Pain Language

Despite The Sun claiming that, "many observers feel Jose Mourinho’s men cannot be as bad again and believe the holders may have blown their best chance," most of the papers today put us as favourites to go through in the second leg against Inter, with general opinion that we are simply better than them. The fact that we did it to Barcelona last season, a team far better than this Inter side should be indication enough, the stats seem to be with us as well: out of the 20 Champions League games to be 0-0 going into the 2nd leg, 13 have been won by the team playing at home 2nd.
Ian Ladyman in The Mail puts it most concisely:

United have a psychological edge after Tuesday. They are at home. They have better players. They are clear, clear favourites.

The Guardian have two articles, one, taking the optimistic side, the other, on their Blog, taking the pessimistic:

Inter might have looked liked humdrum opponents but Old Trafford is facing a more difficult evening than was probably necessary, and their opponents will take encouragement from having accumulated 26 away goals this season compared to 18 at home. One away goal on 11 March could do untold damage given that, in Ferguson's 13 managerial contests with Jose Mourinho, United have never scored twice.

The optimistic side is more convincing however:

Manchester United's DNA means the club will always seek glory in performance and players. Yet a determined and quiet revolution staged by Sir Alex Ferguson, a manager whose lifeblood is winning, seems to have added a permanent tweak to Old Trafford's dominant gene.

At a raucous San Siro on Tuesday United controlled imposing opponents yet could not score. In previous seasons where the campaign for the Champions League has foundered in tight knockout ties against European giants with chess-like instincts, this failure to end Internazionale's hopes at the first attempt might have caused concern. However, the United players speaking directly afterwards all sounded supremely confident that they will glide through to the quarter-finals. Each of them, when reflecting on a satisfying evening, was relaxed and at ease, suggesting this is a squad playing with the simple rhythms of a freshly acquired maturity, as their manager repeatedly suggested before, during and after the match.

The defending European champions departed Milan leaving no doubt who were the superior side

Kevin Garside in The Telegraph argues that the performance could help in convincing Ronaldo that his future lies with Man Utd:

Ronaldo was at the epicentre of a performance that underlined the shift in power and authority from the continent to the Premier League. Jose Mourinho outlined a vision that saw neither the technical mastery of the English champions on a macro level nor Ronaldo's domination in his micro duel with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The merits of the Fifa World Player of the Year need little amplification outside Mourinho's office. But to those who argue that Ronaldo's best work has not always been seen on European fields, the evidence of Tuesday night puts the boot into their position.

When Sir Alex Ferguson met him last summer to put the case for his return to Manchester, the future he outlined embraced occasions such as these, when a young team with him at the hub would bestride the great stadiums of Europe and boss the show.

The joy of six goals experienced by Madrid against Real Betis last week would not sustain him long if Madrid were coming second in Europe to the team he left behind. The evidence before the Italian court on Tuesday points to a greater rate of plunder at Old Trafford by a team maturing into perhaps the best of all Ferguson's creations.

And Ronaldo's comments after the game seem to suggest that he is coming round to that way of thinking:

"We played nice football and showed we are a great team. If we play like that in Manchester I think we win. I'm very proud. The lads played brilliant, like a real team. The only bad thing is we didn't score, but that is football. We respect them but in my opinion we have a better chance at Old Trafford because we have a better team."

Oliver Kay in The Times follows this quote from Ronaldo with a comment praising the performance of our team:

That was a verdict that was hard not to reach at the San Siro on Tuesday night as Ronaldo alone tested Júlio César, the Inter goalkeeper, on four occasions. It was arguably Ronaldo's most impressive all-round performance on a big stage away from home in the Champions League, but he was only one of many United players who rose to the occasion, with plaudits also going the way of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, the often unheralded Park Ji Sung and Jonny Evans, the 21-year-old Northern Ireland defender who did not put a foot wrong as he stood in for Nemanja Vidic.

Sam Wallace in The Independent looks at the Italian papers' view of the game and how they caught Mourinho contradicting himself:

Few of the major newspapers in Italy were arguing when Ronaldo said: "We played better than Inter last night. We created more chances, especially in the first half, and we deserved to win. At home I feel we have a better chance. I don't know whether Inter will be a better team in Manchester. We respect them but in my opinion we have a better chance at Old Trafford because we have a better team."

Mourinho was accused of changing his story to fit the way the game had panned out. In his post match interview on Sky Italia, he said that the pace of United had pinned Inter back despite their best attempts. But in his subsequent press conference for newspapers he claimed that it was him who had expressly told his team to sit back despite his pre-match stated intention that Inter would attack.

This article in The Mail has the best round up of Mourinho's comments. The Sun has some brief comments from Evra:

“It’s a bit frustrating because we had a lot of opportunities to score — particularly in the first half.

“But overall, we played very well. Now we are at home and we have to win — and I think that we have the power to do that.”

And The Daily Star have quotes from Jonny Evans who played the game with pain-killing injections and would like to do the same on Sunday, now there's dedication to the cause:

“Missing the final isn’t nice to think about,” said Evans, who ignored the throbbing in his ankle to blunt Inter Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday.

“The manager has tried to tell me if I miss it, it’s no big thing. But, hopefully, the manager will allow me to have a few more injections.

“My chances are a bit the same as Tuesday night. I am just trying to scrape through each game.

“Tuesday was more important because there weren’t many other options, so I was forced to play. I don’t think that will be the case on Sunday.”

He also sums up his approach to defending and makes it sound pretty easy:

“People talk about experience, but it’s not vital as long as your concentration is good and you do the basics right – and don’t get carried away on the ball and try to beat people at the back.”