A few weeks ago Jose Mourinho issued a warning to his replacement at Inter Milan, Rafael Benitez.
In an interview, Mourinho explained that “one thing is certain, Benitez won’t do better than me.” Whilst there was little to dispute this, given the historic treble victory enjoyed by Inter last year, confidence still remained high of otherwise in the blue half of Milan.
After all, they had hired Mourinho to bring them the Champions League and in owner Massimo Moratti’s own word’s Benitez had “defeated Mourinho five times in the past,” marking him out as the Special One’s equal.
Once the football started though, Moratti may have feared the worst. A lacklustre defeat in the European Supercup was followed up by a 0-0 draw at Bologna in an underwhelming start to their title defence.
However it appears that things have started to turn in Benitez’s favour, in much the same way that it did for Mourinho. This was down to the two factors that have shaped Serie A for nearly half a decade. Inter Milan’s proven consistency over the course of a season and their rivals complete lack of.
AC Milan, who two weeks ago enjoyed a 4-0 home victory over mid table Lecce, faced an away trip to newly promoted Cesena. In the fortnight since their last game, Milan had brought in Robinho and former Inter hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The moves were slightly confusing, given the apparent attacking prowess of Milan demonstrated in the previous weeks results. However with the pair adding yet more glamour to the Milan squad and Ibrahimovic promising at least 25 goals over the season what could go wrong?
On the basis of Saturday’s game, it would appear that plenty could. Milan endured a frustrating evening with Brazilian Alexandre Pato having two goals disallowed.
In truth Cesena, accounted well for themselves and were 2 – 0 up before half time thanks to goals from Albanian journeyman Erjon Bogdani and Emanuele Giaccherni. Late in the game, things got even worse for Milan, with Ibrahimovic stepping up in the 87th minute to take a penalty. Depressingly, the Swede saw his kick hit the post and his team's hopes fade with them.
Elsewhere, Inter’s closest rivals of recent years, Roma, suffered a humiliating 5-1 loss away to Cagliari. Ironically it was the work of former Roma legend Bruno Conti’s son, Daniele Conti that did the damage.
Conti opened the scoring in the 8th minute, but Roma equalised 10 minutes later through Daniele De Rossi. The game's turning point came in the 22nd minute, as Nicholas Burdisso brought down Conti inside the area.
It was a straight red card and a penalty, which Alessandro Matri promptly dispatched. From there, Roma fell apart with Robert Acquafresca adding a third before half time and Matri securing a brace at the start of the second period. With just three minutes remaining, Andrea Lazzarri scored to complete the rout.
Inter, meanwhile, kicked off their campaign at home with a solid, if unconvincing 2-1 win against Udinese.
Lucio had put the champions ahead in the 6th minute before Udinese levelled through Floro Flores just after half an hour. It was with a bit of luck that Inter re-took the lead in the second half. Having been awarded a penalty, Eto’o saw his spot kick saved. Fortunately, he was able to reach the loose ball first and fire it home in the 67th minute.
And while it remains early days in the season, Chievo have made the brightest start, currently lying top of the table with the only 100% record left on show. Sunday’s 3-1 away win away at Genoa was particularly pleasing for the fans, considering Genoa went ahead after just six minutes. It took a Mascardelli equaliser on the stroke of half time, followed by goals from Michele Marcolini and Sergio Pellissier to earn the points.
Lazio also recorded a 3-1 victory against Bologna, giving the Biancocelesti their first win of the season. Goals from Stefano Mauri and Tommaso Rocchi gave them a two goal cushion before former Lazio player Gaby Mudingayi pulled one back for the visitors with 12 minutes to go. With seconds remaining Lazio’s Hernanes converted a penalty, to cap the win.
Elsewhere there were surprises a plenty, as Lecce won 1-0 over a dominant Fiorentina team, courtesy of an early David Di Michelle goal. Despite heavy pressure and a dubious offside call against Per Kroldrup, the Viola could find no way past keeper Antonio Rosati.
Brescia produced a fighting display to see off a traditionally superior Palermo team. They were in front early on through Simone Dallamano before Palermo’s Argentine Javier Pastore equalised. However, parity did not last long, with Citadin Eder putting Brescia back in front in the 28th minute. Andrea Caracciolo added a third from the spot before half time. With seven minutes of the game remaining Federico Balzaretti pulled a goal back for the Rosanero but it proved too little.
Catania also defeated the up and coming Parma, via two penalties and despite a late goal from Juventus loanee Sebastian Giovinco.
Further south, the enigmatic Napoli drew 2-2 with Bari in what proved to be a disappointing result for the Naples club considering that Paolo Cannavaro had scored with just three minutes to go only to see Bari equalise a minute later.
And with Benitez and Inter no doubt watching on, Juventus endured a frustrating evening in Turin against a determined Sampdoria. Juventus fell behind to a Nicola Pozzi goal on 36 minutes, but managed to equalize through Claudio Marchisio just prior to the break.
The second half was a tale of two Juventus goals and two Sampdoria equalisers. As first, Antonio Cassano cancelled out Simone Pepe’s strike and then Pozzi popped up again to cancel out a goal from Fabio Quagliarella.
On the basis of this weekend alone, while Benitez may not surpass the work of Mourinho in Europe last season, his chances on the domestic front could be even “better” than Mourinho’s.