Bayern vs. Inter Preview | Champions League Final Free Pick

Champions League Soccer Predictions – SATURDAY MAY 22, 2010 – Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich

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FC Internazionale Milano and FC Bayern Munchen will do battle in the greatest club competition in Europe – the UEFA Champions League final to be played on May 22 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain.

Onto the week’s UEFA Champions League Final prediction for the week.

2:30 PM ET FOX:

Bayern vs. Inter Odds
Bayern Munich +195
Inter Milan +135
Draw +220

Bayern and Inter have met five previous times with the most recent encounter coming in the 2006-07 UEFA Champions League group stage, where Inter’s Patrick Vieira’s equalizer in added-time ended the match in a draw.

The Bayern side is seeking its fifth European crown while Inter is hoping to hoist the hardware for the first time in 45 years.

That hope will get some much–needed help from Dutch wizard Wesley Sneijder, who after wining Seri A crown last Sunday and the coppa Italia title a week later in Olimpico, Roma, now has his sights set on completing a unique treble by winning the Champions League on Saturday.

Bayern is also heading to Madrid looking for the treble after winning the Bundesliga crown and Germany cup a week ago. Winning the treble is a historical event, only two clubs have successfully completed the perfect treble, they were Manchester United and FC Barcelona. But now, one of these two teams will write their name into the history books as well.

Not to mention that If Bayern or Inter win it, they would be the first team of their country to win the treble.

It won’ be easy, as Sneijder and company will face a resilient Bayern side that have already eliminated two other Italian hopefuls-Juventus and ACF Fiorentina. However, the Germans didn’t make it look easy as Bayern’s UEFA Champions League campaign began rather rocky through the group stage, but steadily gained momentum heading into the semifinals.

After dispatching Juventus with a late goal, Louis van Gaal’s side met Fiorentina in the last-sixteen.

After winning the home leg 2-1, Bayern starred exit once again in the face down 3-1 before former-Chelsea Dutchman Arjen Robben netted the winning goal. Bayern seemingly met their match in powerhouse Manchester United. After winning the first leg 2-1, Inter trialed 3-0 in the second and decisive away leg before staging another stunning comeback on another late goal from Robben.

The semifinals, however, went rather smoothly for a team which had previously strived to make progression as tough as possible; beating Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 in France after a 1-0 win in Germany.

Much like their opponents, the road to the finals started out a bit bumpy for Inter, drawing their first three matches.

After squeaking out of the group stage, boss Jose Mourinho’s former club Chelsea awaited Inter. The Italians toppled the EPL champions with a 2-1 win at San Siro before etching out a hard-fought 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.

In the quarterfinals, the Nerazzurri would defeat Russia 1-0 in both legs setting up a battle with reigning champions FC Barcelona for the third and fourth time this season. After an impressive 3-1 victory in the first leg, Inter later produced one of their biggest aggregate victories in years, beating last year’s winners 3-2 on aggregate after a clinic from the Italians in defending.

So, who will reign supreme in Spain? The Germans led by the wily Van Gaal, or will it be Mourinho’s time to bask in the European glory for the second time in six years with the Italians?

Bayern has plenty of offense as Van Gaal has focused more on Bayern’s attacking attributes, using the forward talent of Ivica Olic, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben to his and Bayern’s advantage.

Bayern have built a successful Champions League bid upon the basis of ‘we’ll score more than you’. But their defense and midfield isn’t the strongest, leaving them vulnerable to Inter’s up front pairing of Samuel Eto and Diego Milito. Inter is also well organized at the back, and at times impenetrable, making Bayern’s job that much harder.

The Germans will be without winger Franck Ribery who is serving a three-game ban. The France international was shown a straight red card for fouling Lyon’s Lisandro Lopez in Munich last month.

Bayern will hope that Robben, can step into the role and help steer the side as he did on the latter stages of the tournament.

Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munich Free Pick:

With a better defense and a more potent attack, I expect Inter to win this game in regulation time, 2-1.

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Matt Martz is a sportswriter for the Bakersfield Californian located in Central California. “ Football (soccer) is a game in which a handful of fit men run around for one and a half hours watched by millions of people who could really use the exercise.”