Last updated: 22nd February 2009

Inter Milan defender Walter Samuel looks set to miss next week's UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester United through injury.

Argentine ace Samuel missed Saturday's 2-1 win over Bologna with a calf problem.

Scans have shown Samuel has suffered a relapse of an old injury and it is almost certain he will miss the visit of United on Tuesday.

It means Inter boss Jose Mourinho is left with Ivan Cordoba, Cristian Chivu and Nicolas Burdisso to choose from for his centre back pairing.

Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has turned down the chance of taking charge of the Norway national side.

Solskjaer's homeland came calling as they looked to find a replacement for Age Hareide and they wanted the United reserve team boss.

But the legendary striker insists he is not yet finished his education at United and he decided against leaving Old Trafford.

"I did not think it was the right time for me to say yes to the offer. But of course it was nice to be asked. I work for Manchester United and my career is going in the right direction," Solskjaer told the Daily Mail.

"It would have been exciting to take on a much bigger job than my current job, but I have a job at United."

Veteran Egil Olsen is currently in charge of Norway in a caretaker capacity and he is favourite to take on the role on a full-time basis.

Inter Milan chief Jose Mourinho wants to take advantage of the fact that Nemanja Vidic will be missing from this week's clash with Manchester United.

The European champions travel to Milan this week to tackle Mourinho's men, and they will have to do it without Vidic - who many predict will be Player of the Year in England this season.

Vidic is suspended and Mourinho wants to take advantage, although he still feels that the Serbian should have been suspended for longer after his red card in the World Club championship final in December.

"I think Nemanja Vidic should be suspended for both legs, not just this week's game," Mourinho said in his Daily Telegraph column.

"We will certainly try to make things uncomfortable for the United defence without him at the San Siro.

"We have almost the whole squad fit and with the support of our fans and the experience of our players we can make this very, very tough for United.

"It will not be an open game - we want it to be tight and tactical. So the strikers will not have time and room to work in. That makes it important for us that Zlatan Ibrahimovic produces his very top performance."

Mourinho has already tasted Champions League glory at Porto - although it eluded him at Chelsea, but he is hopeful he can achieve the feat again with the Nerazzurri.

"To win the Champions League with Inter would a great thing," he said.

"This club have not won the trophy since 1965 and that is far too long for a club of this size, with this support.

"Now the challenge is to bring the trophy back to Milan. But first we must defeat the champions."

Ibrahimovic

And Mourinho thinks the key to success will be Ibrahimovic - who he maintains is as good as any player in the world.

"For me he is one of the best players in the world. He has had a very good season with Inter so far and I think we are bringing the best out of a player who needs to have the success to match his talent," he said.

"United have had a great defensive record this season, for sure. But they have not had to deal with Ibrahimovic.

"When players are with me, I always say that my players are the best: this is the way I work. When I was at Porto I always said Deco was the best player in the world.

"When I was at Chelsea I said John Terry was the best central defender in the world, Didier Drogba the best striker and Frank Lampard the best midfield player.

"I don't think Ibrahimovic had reached the right level for his ability before we arrived here. Now, I think he is getting close to what he should be. I think we have improved him a lot. He is scoring more goals, 14 in 24 league games.

"He is more objective driven. His work in the defensive phase has improved incredibly. And the great thing with him is the idea of a player not being able to play every game is completely out.

"He is playing absolutely every game in a fantastic physical condition. I think he's already a very different player and there is more to come."

United's assistant manager Mike Phelan is looking forward to resuming Champions League action against a team he feels is one of the best in Europe.

Since ending the group stage with a 2-2 draw at home to Aalborg in December, the European champions have lost just one of 16 games in all competitions.

With United top of the Premier League and still involved in both domestic cups, confidence couldn't be higher going into Tuesday's Round of 16 first-leg clash with Italian champions Inter Milan at the San Siro.

"The return to European football comes at a nice time for us," Phelan told ManUtd.com. "We’ve had a successful spell of cup and Premier League football, and now we kick on to the big-time European stage.

"We’ve been pitted against one of the top clubs in Europe with a manager who has a great track record, so the challenge is there for both teams."

Inter boss Jose Mourinho knows all about United from his time in charge of Porto and Chelsea, adding spice to what is already shaping up to be an absorbing tie.

"Jose Mourinho has experience of Premier League football and winning the title," Phelan added.

"He’s a European Cup-winning manager so he knows what it is all about. And it’ll be nice to see the contrasting styles of football, the different passions from the fans.

"It’s an intriguing game and tactically it’ll be different to what we’re used to in the league.

"But our players won’t be fazed by the occasion, that’s for sure. There will be 80,000 fans watching in Milan and it’ll be a full house at home, so it has the makings of a great tie."

Internazionale striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic feels the Serie A champions are in good enough form to overcome United in the Champions League.

Sir Alex Ferguson's cup holders visit the San Siro for a second round, first leg clash on Tuesday evening, and the sides will reconvene at Old Trafford 15 days later.

United could hardly have had a tougher draw in the last 16 and, having moved nine points clear at the head of Italy's top flight with victory in the Milan derby last weekend, Swedish star Ibrahimovic simply said: "If we play like this we will beat United."

Inter, who beat Bologna 2-1 on Saturday to maintain their advantage in the race for the Scudetto, won back-to-back Serie A titles under Roberto Mancini, but Ibrahimovic feels the influence of new boss Jose Mourinho is proving telling when it comes to important matches.

"He has changed our mentality a little bit," said the striker.

"We were good when he came but he’s teaching us something new. We have become stronger and better and are hungry for the big games."

Cristiano Ronaldo, rightly crowned the finest footballer on the planet, still has his best form to come this season. This is not only the view of former Reds forward Lou Macari, but also a terrifying prospect for opposition defenders.

The pressure is always on at Old Trafford, and doubly so for the man who picked up the FIFA World Player of the Year award and France Football magazine's prestigious Ballon D'Or in December. This means that for a player who's scored 42 goals en route to helping United secure a Premier League and Champions League double, the queue of doubters predicting it won’t – simply can’t – be done again will be as long as your line of admirers.

A repeat of last season’s astonishing goals tally may not be on the cards, but Ronaldo’s input to the current campaign should be judged in isolation, not in the context of previous years. And Macari is a firm believer that the Portuguese winger, who fired a stunning winner against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, will have a very big say in shaping what the Reds achieve this season.

“Without a doubt his best form is yet to come,” Macari told United Review. “He hasn’t been firing the way he did last season, but that’s understandable. He didn’t have the best start to the season because he missed much of pre-season after the European Championships and, of course, there was the speculation about his future.

“If you’re the best player in the world, the focus is on you. You don’t escape attention, on or off the field. People expected last season’s high standards every single week. But that’s easier said than done. We’re no longer talking about one of United’s best players, he’s the World Player of the Year. And that tag brings closer attention from defenders, more than ever before. You saw against West Ham that he had two or three players around him all the time."

Lou adds: "But Ronaldo likes a challenge, so he’ll be up for it. There are lots of games to come before the end of the season, and as those games become more and more important, Ronaldo will step up to that challenge. The bigger the occasion, the more he’ll want to show why he’s the World Player of the Year.”

As we enter the most crucial stages of the season, Macari feels that Cristiano’s ability to score goals that decide games will come to the fore.

“He has a habit of scoring crucial goals which invariably turn out to be match-winners for the team," says Lou. "And I'm sure there’ll be plenty more of those to come this season.”