Champions League: Nothing to Play For

By: Martha | December 12th, 2007

Step off, bitch. It’s going to be a nice, calm matchday for Inter and Roma, neither of whose place in their group can change: They’re both through to the knockout stages, Inter on top of Group G, and Roma very comfortably second in second in Group F.

Well, calmish: Roma are playing host to Manchester United, so that match, even with nothing at stake (and without the human lightning rod that is Cristiano Ronaldo), will be plenty fiery — just ask Luciano Spalletti. United have sent a very (very, very) youth-oriented team to Rome, and Spalletti’s squad is similarly young; one assumes a lot of the youngsters will get a look, given the insanely busy month Roma are facing.

The result doesn’t matter a bit on paper, but Roma would obviously like a win, both to get the taste of Livorno out of their mouths, and to prove once and for all that they can beat United, no matter which squad they send. RomaChris’ usual preview is up here, full of details, DDR love (it’s in the subtext), and just a touch of bitterness.

Inter, meanwhile, go into their match at PSV in a similar boat, both in terms of the meaninglessness of their final group match, and the packed calendar between now and the break, so they also will be looking to get some rest for key figures. That said, though, the Inter midfield (as I’ve mentioned a time or 20) remains decimated by injury, and though his knock is reportedly minor, Luis Jimenez will likely be added to the injured list for this match. The result is that, though Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti could certainly use the rest, both will probably at least make appearances today before possibly making way for some of the seven primavera players in Roberto Mancini’s squad for the match. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, however, will definitely gets some well-deserved rest, having cleverly picked up a yellow card against Fenerbahçe and earned a suspension (as did Walter Samuel), so PSV are likely to be one of few clubs to get a look at Hernan Crespo this season.

PSV, who suffered a painful 4-2 loss in the Eredivisie last weekend, will be without striker Danny Koevermans, who scored both their goals in that match, as well as defenders Jan Kromkamp and Manuel da Costa, but will nevertheless be throwing everything they have at Inter, needing three points and some help to go through to the knockout stages.