Decade-old Mourinho meeting driving Milos Ninkovic’s ACL campaign
Sydney FC superstar Milos Ninkovic is still smarting at how close he came to putting one over Jose Mourinho, because it left a gap on his CV that he still wants to fill.
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Milos Ninkovic is still smarting at how close he came to putting one over Jose Mourinho, because it left a gap on his CV that he still wants to fill.
Ninkovic is one of a select group to have played multiple champions league campaigns in both Europe and Asia, and he knows only too well how hard it is to make progress in either competition.
As Sydney FC prepare for their latest Asian mission, Ninkovic would love a continental cup run to add to the league titles and cups won in three countries already.
Nine years ago it was Mourinho’s smash and grab raid which killed that dream, in the year Ninkovic believes was his best chance of going on a European run beyond the group stages.
It’s why the travel and logistical stress of competing across Asia isn’t a concern, with Ninkovic determined to enjoy an extended run despite being in what he brands the toughest group of this year’s ACL.
“Champions League is something different, you play against the best players and the best teams,” he said. “When I played at Dinamo Kiev I played against some of the best players in Europe — now I have the same chance in Asia, a great experience for me.
“To get well into the knockout rounds would be something special. I had that opportunity in 2009-10 with Dinamo Kiev, the year when Inter Milan won the Champions League.
“We were in the same group as them, with Barcelona and Rubin Kazan. We drew away against Inter in Milan, and at home we were up 1-0 for almost the whole game.
“But they scored twice in the last five minutes and so they went through (from the group), not us. And at the end they won the trophy.”
No wonder Mourinho celebrated so hard that night, when goals from Diego Milito and Wesley Schneijder in the final moments turned the group on its head. Had Kiev held on, it would have been them heading to a Round of 16 tie with Chelsea.
“That was probably the best opportunity to go through,” said Ninkovic. “It's so hard in the European Champions League, you're playing teams like that.”
In 2016, Ninkovic had another bitter moment when Sydney FC were knocked out of the Round of 16 of the ACL by Shandong Lueng thanks to a freak last-minute goal that still rankles.
“Three years ago we got through the group and against Shandong we were a little bit unlucky,” Ninkovic said.
“This year I think we have the hardest group in the ACL — none of them are easy, but ours is very, very tough. But I'm looking forward to playing the best teams, the best players.
“The travel is not easy but we're used to it. This week we play against Ulsan and we have no A-League game at the weekend, so the travelling is not as hard.
“We've done it before, I don't think it will be a big problem for us.”
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