Inter facing huge task in Europe

In last week's clash at the San Siro, Inter produced one of their best performances of late in the Champions League as they edged Chelsea 2-1.

Although the Serie A champions still have a long way to go, they seem to be Italy's best hope of a quarter-finals berth at the moment even though Fiorentina could still have their say against Bayern Munich.

Milan, however, are facing a tall order to oust Manchester United.

In the less-attractive Europa League, after Lazio and Genoa were eliminated in the group stages, it was Roma's turn to be shown the exit door leaving Juventus as the only Italian team in the last 16 of the competition.

Similar to Milan's blistering start against United the week before, Inter, too, were off to a flyer against the Blue outfit of Carlo Ancelotti.

Unlike their city neighbours, Inter remained defiant all the way to secure a slender, though significant, 2-1 win at home that keeps the tie balanced on a knife's edge.

Inter's backline, superbly anchored by Brazil captain Lucio, was outstanding. The work-rate of Esteban Cambiasso and the sterling contribution of captain Javier Zanetti were also key elements in arguably one of the most exciting Champions League ties this campaign.

Inter had lately earned the reputation of being strong with the weak and weak with the strong, clearly highlighting their complete dominance in Italy but amply demonstrating the team's poor show on the continent. Jose Mourinho's arrival in 2008 did little to alleviate this tag.

Inter's 45-year wait for the European Cup has put significant pressure on the coach and players to deliver. The added pressure inevitably led to instil a 'fear factor' which year after year hindered Inter's progress in UEFA's premier club competition in no small way.

But, against Chelsea there were clear signs that the tide could be changing even though Inter's lead at the top of the Serie A has now been whittled to four points.

All this came during a patch where Mourinho is currently observing a three-game touchline ban and Inter fielding a depleted side in a hard-earned 3-2 victory away at Udinese following the heavy measures taken against the club after the match against Sampdoria last month.

However, notwithstanding the setbacks, Mourinho's lads rose to the occasion and showed considerable mental resilience on their way to beating Chelsea and preserving their lead at the top of the Serie A.

Many critics of the game reckon that if Inter eliminate Chelsea, they stand a big chance to go all the way and reach the final in Madrid in May.

Only Mourinho knows what a big boost qualification would mean for Inter. In 2004, his under-rated Porto ousted Manchester United before leading the team to Champions League glory.

1996 repeat

In a repeat of the 1996 Champions League final, Juventus played a containing game against Ajax to book a last 16 tie with Fulham.

The Londoners, coached by ex-Inter coach Roy Hodgson, reached this stage after beating last year's UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 on aggregate.

The first leg will be played in Turin on March 11.

Fulham have already crossed swords with Roma in the group stages this season. In Group E, they drew 1-1 at Craven Cottage before going down 1-2 in Rome.

The good news emanating from Thursday's 0-0 draw with Ajax was that Juventus had managed to record their first clean sheet in six games under Alberto Zaccheroni.

Juve's suspect defence has seen them falling down the pecking order in the Serie A and knocked out of the Champions League and Coppa Italia. Last weekend, they lost at home to Palermo to fall outside the top four.

In Europe, Juve have to improve their game by a few notches because with the presence of strong teams like Benfica, Liverpool, Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, Atletico Madrid and Valencia, it will not be easy for them to reach the May 12 final.

Roma are doing so well in the league but Panathinaikos were unfazed and similar to their debacle in Greece in the first leg, Claudio Ranieri's team simply crumbled after going in front.

Even on Sunday against Napoli, Roma were leading 2-0 but conceded two goals inside the last 16 minutes to slip seven points behind Inter.

Roma still extended their unbeaten run in the Serie A to 16 games but they are now starting to feel the pinch and could soon run out of steam after making such a bold comeback with Ranieri's arrival.

Perhaps, next weekend's home clash against Milan will shed more light on Roma's form and future prospects.

Serie A statistics

0 Home wins for Lazio since trouncing fellow strugglers Livorno 4-1 on the 18th day. On Saturday, Edy Reja's Lazio were off to a flying start against Fiorentina as they took an early lead through Sebastiano Siviglia. However, an injury-time De Souza Keirrison equaliser levelled matters for the visitors and denied Lazio three valuable points in their quest to stay away from the drop zone.

1 ST defeat for Juventus since new coach Alberto Zaccheroni took over from Ciro Ferrara as the Bianconeri were undone by two second-half Palermo goals to suffer their fifth home defeat of the term. For the Sicilians, who leapfrogged Juventus into fourth place, this was only their third away win - the first since beating Milan on the 16th day.

2 Consecutive defeats left Bortolo Mutti's Atalanta second-from-bottom, five points away from safety. On Sunday, Atalanta were no match for Milan as the Rossoneri cruised to their fourth straight win. In the Serie A, Milan are undefeated in their last six outings. Atalanta's most recent of two away wins this season came against Siena (2-0) on the 13th day.

4 TH straight defeat for Bari as the southerners were floored by in-form Catania 4-0. With new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic at the helm, Catania improved by leaps and bounds, collecting five wins and three draws in 11 outings. Bari's only away win of the season remains the 2-1 success over Chievo on the eighth day.

5 Penalties were scored last weekend. Adailton (Bologna) completed his hat-trick by ably converting a 79th-minute spot-kick against Genoa. Antonio di Natale pulled one back for Udinese by scoring from a penalty against Inter and in Naples, Baptista and Marek Hamsik were both on target from the spot as the hosts and Roma figured in a 2-2 draw. Cristiano Lucarelli put Livorno ahead from a penalty against Siena. Paulo Barreto (Bari) and Ronaldinho (Milan) failed to hit the target from the spot last weekend. Lazio coach Edy Reja was ordered off his bench. Meanwhile, there were three red-carded players - Michele Marcolini (Chievo), Radja Nainggolan (Cagliari) and Davide Moro (Livorno).

7 Points separate Inter from third-placed Roma after the weekend's results. A depleted Inter side came from a goal down to hand Udinese their fourth home reverse of the term. Jose Mourinho's title-holders have now stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games (six wins and five draws). Roma threw away a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead at the San Paolo to share the spoils with Napoli, ahead of Saturday's home clash with Milan. For Claudio Ranieri's side this was their first draw after seven straight wins.

35 Goals were scored on the 26th day: 19 coming from the hosts and the remaining 16 from the visitors, who managed four wins. Foreigners contributed with 21 goals while there were 16 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 663. Adailton's hat-trick for Bologna interrupted Genoa's nine-match unbeaten home run as Alexandre Pato (Milan) and David Suazo (Genoa) grabbed a brace each. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) is still the leading scorer with 19 goals.