Inter Milan News

Barcelona have risen 99 per cent in value over the last 12 months while the Red Devils see their top position crumble as the Blancos take over in Forbes’ top 20 rankings

Real Madrid have usurped Manchester United as the richest football club on the planet for the first time since Forbes magazine began their rankings in 2004.

The Red Devils have sat at the top of the list for nine years in a row but Jose Mourinho’s men are now worth $135 million more (€103m) at $3.3 billion (€2.429bn), while Sir Alex Ferguson’s side sit second in the business magazine’s most valuable club list.

Barcelona are perched comfortably in third – $565m (€434m) behind United but $1.274m (€978m) ahead of fourth-placed Arsenal – and rose 99 per cent in value over 12 months.

Bayern Munich fill out the top five having made the Champions League final last season as well as finishing second in the Bundesliga. Their value is sure to rise further in next year’s rankings with the added interest of Pep Guardiola as coach, not to mention their triumph in this season’s Bundesliga and a potential treble of trophies.

AC Milan are the top-placed Serie A side in sixth and the highest-placed club to be valued below the €1bn mark this year. However, they are also the only club in the top 10 which have gone down in value over the last 12 months.

Chelsea’s Champions League-winning season saw maintain their place in the list and boost their value by 18%, not so contrasting to the team below them, Juventus, who saw their value rise by 17% after returning to Scudetto-lifting ways in 2012.

Manchester City rose from 13th to 9th in Forbes’ list after winning the Premier League last season and qualifying for the Champions League for the second successive campaign.

An English team not faring as well are Liverpool, who were fourth in April 2008 but find themselves 10th five years later as they continue to suffer from not competing with the European elite.

Outside of the top 10 sit Europa League quarter-finalists Tottenham in 11th, Bundesliga side Schalke in 12th, Champions League semi-finalists Borussia Dortmund in 13th, Italian giants Inter in 14th and Olympique Lyonnais in 15th.

The final five in the list are South America’s sole entrants Corinthians in 16th, Walter Mazzarri’s Napoli in 17th, German side Hamburg in 18th, Olympique de Marseille (who dropped 18% in value, the biggest drop in the top 20) in 19th and Newcastle United perched 20th.

Interestingly, despite being considered one of the richest clubs in the world, Paris Saint-Germain fail to make the top 20, while La Liga’s top-three duo are the only Spanish sides to make the list.

Roma booked their spot in the final of the Coppa Italia with an impressive 3-2 win at the San Siro against a struggling Inter side.

The Nerazzurri held an advantage in the tie for the first time when Jonathan, who was a late addition to the squad following an injury to Esteban Cambiasso, broke the deadlock in the first half. However, Mattia Destro returned to haunt the club who rejected him as a youngster with two second-half goals to turn the tide.

Vasilis Torosidis grabbed a spectacular third for the visitors to set up a date in the final with Rome-rivals Lazio before Ricardo Alvarez netted a late consolation strike.

Disappointment at the weekend’s Serie A defeat to Cagliari was evident in the Inter ranks from kick off and they almost took another blow after just three minutes. After initiating a lovely, flowing move down Roma’s left, Marquinho was only denied a simple finish from Alessandro Florezni’s cross by the outstretched arm of Samir Handanovic.

The Nerazzurri soon awoke and in the 22nd minute they took the lead with a goal of extreme quality. Following a give-and-go with Alvarez, Jonathan stormed towards the area and played the ball into Tommaso Rocchi. The veteran striker rolled it straight back into the path of the Brazilian who slid his shot into the bottom corner.

Moments later it could the advantage could have been double but Rocchi’s connection with Ezequiel Schelotto’s cross was poor, leaving Maarten Stekelenburg with a comfortable save.

Inter were sitting deep in their own half when not in possession and this allowed the Giallorossi plenty of space. As a result, a searing shot from Marquinhos whistled just wide after it took a deflection off of Walter Samuel.

The visitors maintained a high level of pressure but found their attempts to draw level thwarted by the in-form Handanovic. The Slovenian keeper denied Destro from point-blank range in the 34th minute and then turned a shot from Florenzi around the post on the stroke of half time.

Roma did not let up after the break and after Francesco Totti and Torosidis had both gone close, they finally equalised on the night in the 56th minute. Erik Lamela’s perfectly-weighted through-ball sent Destro in behind the defence and the former Inter player dinked the ball over Handanovic and into the net.

Inter’s shaky defence has been frequently been their undoing this season and it proved to be the case once more in the 69th minute. Juan Jesus failed to track the run of Federico Balzaretti, who laid Daniele De Rossi’s pass across the face of goal and Destro was on hand to tap in his second.

Andrea Stramaccioni’s side quickly fell apart and five minutes later the tie was well and truly put out of their reach. A magnificent, looping strike from the corner of the box by Torosidis compounded the hosts’ misery.

Alvarez managed to pull one back for the hosts with a low shot inside the near post that was no less than he deserved, though it proved to be no more than a consolation.

Thus it is Aurelio Andreazzoli’s men who secure a space in the final where they will face arch-rivals Lazio, who eliminated Juventus in the other semi-final.

A total of seven European sides will join the MLS giants for a new eight-team pre-season tournament based in the USA this summer

EXCLUSIVE
By Zac Lee Rigg

Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter will join LA Galaxy in the inaugural Guiness International Champions Cup this summer.

The pre-season tournament, which runs from July 27 to August 4, will feature seven European sides as well as the MLS giants, and will take place in the USA.

Jose Mourinho’s side have been confirmed as participants, along with the Serie A duo and Galaxy, with the other sides and principal venues to be announced in the next two weeks.

The eight teams will play the first round of matches in Indianapolis, San Francisco, Phoenix and a to-be-determined European venue. The second round will take place in Los Angeles and New York.

“When we were putting this together, we wanted to make it a real tournament,” Relevent Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano told Goal.com. “We wanted to give it the feel of the Champions League, if you will.

“Everyone in this tournament has a rich history. Every time you hear the LA Galaxy’s name, you hear it as sort of – for lack of a better word – the team that has the most glamour in MLS. We thought it’d be good to give them an opportunity to show their stuff, and at a real competitive level.

“It gives MLS a chance to shine, in my mind.”

All eight teams will convene in Miami’s Sun Life Stadium on August 6 and 7 for a pair of double-headers. These include the seventh-place, fifth-place and third-place playoff games, as well as the final. Each team will play three games overall.

“When [Stillitano] mentioned this new format of the tournament with the two conferences, eight teams, four finals, immediately my coach and my chairman appreciated this idea,” Inter managing director Marco Fassone told Goal.com. “‘Yes, of course we will come,’ and we are here.”

Inter plan to begin their pre-season six to seven weeks before the Serie A season begins. After a retreat into the mountains, the club will play several “easy” friendlies and one “difficult” one before flying stateside for the tournament.

“They will be tough games, important games,” Fassone explained. “When we are back in Europe, I think that we will be ready to play eventual preliminary matches in either the Champions League or Europa League.”

LA Galaxy will be the only team in the middle of its season, and club president Chris Klein said that the new tournament will “most likely” be the only mid-season friendlies in which they will take part.

“We have a crowded schedule,” Klein told Goal.com.

Fox have signed a long-term deal to broadcast the event, while Guiness have been named as the main sponsor for the tournament.

“Guinness & Co. is a well-known supporter and champion for sports around the world and we are very excited to be involved with such a groundbreaking international soccer event here in the United States,” said Doug Campbell, Guiness Brand Director.

The Nerazzurri need goals in order to book themselves a place in the final of the Coppa Italia, and Al Hain-Cole is sure they will come against their attack-minded opponents

Inter play host to Roma in the Coppa Italia on Wednesday, hoping to claw back a 2-1 first leg deficit and book themselves a place in the final against Lazio.

Neither side look likely to claim Champions League qualification by finishing in the top three this season, so a piece of silverware would go a long way to papering over the cracks of what has otherwise been a disappointing season for both teams.

The Nerazzurri have not beaten Aurelio Andreazzoli’s men in their last six attempts, and Coral are offering odds of 8/5 (2.60) on them emerging victorious at the seventh time of asking.

The Romans ran out 3-1 winners at the San Siro in September’s league encounter, and they are available at 8/5 (2.60) to come out on top in what promises to be a tight match.

The two previous meetings between these two sides in Milan had both resulted in a draw, and you can get odds of 12/5 (3.40) on this one finishing all square.

These sides have paid little attention to the stereotype of conservative Italian football this season, each playing with a gung-ho style that has seen their games produce more goals at either end than anyone but Fiorentina in the Italian top flight.

Considering their 2-1 deficit, Andrea Stramaccioni’s men will be compelled to attack in this game, meaning a high-scoring encounter is surely guaranteed.

A bet on over 2.5 goals would have paid out in three of the last four games between this pair, as well as Inter’s last two domestic home games, and looks safe at odds of 4/7 (1.57) this evening.

Although they will be pushing for a goal from the beginning, the hosts may have to wait a while before getting their breakthrough, as they have done in their most recent scoring games.

Stramaccioni’s side have broken the deadlock in the five minutes before half-time in two of their last three matches, and it is worth backing them to do so again this evening, at inviting 15/2 (8.50) odds.

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Al Hain-Cole is an experienced tipster and avid follower of European football. He specialises in accumulators and if you would like to read more from Al you can follow him on Twitter here.

The Brazilian defender is optimistic about his side’s chances of reaching the final of the Italian cup at the expense of Roma

Juan Jesus is confident Inter will bounce back from their recent disappointing results in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final tie against Roma on Wednesday.

The Nerazzurri have been struggling to find their best form in the past few weeks, losing three out of their last four games, but Juan has little doubt Inter will once more show they know how to deal with setbacks.

“This group has always responded well in moments of difficulty. Just think of the game against Tottenham. Nobody believed in us after the first leg [lost 3-0] and the defeat against Bologna [lost 1-0] , yet we showed our class,” the Brazilian defender told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“We have a great deal of anger inside after our recent results. We really want to beat Roma and qualify for the Coppa Italia final.

“We need to play with fervour and passion right from the start. That’s how we can turn things around. Making calculations will not do us any good.”

Inter were beaten 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in the first leg.