Inter Milan will face Bayern Munich in the final of the UEFA Champions League after advancing over Barcelona with a 3-2 aggregate score.  Inter were dominated throughout the match playing a man down for the final sixty minutes after Thiago Motta received a controversial red card in the 28th minute.  It was a terrible decision by the referee to send off Motta after replays showed he just committed a simple foul with no harm intended.

Playing a man down, Inter’s defense was spectacular.  The back line kept their shape and organization frustrating Barcelona  going forward throughout the match.  Possession was inside Inter’s half almost the entire match. Barcelona finally broke through the Inter defense in the 84th minute with a great goal by Gerard Pique. Pique received a great through ball and circled with the ball at his feet faking out Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar before finding the open net.

Inter would hold off Barcelona for the remainder of the match as it finished 1-0.  Inter should be proud of their defensive effort against the hottest team in the world.   The final will be a great match between two powerhouse clubs on May 22 in Madrid.

Here is the full story from FoxSoccer.com with highlights-Inter advances to Champions League Final

In the second semifinal tomorrow, Inter Milan will take on Barcelona.  Inter hold a 3-1 advantage after their first leg victory in Italy.  Barcelona were the favorites to advance to the final but Inter showed up ready to play in the first leg and surprised the world.  Barcelona has a huge mountain to climb and must hold Inter scoreless to have a shot.  Barcelona did manage to score one away goal which gives them  little hope of advancing.

In the first leg, Lionel Messi was held in check by Inter.  I don’t see this happening again tomorrow.  Messi is the best player in the world and will not go down without a fight in front of his home fans.  For Inter to advance they will need another big match from their stout back four.  The Brazilian Maicon is a lethal threat coming forward from right back.

I am going to predict a 3-0 Barcelona victory on Wednesday.  I like Barcelona to come back and play with the ability we are all accustomed to.  Look for Xavi Hernandez to have a huge match along with Messi giving the Inter defense fits all night.

In the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho had to be concerned with the form of Barcelona in recent weeks.  Mourinho and Inter knew they would have to play their best soccer to get a good result against arguably one of the best teams in recent history.  Inter decided to play its best match of the season at the right time defeating the defending champions 3-1.

Inter though would start flat allowing Barcelona to take the early 1-0 lead in the 19th minute off a goal from Pedro.  Pedro found himself on the end of a great ball from Maxwell streaking up the left side to give the visitors the early lead.  Barcelona looked as if they would take care of business as usual, but things would change shortly.

Inter would soon take over the match in the midfield and tie the match in the 30th minute when Wesley Sneijder hit the back of the net. Sneijder was left wide open on the back post and slotted the ball past a helpless Valdes.

The hosts would take the lead for good short after the break in the 48th minute when Maicon slithered through the Barcelona defense to score the go ahead goal. As a right back Maicon is an excellent goal scorer that has to be treated like a striker.

There was a bit of controversy  in the 61st minute when Sneijder once again found himself open on the back post and headed the ball back across the goal to Milito who flicked a header into the back of the net.  The Barcelona players were very upset with the assistant referee as it looked as Milito was in an offside position.  Assistant referees are under an extreme amount of pressure to make the right calls and it was too close to call.

The defending champions need a huge performance next week if they want to repeat.  If any team can come back from a two goal deficit it’s Barcelona.  Lionel Messi will have to have more of an impact next week.  Inter bottled him up and didn’t allow him any space to create chances.  Our man of the match is Wesley Sneijder who was a constant threat out of the midfield for Inter.
<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=a1d2c26f-1064-41e0-b017-8a678b0dab52&#038;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_articles" target="_new" title="CL Highlights: Inter Milan/Barcelona">Video: CL Highlights: Inter Milan/Barcelona</a>

Manchester United 3-2 Bayern Munich
4-4 Aggregate- Bayern Munich advances with a 2-1 advantage on away goals.

Inter Milan 1-0 CSKA Moscow
Inter advances over CSKA Moscow with a 2-0 aggregate score.

Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal
Barcelona advances over Arsenal with a 6-3 aggregate score.

Bordeaux 1 – 0 Lyon
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Bordeaux 1-0 Lyon

Lyon advance over Bordeaux with a 3-2 aggregate score.

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Bayern Munich 2-1 Manchester United

2′ Wayne Rooney-Manchester United

76′ Franck Ribery- Bayern Munich

90′ Ivica Olic- Bayern Munich

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Lyon 3 – 1 Bordeaux
10′ Lisandro Lopez- Lyon
14′ Marouane Chamakh-Bordeaux
32′ Michel Fernandes Bastos-Lyon
77′ Lisandro López-Lyon

Arsenal 2-2 Barcelona

46′ Zlatan Ibrahimovic- Barcelona

59′ Zlatan Ibrahimovic- Barcelona

69′ Theo Walcott- Arsenal

85′ Cesc Fabregas-Arsenal

Inter Milan 1-0 CSKA Moscow

65′ Alberto Diego Milito

This past Sunday, Chelsea FC took the Inaugural World Football Challenge trophy back to England with a 2-0 victory over Club America.  Chelsea clearly were the dominant squad in the preseason exhibition tournament.  The English squad finished with a 3-0 record.  The surprise of the tournament however was Club America.  The Mexican powerhouse stunned everyone by posting a 2-1 record.  Serie A champions Inter Milan posted a 1-2 record.  The biggest disappointment of the event had to be AC Milan.  This team is in desperate need of a play maker after the loss of Kaka.  AC Milan had a dismal record of 0-3.

With an average attendance of 56,101 this inaugural event was a huge success in the United States.  Games were played in six different cities throughout the U.S.  The largest turnout of 81,224 was at the Rose Bowl to see Chelsea take on Inter Milan.  With the USA looking to get either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, these attendance numbers look very good to the eyes of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

The Livethepitch.com crew were privileged to be in attendance in Atlanta, GA for the AC Milan-Club America match.  Here are some pics from our great experience.  Please check out the entire album at http://www.flickr.com/photos/livethepitch/.  Let’s hope this great event continues for years to come!