This Was Inter Milan's Last Chance!

While the whole world was buzzing over the news that Ferguson had decided to postpone his retirement and renew his contract, far away in Milan, Italy, in the Pinetina Training Base in the town of Alpino Gentile, Mancini and assistant coach Mihajlović were reviewing the recently concluded Champions League quarterfinal.

Inter Milan's two-legged tie against Moscow Central Army had been far from satisfactory.

Both matches had ended 1–0, but the performances had been poor, especially in the second leg at home.

For this match, Mancini had deployed a 4-3-3 formation, with Pandev and Quaresma stationed on either wing.

Quaresma had joined Inter Milan from Barcelona this season as part of Ibrahimovic's transfer.

Mancini had expected fierce resistance from Moscow Central Army, so he had hoped to stretch the formation and create threats down both flanks. But the effect had been less than ideal.

Instead, Moscow Central Army's attacks down both wings had caused Inter Milan a great deal of trouble.

For the first half hour, Inter Milan had been unable to create any attacking threat.

It was a very serious problem.

More seriously, Inter Milan's midfield had been far too thin in this match.

"The combination of Stanković and Cambiasso will probably have a hard time stopping Bayern's attacks, especially through the middle, which is controlled by Schweinsteiger and Modrić. Never mind helping protect our flanks."

After watching the footage, assistant coach Mihajlović analyzed the various problems exposed during the match with Mancini.

The most obvious one was the midfield defense.

"Everyone knows that Bayern's wing attacks are extremely active, but more important is the link between the two flanks."

"Up front, they use their two wingers cutting inside and Su Dong's link-up play. In midfield, they rely more on short and medium-distance passing. Modrić and Schweinsteiger are the key.