his 30th goal in all competitions this season and sixth in the Champions League.
Milito also scored the only goal as Inter beat Siena last weekend to wrap up the Serie A title.
Bayern could offer little threat as Inter comfortably held on for a deserved triumph having beaten Chelsea and reigning champions Barcelona en-route to the final.
It ended a 45-year wait for the Italian giants, who last won the European Cup in 1965.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com

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