Militos to leave brotherly love aside for a week (News Feature)

By Duncan Shaw Apr 19, 2010, 8:39 GMT

Madrid - Much of the focus ahead of Tuesday's Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona has been on Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan ibrahimovic.

Eto'o is determimed to prove Barca coach Josep Guardiola wrong for having swapped him for Ibrahimovic last summer, after he had won everything at the Camp Nou.

Ibrahimovic, for his part, is keen to show San Siro his qualities, though the muscle tear that has kept him out of action for two weeks will probably keep him on the bench on Tuesday.

However, the semi-final between Italian and Spanish champions also throws up another fascinating battle: between Milito brothers Diego and Gabriel.

Rarely before in the Champions League have two brothers been in direct conflict.

Diego Milito, 30, will be leading the Inter attack, along with Eto'o, whilst the fit-again Gabriel Milito, 29, will, in all probability, be at the heart of the Barca defence.

Diego Milito said on Sunday that 'it will be strange to be playing again Gabi...But I hope to give him a difficult match, and to score a couple of goals.'

Diego Milito's goals have been important in Inter's progress towards the semi-finals, and he has struck up a strong partnership with Eto'o.

Many Inter fans thought that coach Jose Mourinho would, this season, choose between Eto'o and Milito as centre-forward. Instead, he has fielded the two centre-forwards alongside each other - to good effect.

Diego Milito has scored 33 goals for Inter in all competitions this season, after signing from Genoa in July 2008, just before Eto'o controversially arrived from Barca.

Gabriel Milito, for his part, said on Sunday that 'my job will be to keep Diego and Eto'o under control. Sentiment will not come into it, I have a difficult job to do.'

The statement came before getting onto the Barca coach. The Catalans had had no choice but to drive all the way to Lombardy because both of Milan's airports are closed, due to the volcanic ash that has spewed out of Iceland in the past week.

Just six months ago many fans feared that Gabriel Milito's career was practically over.

He tore the ligaments in his right knee in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Manchester United in May 2008, and his recovery was a torturous process.

He did not reappear for Barca until January 2010, but quickly recovered the poise, positional sense and presence that have made him one of the top defenders of the decade.

It will not be the first time that the Argentine brothers have faced each other. They did so on several occasions from 1999 to 2003, when Diego Milito was a young striker for Racing Club and Gabriel Milito a greenhorn defender for Avellaneda rivals Independiente.

Their father, Jorge Milito, recalled last week that 'they had a few really hard battles against each other in those days, and that is what will happen again next week.

'They don't hold back at all when they face each other.'

Diego Milito was signed by Genoa in 2003, Gabriel Milito went to Zaragoza - after being controversially rejceted by Real Madrid because of suspected problems in his right knee.

The two brothers were together at Zaragoza from 2005 to 2007.

'It was great when we were playing together for a couple of years,' said Diego Milito, 'but then we again had too separate.'

Diego Milito went back to Genoa after his spell in La Liga, Gabriel Milito was signed by Barca in 2007.

Father Jorge said last week that 'my dream is to see them playing together, for the Argentine national team, not against each other.'