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Inter have been warned not to expect an easy game against Bayern Munich in tonight's Champions League encounter as former striker Sandro Mazzola picks out the dangermen.

Mazzola won the European Cup with La Grande Inter twice, and he expects Bayern to test Leonardo's men.

"I expect a difficult game where Inter will have to watch their opponents very carefully as they want revenge following last year," Mazzola told Tuttomercatoweb.com.

"Inter will need to watch Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger carefully.

"It's difficult to predict what type of game we will see, but I hope Inter will be determined with the will to win.

"I think Maicon or Dejan Stankovic will be decisive."

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Agences de presses

Labels: against, Bayern, champions, European, Goalcom, Inter, league, Mazzola, Munich, Sandro, Tough, TwoTime, winner

MILAN (AP)—Mario Gomez scored a 90th-minute goal Wednesday as Bayern Munich won 1-0 at Inter Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League that doubled as a rematch of the 2010 final.

Bayern winger Arjen Robben hit a low shot that goalkeeper Julio Cesar failed to hold, and Gomez hooked the loose ball into the empty net for a record-equaling seventh goal in the competition this season.

“That was certainly my most important goal in the Champions League,” Gomez said. “When you score a goal just before the end which seals an away win, that is, of course, very nice.

Bayern Munich midfielder Basti…
AP - Feb 23, 4:59 pm EST Bayern Munich forward Mario Go…
AP - Feb 23, 4:58 pm EST Bayern Munich forward Mario Go…
AP - Feb 23, 4:57 pm EST Bayern Munich forward Mario Go…
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AP - Feb 23, 4:49 pm EST Inter Milan Brazilian defender…
AP - Feb 23, 4:25 pm EST Bayern Munich midfielder Arjen…
AP - Feb 23, 4:22 pm EST Stuttgart's Cacau talks to…
AP - Feb 20, 11:41 am EST AC Milan Brazilian forward Rob…
AP - Feb 20, 10:38 am EST AC Milan Brazilian forward Rob…
AP - Feb 20, 9:53 am EST Bayern head coach Louis van Ga…
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“We fought for everything. Everything at the back, everything up front and we were rewarded at the end.”

Until then it appeared that the match was set to finish 0-0. Both sides struggled to find a way to break the deadlock, with Bayern goalkeeper Thomas Kraft denying Inter on a number of occasions.

“I am very happy with our performance tonight,” Munich coach Louis Van Gaal said. “It was a very entertaining match and Inter played very well. It could have been a different result, but we deserved to win after the way we played in the second half.”

Munich wingers Franck Ribery and Robben were the visitors’ main danger, while Inter’s Wesley Sneijder and Samuel Eto’o linked up on a number of occasions to get through the defense.

“Scoring an away goal is useful, but Inter is a good team and could easily score in Munich,” Van Gaal said. “We deserved to win after our second-half performance. But in the last 10 minutes, Inter created a lot of chances. That is a sign of its quality. We were slightly lucky to score in the last minute, but we could have scored before.”

The second leg is on March 15.

Inter nearly scored in the first minute. Sneijder clipped a free kick into the box, and defender Andrea Ranocchia hooked the ball wide from close range.

After the opening exchanges the game took time to pick up as both sides struggled to find their rhythm.

Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo hit a low shot narrowly wide of the post in the 20th. A minute later, Eto’o appealed for a penalty after going shoulder to shoulder with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk in the box, but referee Viktor Kassai waived away the appeals.

Gustavo again went close with a shot from distance that Lucio deflected for a corner. Kraft then stopped Esteban Cambiasso’s shot from close range after the Argentine had been set up by Eto’o.

Munich hit back and twice went close to breaking the deadlock in a matter of minutes. First, Ribery headed Robben’s cross onto the bar, then Gomez scooped Philipp Lahm’s clever cutback into the stands.

Kraft again came to Munich’s rescue in the 33rd, flinging himself to his left to push a shot by Eto’o away after the Cameroon striker had battled through the defense to shoot.

“He was fantastic,” Inter coach Leonardo said of Kraft. “He stopped Eto’o in the first half after he cut in from the left and he made a number of other saves, such as the header from Thiago Motta at the end. But there is some bitterness that we conceded the goal at the point of the game when we did.”

Robben continued to cause problems on the Munich wing. He picked out Muller in the box shortly after halftime, but the German international headed wide of the far post.

The Dutchman then went close himself, hitting the post following a flowing move across the face of Inter’s area.

Sneijder’s temper got the better of him in the 56th. He was booked after taking his protests too far after Eto’o went down under Tymoshchuk’s challenge.

Chances continued to go begging. After Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger gave the ball away, Inter defender Maicon picked out Eto’o, who created space for himself in the box. Kraft blocked his shot, the ball ran free and Cambiasso smashed it over the bar.

At the other end of the field, Robben cut in off the right wing on to his favored left foot but also shot high.

With 10 minutes left, Inter substitute Houssine Kharja brought another save out of Kraft. Five minutes later, the goalkeeper reacted quickly to stop Thiago Motta’s header.

Eto’o then drilled a shot through a pack of Munich defenders, but watched in despair as it took a last-minute deflection wide.

His despair was doubled moments later as the ball fell for Gomez to join Eto’o and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka as the leading scorers in the Champions League this season.

“I don’t think we need to make major changes before we go to Munich,” Leonardo said. “It is only 1-0. There are 20 days before the match and we could have a completely different performance. Of course we can lose, but on the other hand we can also win.”

Agences de presses

Labels: Bayern, Inter, Milan, scores, winner

SEVILLE, Spain (AP)—Fredy Guarin’s late score gave FC Porto a 2-1 win at Sevilla to put the Portuguese club in control of their Europa League last-32 series on Thursday.

Guarin took advantage of a defensive slip-up to roll in the 85th-minute winner. Sevilla’s defense let Cristian Rodriguez race onto a through ball that goalkeeper Andres Palop could only tip wide onto the path of the Colombia midfielder.

Sevilla's Martin Caceres, …
AP - Feb 17, 3:42 pm EST

Rolando opened for Porto in the 58th as he stabbed James Rodriguez’s free kick past Palop in an ill-tempered match at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Sevilla equalized in the 65th when Frederic Kanoute got high to turn Ivan Rakitic’s free kick into the top corner out of the reach of goalie Helton with a well-guided header.

The return leg is at Porto next Wednesday.

Luis Fabiano threatened for Sevilla twice inside the first 20 minutes but the Brazil striker saw a chance cleared in the 18th after taking too long to line up his shot then Rolando blocked another try along the goal line.

Palop punched a cross onto the path of Rodriguez in the 24th but recovered to stop the volleyed shot from outside the area.

That was one of Porto’s few first-half chances while Sevilla settled for long-range chances to the 48th when Kanoute’s shot swerved wide.

An ugly spell of tough tackles and hard challenges boiled over in the 53rd with three yellow cards brandished. Sevilla was bothered by the incidents and the Portuguese club took advantage to score as the Andalucian side’s defense was slow to take up positions for Rodriguez’s free kick.

The goal spurred Sevilla’s attack as Kanoute had a headed chance deflected out just before the Mali striker scored his fifth of the competition.

Porto ‘keeper Helton was well-placed in the 67th to deny Luis Fabiano’s hard header from inside the box as the hosts pressed. Sevilla has scored nine of its 11 goals in the last half hour.

Palop was equally ready at the other end as the Spanish goalie tipped Hulk’s 74th-minute riser over the bar.

But Helton cut down the angle to stop substitute Alvaro Negredo’s strike in the 77th, and Kanoute somehow misguided Negredo’s headed on ball for Helton to gather with the empty goal beckoning.

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Agences de presses

Labels: Guarin, Porto, Sevilla, winner

By DANIEL CUTTS STATS European Football Writer=

LONDON (SE) - Niko Kranjcar’s superb late strike enabled Tottenham to beat Sunderland 2-1 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and take Harry Redknapp’s team into fourth place in the Premier League table.

Spurs went three points above Chelsea and if they win their match in hand can go into third place ahead of Manchester City.

Tottenham’s third win in succession came after a sloppy and disappointing first half at the end of which they were fortunate to be level.

Sunderland took an early lead but failed to hold on and slumped to their third defeat in a row without surrendering seventh spot in the table.

The Black Cats looked to be well on their way to a morale-boosting home win after taking the lead in the eleventh minute.

The Spurs defence was exposed while William Gallas was off the pitch changing his boots allowing Asamoah Gyan to stride through and beat Heurelho Gomes with a powerful low shot.

That goal woke up Tottenham and there was a new urgency about them which resulted in the equaliser in the 44th minute.

England defender Michael Dawson was unmarked when he headed goalwards and the presence of Gallas near the line forced goalkeeper Craig Gordon to allow the effort to go through his legs.

There was not much in the second half to excite home fans and the winner came in the 57th minute from Kranjcar for the second successive week.

Last week the Croatia international’s left foot strike earned a last-minute win over Bolton. His goal this time was not dissimilar and just as effective.

Sunderland defender John Mensah cleared a cross from Sandro to him and the midfield player volleyed the ball home from the edge of the area.

Sunderland did step up their play after Kranjcar’s goal but Gomes was not threatened although he and striker Roman Pavlyuchenko were booked for time-wasting.

Tottenham manager Redknapp was delighted by the result and the way his side had stormed back after such a sloppy start.

“We just did not get going for the first half an hour. It was just one mistake after another and it took a goal to wake us up,” said Redknapp. “I don’t know why we were like that because we have been playing so well lately.

“But once we got level I always we would go on and win.

“Niko is making a habit of scoring brilliant goals. His goal last week was absolutely fantastic and this was right up there with one.”

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce felt his side had wasted good possession and not made the most of their flying start.

“We were on top for the first half, got a goal and looked well set,” said Bruce. “But they got a goal just before the break against the run of play and that set us back.

“In the second half we were never the same force but even so it took an exceptional goal to beat us.

“I just felt that we did not kill them off when we had the chance. One goal is never enough to see off a team of Tottenham’s quality.”

Agences de presses

Labels: fires, Kranjcar, SportsTicker, Tottenham, winner