FC Internazionale Milano V FC Artmedia PRESS KIT
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FC Internazionale Milano v FC Artmedia PRESS KIT Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Wednesday, 23 November 2005 - 20:45 CET Group H - Matchday 5 A home win against FC Artmedia would allow FC Internazionale Milano to win the group and take their place in the knockout phase. But the Slovakian champions have proved themselves to be worthy opposition, and, since a 1-0 defeat by the Italian club in their opening group game, Artmedia have remained unbeaten. Matchday 1 meeting •The only goal of the previous meeting on 13 September in Bratislava was scored by Julio Cruz. It was the first time the two sides had ever met in UEFA club competition, with Artmedia making their bow in the UEFA Champions League this season. The Slovakian side are third in Group H with five points, four fewer than their Matchday 5 opponents, but the same amount as second-placed Rangers FC who are in action at FC Porto. Behind closed doors •Inter will again be playing behind closed doors as a result of the stadium ban imposed by UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body last April. It came after disturbances during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against AC Milan. Previous Bratislava tie •The Italian side have played against a Bratislava club in UEFA club competition before this season. In the 1982/83 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round, Inter were drawn against ŠK Slovan Bratislava, then a force in the old Czechoslovakian league. Inter won 2-0 at home and a penalty from Hansi Müller after five minutes of the return put them in control. But Slovan hit back with goals from Marian Takac and Rudolf Bobek, to win the game, if not the tie. Unbeaten away in the group •This will be the final away fixture in the group for Artmedia, and the club have so far remained unbeaten on their travels. The Slovakian champions suffered a shock 3-2 win at Porto on 28 September after recovering from two goals down. Then on 19 October, Artmedia went to Ibrox and drew 0-0 with Rangers. Qualifying round form •Artmedia did lose twice on their travels in the qualifying rounds. In the first qualifying round they lost 2-0 at FC Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan, only to come back and win 4-1 after extra time in a dramatic second leg. Then, in the next round, after a 5-0 home win against Celtic FC, Artmedia again came close to elimination by losing 4-0 in Glasgow. •But the away form picked up in the third qualifying round with a 0-0 draw after extra time at FK Partizan, with Artmedia then holding their nerve in Belgrade to win 4-3 on a penalty shoot-out. The two away games in the resulting group stage have shown the side has plenty of resilience. uefa.com 1/32 FC Internazionale Milano v FC Artmedia PRESS KIT Marked contrast •Artmedia qualified for the UEFA Champions League by becoming the Slovakian title- holders for the first time in their 105-year history. In contrast, Inter have twice been champions of Europe in 1961 and 1962 and are in their 44th season of UEFA club competition. Team facts: Internazionale •Inter are competing in their fourth successive UEFA Champions League group stage. Inter have qualified for the knockout stages in two of the past three seasons, their best performance coming in the 2002/03 season when they advanced to the semi-final stage only to lose out on away goals to AC Milan. Last season Inter advanced to the quarter- final stage only to see Milan block their route. •Prior to the 2002/03 season, Inter's only other involvement in the UEFA Champions League came in the 1998/99 season when they reached the quarter-final stage only to lose 3-1 on aggregate to eventual winners, Manchester United FC. •Since the UEFA Champions League started in the 1992/93 season, Inter have been more closely involved with the destiny of the UEFA Cup, playing in three finals and winning two of them. •They defeated SV Austria Salzburg 2-0 on aggregate in the 1993/94 season, but they lost 4-1 on penalties to FC Schalke 04 three years later after the two sides ended 1-1 on aggregate. However, Inter bounced back the following season to claim the trophy for the second time in four years by putting three goals past S.S. Lazio without reply with Iván Zamorano (5), Javier Zanetti (60) and Ronaldo (70) doing the damage. •Inter also won the UEFA Cup in the 1990/91 season when they defeated Lazio's cross- city rivals, AS Roma, 2-1 on aggregate. They overcame a one-goal deficit following the opening leg in Italy’s capital to win 2-0 at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium thanks to goals from Lothar Matthäus (58pen) and Nicola Berti (67). •To date, Inter have won the European Champion Clubs' Cup on two occasions in four final appearances. The first came in the 1963/64 competition when Real Madrid CF were beaten 3-1 in Vienna. Sandro Mazzola scored in each half, either side of a goal from Aurelio Milani. Rafael Bautista scored for Madrid. •Inter finished in third position in last season's Italian Serie A, 14 points behind winners Juventus, and seven adrift of AC Milan. Udinese Calcio finished a further ten points behind in fourth. •That earned them a place in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, where they faced FC Shakhtar Donetsk. In the first leg in Ukraine, goals from Obafemi Martins (68) and Adriano (79) gave the Italian side a valuable away win. Álvaro Recoba (13) extended their lead in the return in Milan and Elano Blumer's 25th-minute equaliser on the night was little more than a consolation. uefa.com 2/32 FC Internazionale Milano v FC Artmedia PRESS KIT •Inter travelled to Slovakia on the opening matchday to face competition debutants FC Artmedia and a goal from Argentinian striker Julio Cruz after 17 minutes earned them a hard-fought win. •Inter won by the same scoreline on Matchday 2 against Scottish champions Rangers FC. The match was played in an empty Giuseppe Meazza stadium as Inter's punishment for crowd misdemeanors last season. However, the Italian side made light of the eerie atmosphere and won courtesy of a deflected free-kick from Chilean midfielder David Pizarro after 49 minutes. Inter could even afford the luxury of Julio Cruz's missed penalty, which struck the post after 25 minutes. •Inter lost for the first time in this season’s competition on Matchday 3 as FC Porto ran out 2-0 winners in Portugal. There was an element of fortune about both goals, but inspired by the brilliant Ricardo Quaresma, they outclassed their illustrious visitors. The Portuguese side had looked on the brink of elimination, but they are now back in the hunt for qualification, thanks to Marco Materazzi's own goal after 22 minutes and a Benni McCarthy volley 13 minutes later that deflected heavily off Juan Sebastián Verón. •On Matchday 4, Inter's blushes were spared by two late goals from substitute Julio Cruz as they won 2-1 at an empty Giuseppe Meazza stadium, leaving Porto to wonder how this game got away. The home side struggled to find any rhythm at all and it was not long before they were made to pay in the most spectacular fashion when, direct from a free-kick 30 metres out, Hugo Almeida hit a thunderbolt that flew past Julio César into the top corner of the net. It was not until with 15 minutes remaining that Inter hit back. Porto captain Pedro Emanuel upended David Pizarro inside the penalty area and Cruz dispatched the resulting penalty with aplomb. He then added a second with an 82nd- minute header from Sinisa Mihajlović's corner to provide victory. • To date, Inter have played 44 matches in the UEFA Champions League winning 21, drawing 13 and losing ten with 66 goals scored and 51 conceded. • On Matchday 4, Inter scored their 400th goal in UEFA club competition. Overall, their record reads: played 266, won 131, drawn 72, lost 63 with 401 goals scored and 232 conceded. Team facts: Artmedia • Artmedia's first game in UEFA club competition came on 17 June 2001 in the UEFA Intertoto Cup first round against Lithuanian side FK Ekranas. Virginijus Baltushnikas opened the scoring after 19 minutes for Ekranas before Vladimír Kinder equalised from the penalty spot after 57 minutes. • Their best performance prior to this season came in qualifying for the first round of 2003/04 UEFA Cup before losing 32 on aggregate at the hands of FC Girondins de Bordeaux, with Marek Krejcí scoring in both legs for the Slovak side. • Artmedia won the Slovakian first league by seven points from MŠK Žilina. uefa.com 3/32 FC Internazionale Milano v FC Artmedia PRESS KIT • That earned them a place in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. But it was hardly a perfect start, as Artmedia went down 20 in Kazakhstan against FC Kairat Almaty. However, Artmedia bounced back in the return leg with a stunning 41 victory after extra time. They quickly cancelled out Kairat's 20 firstleg advantage with goals from Balázs Borbély (21) and Daniel Tchuř (52) only for Andrej Bogomolov's strike in the first minute of extratime to leave them needing to score twice due to the awaygoals rule. But Ján Kozák made it 33 from the penaltyspot after 94 minutes before substitute Pavol Staňo headed the winner in the dying seconds.