The last time Inter visited Barcelona for a Champions League semi-final, back in April 2010, the night teemed with fascinating subplots. It begs the question: has a match ever contained this much narrative?
There was the backdrop of Inter’s Icelandic ash cloud-affected first-leg victory, simmering ideological and personal antipathy between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, the Samuel Eto’o-Zlatan Ibrahimovic swap deal, the Milito brothers on opposing sides, and the very of-its-time dilemma of how to fit Lionel Messi and Ibrahimovic into the same team.
Not sated by this already-hefty serving of intrigue, the game itself delivered an early red card, a disallowed stoppage-time goal, rogue sprinklers, and quite possibly the definitive Mourinho ‘park the bus’ masterclass.
Here, The Athletic breaks down how Inter, against the odds, held firm and reached the Champions League final.
Walter Samuel and Diego Milito celebrate as the sprinklers come on (Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images)
Inter had won the first leg 3-1 with an aggressive counter-attacking strategy, but it became clear early on that their approach in the return leg was geared towards protecting their two-goal lead rather than extending it.
On paper, Inter lined up in a 4-3-2-1, with Eto’o and Wesley Sneijder playing behind striker Diego Milito. But whenever Barcelona entered Inter’s half, Mourinho’s side quickly dropped into a 4-5-1, with Milito isolated up front while the rest of the side retreated into a compact, narrow and disciplined low block.
Organisation, last-ditch blocks, and tireless running are non-negotiables in any defensive setup, yet the success of Inter’s plan ultimately hinged on Messi and how well they contained Barca’s gifted star. Barcelona signed Ibrahimovic in the previous summer, shunting Messi out to the right and away from his most dangerous central zones.
Yet Messi being Messi, Guardiola gave him the licence to drift inside and find space between the lines. Rather than Inter going man-to-man and having stalwart left-back Javier Zanetti follow him around — risking gaps for others to exploit — responsibility for Messi was traded depending on where he was on the pitch.
Thiago Motta and Esteban Cambiasso doggedly followed Messi in midfield, stopping his ball-carrying at source. Mourinho, speaking to the Coaches’ Voice in 2023, fondly recalled that “in Italy, they were using the word ‘gabbia’, the real translation is like a jail to Messi” and that “everybody was responsible for any position that Messi could go”.
The team-wide commitment to denying Messi space between the lines can be seen clearly on the quarter-hour mark. Spotting a rare gap between defence and midfield, Messi drops deep to collect a pass from Gabriel Milito, but Inter centre-back Lucio recognises the danger instantly, breaking into a sprint to deny Messi space to turn.
This singular focus on one player naturally meant affording more space to the rest of Barcelona’s attackers.
Mourinho’s calculated gamble paid off: on the night, Messi’s understudies failed to capitalise on their increased stage time. Ibrahimovic, in particular, endured a torrid evening. He spent much of the evening out on the right to accommodate Messi’s central roaming. The Swedish forward later grumbled that Guardiola “bought a Ferrari but drove it like a Fiat”.
Yet even a subpar Ibrahimovic was a handful, as was literally proved on the night.
Ibrahimovic was involved in the first flashpoint of a match littered with contentious refereeing decisions. Thiago Motta tore his shot in the box but the referee waved away the penalty appeals, deeming the grappling unworthy of a spot kick.
A sprinkling of tactical fouling, a dash of argy-bargy, and a generous serving of rough-and-tumble are key ingredients in any Mourinho defensive masterclass recipe. But the line between controlled aggression and self-destructive ill-discipline is a fine one, as Motta discovered in the 28th minute.
During a rare foray from the visitors into Barcelona’s half, Motta extended an arm to fend off the challenging Sergio Busquets, only to catch him square in the face. Mourinho had warned of Barcelona’s theatrics in the buildup, but Busquets saw no reason to heed this unsolicited directorial advice. Dropping dramatically to the floor, Busquets writhed in agony and Motta was duly sent off.
In truth, even allowing for Busquets’ dramatics, Motta only had himself to blame. A straight red may have been harsh given the minimal contact, but the hand-off certainly warranted a yellow and with Motta already booked, the outcome would have been the same.
If the referee had any lingering doubts about the decision, Motta swiftly removed them by grabbing the back of Busquets’ neck in the ensuing melee.
Inter reorganised immediately after the sending off. Milito and Eto’o dropped back to left and right midfield, while Cristian Chivu slotted into Motta’s central position.
Inter were effectively playing the same system, only they now had no out ball up front. The seamlessness of these positional adjustments was no coincidence. As Zanetti explained to FourFourTwo this year, “Mourinho made us train multiple times with 10 men against 11, to get used to suffering if that situation occurred.” There would of course also be a smattering of dark arts thrown in — goalkeeper Julio Cesar was booked in the 34th minute for time-wasting.
Even with the numerical advantage, Barcelona offered little threat, passively passing the ball in front of Inter’s defence. Messi’s curled effort from the edge of the box drew a magnificent save from an outstretched Cesar, but otherwise Inter kept them at arm’s length. Yaya Toure’s long-distance drive, which sailed out for a throw-in, on the stroke of half-time, summed up Barcelona’s frustrations.
Guardiola responded at the start of the second half, bringing on wing-back Maxwell to provide more width and try to stretch Inter’s compact defensive unit.
Inter won a free kick in the first minute of the second half — and Chivu, who wore a sporadically unclasped rugby scrum cap during the game, blasted it wide from 40 yards out, emphasising their total disinterest in mounting any meaningful attack.
Inter’s hoofed clearances were an intentional ploy to counteract Barcelona’s intense counterpress. Mourinho explained how Inter “didn’t want the ball because when Barcelona press and win the ball back, we lose our position — I never want to lose position on the pitch, so I didn’t want us to have the ball, we gave it away”. Inter completed a paltry 74 of 137 passes all night, made 44 clearances, and Chivu’s speculative effort was their only shot.
Inter’s bus was firmly parked. Messi was afforded complete freedom to find a way through in the second half, but as the touchmap below shows, he rarely saw the ball in dangerous areas. Bar a few second-half touches, there seemed to be an invisible parabolic shield around the edge of Inter’s area.
To evade Inter’s close marking, Messi frequently dropped deep into midfield to collect the ball. Yet in this example below — a recurring theme of the night — no one else is attacking the space between the lines or providing quick, unpredictable off-ball movements.
As a result, Inter could maintain their compact shape, forcing Messi and his team-mates to funnel the ball out wide.
Pedro, Dani Alves and Maxwell delivered a succession of poor crosses from these positions, which were easily dealt with by Lucio and Walter Samuel. Defending them became even more routine once Guardiola replaced Ibrahimovic for 5ft 8in (173cm) future-Stoke City forward Bojan.
Yet such is Messi’s ability, he still managed to pick Bojan out with a perfectly weighted cross… only for the substitute to contrive to miss a free header from inside the six-yard box. Bojan’s blushes were spared moments later, though, when Gerard Pique finally broke Inter’s resolve.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Barca had finally thrown caution to the wind, with defender Pique operating as an auxiliary centre-forward. Xavi threaded a delicate pass into his path and, with the skill of a seasoned striker, yet with the unmistakable cumbersomeness of a centre back, Pique pulled off a clever spin that wrong-footed Cesar before firing into the net.
As if Mourinho wasn’t already wound up by Motta’s red card, Pique’s goal looked offside…
Barcelona pushed desperately for a tie-winning goal in a frenzied finish. In stoppage time, Bojan rifled home an effort into the top corner from close range, but much to Inter’s relief, they were finally on the right side of a refereeing call — the goal was ruled out for a Toure handball in the build-up. Mourinho joked that “Bojan is the only player that almost killed me with a heart attack”.
Three minutes later, it was full time. Inter had done the improbable and reached the final. Cue wild celebrations with Mourinho memorably sprinting onto the pitch, pointing to the sky. Not even the sprinklers, pettily turned on by Barcelona, could dampen the euphoria. Mourinho would later describe it as “one of my most emotional matches”.
Mourinho celebrates at full time (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)
The game has since entered the annals of Mourinho tactical masterclasses, but in truth, Barcelona’s rigidity and passivity were as much to blame as Inter’s resilient defensive display.
It’s interesting how much Guardiola has since adapted his approach to low-block opposition. In the Inter match, Barcelona typically held back at least three defenders during attacking phases, despite Inter offering virtually no attacking threat.
Contrast that with Manchester City’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal earlier this season, where it was common to see all 10 outfield players occupying space in the final third.
After Leandro Trossard’s red card, the approach became even more aggressive — City’s entire team was essentially camped inside or on the edge of Arsenal’s box.
Back then, Guardiola’s more cautious attacking structure meant Inter’s defence, even a man down, was rarely overwhelmed.
At the time, the match felt like the sort of tectonic shift that had impacted the first leg, a resounding vindication for Mourinho’s pragmatism over Guardiola’s idealism. Ultimately, though, this was a red herring. The 2009-10 season was one of the last hurrahs for Mourinho’s ultra-reactive style, as Guardiola’s philosophy ended up evolving and shaping the game’s future.
The two men would face each other in La Liga for two seasons after Mourinho left Inter for Real Madrid a week after the 2010 Champions League final, but the attacking riches he had in the Spanish capital meant the contrast of styles seen in that year’s semi-final was not really replicated, even if plenty of the gamesmanship was.
As for Wednesday’s re-match, former Real Madrid and Milan manager Fabio Capello, speaking to Mundo Deportivo, noted that “if Inter stopped Messi, they can also do it against Lamine Yamal”. But can they do it without Mourinho gesturing, controlling and inspiring from the sideline?
(Top photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images)