PREVIEW: Inter Milan look to put European woes behind them in Serie A

By Alberto Cagliano Nov 26, 2009, 8:56 GMT

Rome - The 2-0 defeat Inter Milan suffered at Barcelona in the Champions League in midweek could be a valuable lesson for the Serie A leaders as they struggle to build an international reputation.

Possibly the most humbling aspect of the debacle was that the European champions won hands down despite the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, at Inter last season, and Lionel Messi.

But a look at their line-up shows that they played a virtually flawless game fielding seven Spanish players who grew up in their own youth team.

Inter, on the other hand, brought on Mario Balotelli in the second half as their only home-grown player, but the young striker promptly joined his foreign-legion team-mates in their dismal showing.

'They have a great structure of game, which functions even without Messi and Ibrahimovic,' Inter coach Jose Mourinho said. 'I expected more will and less fear from my team. They had a better pace than us in all areas of the pitch.'

As they chase a continental title they won twice in the 1960s, Inter seem unable to create a solid group, and keep looking like an assembly of highly paid stars who this season notched a single win from five international games.

Qualification for the knock-out stage, however, is still in their own hands as a draw could be enough in the last home game against Rubin Kazan, who managed to stun Barca 2-1 in Spain.

Before then, the Italian champions on Sunday have a tough home game against Fiorentina, who sailed past the group phase with a 1-0 win over Olympique Lyon, followed next weekend by a visit to second- placed Juventus.

The Turin side also cut a meagre figure in Europe, losing 2-0 at Bordeaux and now need a draw against Bayern Munich in their final group game to retain the second qualification berth.

Unlike Inter, Ciro Ferrara's Juve have been consistent, playing with little grit and plenty of mistakes both in the home league and in Europe.

Juve lie five points behind Inter and face a tricky visit to Cagliari, the Sardinia side who last weekend caused major troubles for AC Milan before losing 4-3 in a spectacular game.

Milan drew 1-1 with Olympique Marseille in midweek and now need to beat Zurich to secure progress in the Champions League.

Late Sunday, the third-placed Devils look to profit from a slip-up by Juve as they visit lowly Sicily side Catania.

Genoa and Sampdoria play a city derby late Saturday, after Udinese and promoted Livorno face off in the lower reaches.

Promoted Parma are incredibly fifth when they host Napoli, Chievo welcome Palermo and their new coach Delio Rossi, while tail-enders Siena also switched coach, hiring Alberto Malesani, ahead of a visit to newcomers Bari.

Lazio and Bologna are both in trouble when they face off in Rome and Atalanta take on AS Roma.