"Whatever happens, Istanbul, May 2005. Thanks Liverpool."

So said the banner on the curva and there was mutual applause from both sets of fans at the end of the match. We gave the Inter Ultras one of their best ever nights when we beat AC Milan in the final three years back. The performance last night wasn't up their with that epic night but it was a sign that our team is as good as any in Europe over two legs. With Rafa pulling the strings and the likes of Reina, Carra, Gerrard and Torres in the side, I don't see any reason why we can't get to a third final in four years.

1-0 was the score on the night and was a fair enough result. Inter had some reasonable chances in the first half but our defence led by Carra (100 euro appearances) and Sami put them under pressure and didn't give them a second. When they did get a shot off, Pepe was able to make a save like he did from a Cruz effort. Zlatan had some clever approach play but left his shooting boots behind and didn't get an effort on target.

Mascherano was superb again in midfield. He was up against two formidable opponents in Cambiasso and the excellent Zanetti, and an over the hill one in Viera. Ably assisted by Lucas, who was efficient without being spectacular, and Gerrard, they had problems initially but exerted more control as the match went on.

Up front, Babel and Kyt worked hard but neither were great here. Torres was good and a threat on the break which kept their defence honest. When the goal did come it was worth waiting for. Great stuff from the unstoppable Nino.

It got easier once Burdisso was sent off for his second yellow. When we scored, Inter's collective head's dropped. Mancini wasn't happy and was waving imaginary cards in the air. It's common to see this from continental players but not from managers.

Our win has prompted Mancini to quit his post at Inter come the end of the season. Jose for the next inter manager?

Alonso stayed behind for the birth of his child. Some of the tabloids said that Rafa now wants rid of him but the boss denied this. I read online a few months back that Xabi wants to leave for Spain to raise their child there. I'd be sad to see him leave but that's a lifestyle choice for him and his family which is totally fair enough.

Henry Winter in the Telgraph says something that I myself thought last night. I was planning to say in this post that Mascherano was like a younger, livelier, Argentine version of Marshal Pétain with his "Ils ne passeront pas" attitude. Damn those professional journalist with their deadlines, beating me to it.

There is a great blog post on Setanta that should be made required reading for Gray, Redknapp, Keys and the rest of the goons on Sky. The crucial point here is that Torres has only been rested for two league games where he was fit. Gray doesn't let this get in the way of a cheap dig and last night said that Rafa "rests Torres 'time and again'". Ronaldo has been rest/rotated for three Utd matches this year, one of which was a defeat to Fulham. Why doesn't Gray go on about that?

Daniel Taylor has a good article on the match in the guardian. One paragraph in particular stood out for me.

"The thing about Torres is that he can make opponents feel old and spectators feel young, and this was another sublime goal to add to his collection. The best players rise to the occasion, something that is frequently used as a stick to beat Cristiano Ronaldo, an attacker of sublime talent yet one who has seldom illuminated the Champions League on Manchester United's foreign excursions."

There is only one Zlatan apparently. I don't think that he showed up last night when needed. Still a good player though.

It's Reading's turn to visit Anfield this Saturday at 3. I know that we're in good form at the moment so we should be able to do it, especially as we owe them one from when they beat us 3-1 back in December. We really need to make the most of this given that our next three games are Utd, Everton and Arsenal. Let's make hay while the sun shines.

Two players that we've recently been linked to from la liga are Arango and Trejo from Real Mallorca. Samir Nasri, a player we've been linked to in the past, has only 18 months left on his contract according to this report. Does that mean we'll put in a cheap bid in the summer?

Bore draw

The Villa game on Sunday was one of the worst games that I've seen in a long time. I feel sorry for anyone who had to sit through it. Reina had nothing to do and the only real save that Sorensen had to make was from Fowler's header at the end. Our defence had nothing to do but our attack was incapable of getting through Villa's five man midfield. As has happened a lot of times this season, we've struggled to break down a team with a deep defence and a massed midfield. Xabi coming on earlier might have helped if he could have played a ball in behind for Bellamy. But the Villa defence were sitting so deep that there wasn't too much space in behind. As I've said in previous posts, we lack the top quality wingers needed to break down a massed defence. I'm hoping that we buy a top class winger this summer, preferably for the left so that we can stretch the play and make the difference in tight matches like this. Luckily for us, Everton managed to beat Arsenal so we gained ground on them in third and there is only one point in it now even though they have a game in hand. At this stage I would imagine that they will probably finish thrid as it means more to them. Their season is over while we still have the champions league to play for.

I head Andy Gray was bleating on about Gerrard playing in the centre again on Sky the other night. Gerrard hasn't been as good this season as last year, no matter where he has played. I didn't hear Andy complaining last season when Gerrard scored 23 goals, mainly from the right.

No game until Arsenal visit Anfield on the 31st. I hope that our attacking play has improved by then. Remember that you can send me on any spare tickets that you might have for this match as I'm going over and I need two.

Well done on the youth team who beat Newcastle 3-1 in the second leg to go through 7-3 on aggregate to the FA youth cup final. They will play either Utd or Arsenal in it. It would be a great achievement for them to retain the trophy.

There has been a lot of talk this past week about extending the capacity of the new Stanley Park stadium. The original plan was for a 61k seater stadium but this is now under review and we could end up with of 70k or more. I'm not that surprised by it considering that we have around 56k fans on our season ticket waiting list. I hope that it does mean that it will be easier to get hold of tickets as it's currently very difficult to get tickets if you are going over on a day trip.