A daydream believer he is, our Zlatan. And a homecoming king.
A Swedish journalist just dubbed Zlatan "the boy who was condemned to walk his life in circles". An elegant way of putting it. There is something very predestined about him. Wherever he goes, he wins the national title. Wherever he goes, he fails to win the Champions League. And wherever he goes, he will always come back to where he just were. Here's the story of Zlatan:
2001: leaves Malmö for Ajax, but claims that one day he will play for Inter.
2004: leaves Ajax for Juve
Autumn 2004: paired with Ajax in the Champions League group stage
2006: leaves Juve for Inter
Since Juve has been relegated, it takes a year before he gets a new re-union in "il derby d'Italia".
2009: leaves Inter for Barca with the motivation that he wants to win the Champions League
Autumn 2009: Paired with Inter in the Champions League group stage, and in the spring the two team face each other again in the seminfinal. Inter go on to win the whole tournament.
2010: leaves Barca for Milan
Back to the city where he became the most shining star in Serie A, but playing for the rival team. And oh, this is what happens four minutes into his first derby for Milan. Plus:
Autumn 2010: is paired with his old team Ajax and his old coach Mourinho in the Champions League group stage.
Autumn 2011: First, the biggest homecoming of them all. Then: paired with Barcelona (now Champions again) in the Champions League group stage. Camp Nou may not respond in the same way.
Showing posts with label Inter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inter. Show all posts
Friday, 26 August 2011
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Fixing the fixtures
I have never fully understood the process for establishing the Serie A fixtures. It is not a draw for certain, or maybe there's partially a draw. As I said, I'm not sure. Does anyone know? Or is it better not to know?
What I do know is that almost every year, Milan and Lazio face off somewhere around the 2nd and the 4th round. And that usually the Milan derby takes place fairly late in the season.
This year, Napoli's president according to reports petitioned that Napoli should not play against big teams the week after a Champions League week. He was unsuccessful. At the early stage of the season, Napoli will play both Milan and Inter after a Champions League week. That made president Aurelio De Laurentiis so angry that he left the buidling, and asked a random passer-by on a motorcycle for a ride away from there, mumbling that he was ashamed to be an Italian and that he would go back to producing movies.
An amusing and yet confusing story. Are you allowed to make such petitions? And why being so upset? Not only Napoli but also the opponents Milan and Inter will play in the Champions League that week, and we do not know yet which of the teams will get one day more of rest than the other.
What I take away from the draw (or whatever it is) is that even if Milan would straggle behind Inter this season, we should still have a decent hope if we are six points behind with two games to go. The season ends with the derby della madonnina in round 37, and on the last day Inter travel to Rome to play Lazio. They did that also in 2002, with a chance of securing the title, and I will never forget these beautiful scenes. The Inter-loser days may be over, but Italians have a hard time ignoring the curse of history.
What I do know is that almost every year, Milan and Lazio face off somewhere around the 2nd and the 4th round. And that usually the Milan derby takes place fairly late in the season.
This year, Napoli's president according to reports petitioned that Napoli should not play against big teams the week after a Champions League week. He was unsuccessful. At the early stage of the season, Napoli will play both Milan and Inter after a Champions League week. That made president Aurelio De Laurentiis so angry that he left the buidling, and asked a random passer-by on a motorcycle for a ride away from there, mumbling that he was ashamed to be an Italian and that he would go back to producing movies.
An amusing and yet confusing story. Are you allowed to make such petitions? And why being so upset? Not only Napoli but also the opponents Milan and Inter will play in the Champions League that week, and we do not know yet which of the teams will get one day more of rest than the other.
What I take away from the draw (or whatever it is) is that even if Milan would straggle behind Inter this season, we should still have a decent hope if we are six points behind with two games to go. The season ends with the derby della madonnina in round 37, and on the last day Inter travel to Rome to play Lazio. They did that also in 2002, with a chance of securing the title, and I will never forget these beautiful scenes. The Inter-loser days may be over, but Italians have a hard time ignoring the curse of history.
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