Italian job: Dynamo Kiev forward Andriy Shevchenko
Take a look at the scene above -just why is the
self-confessed Special One feeling a little less than, er, special
right now? The answer comes after a quick glance at the Group F
table which shows Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan rock bottom after
three winless matches.
A 2-2 draw at home to Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday only added to
Mourinho's woes, with the fact that it was a certain striker named
Shevchenko who ran the show only adding to the Portuguese's
frustration.
Inter have now gone eight Champions League matches without a win
and the pressure is mounting.
Victory in their next match, in Kiev, is an absolute must.
Something to shout about: AC Milan's Alexandre
Pato
It was supposed to be boring. The big guns waltzing past
the minnows and easing through to the knockout stages without even
having to break sweat.
Oh how wrong the doubters were! At the halfway stage of the
Champions League group stages there is still plenty to play for,
and, for the competition's traditional powerhouses, everything yet
to lose.
Of all Europe's big guns, only Chelsea, Manchester United, Lyon
and Sevilla have a 100 per cent record while, in stark contrast,
Liverpool, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are among those in real
danger of suffering the most premature of exits.
We've had our fair share of shocks, too, with Zurich beating AC
Milan in the San Siro, champions Barcelona losing at home to
Russians Rubin Kazan and Romanians Unirea smashing four past
Rangers at Ibrox. Whether we'll see a new name in the Champions
League final at the Bernabeu on May 22 remains highly
debatable.
But, at least for now, the underdogs look intent on giving the
favourites a serious run for their money.
Goal-den boy: Milan's Alexandre Pato scores in the
3-2 victory over Real Madrid
Two defeats in their last three matches and suddenly Real Madrid
are in crisis, wondering how they can cope without the injured
Cristiano Ronaldo. Karim Benzema - one of the galacticos brought to
the club in a £225million summer spending spree - admits the club's
attacking talents are struggling to gel.
'We don't manage to spread the game to the flanks,' says the
France star. 'We all get in each other's way.'
AC Milan boss Leonardo has also been under pressure after poor
results, but sublime Brazilian compatriot Alexandre Pato got him
off the hook with a well-taken double in the 3-2 win at Real worthy
of the No 7 shirt he inherited from Andriy Shevchenko.
It is no surprise if Rubin Kazan are a new name to you. They
developed from a club linked to a secretive Soviet munitions plant
and even once had the bizarre name 'PO Box 747'. But coach
Gurban Berdiyew has polished a team with few stars and would dearly
love to sign top scorer Alejandro Dominguez, who is on loan from
Zenit St Petersburg. CSKA Moscow, who lacked ambition against Man
United, should take note.