| Minute | Text commentary |
| 47' | Half time. Inter lead Rubin 1-0. In Kiev it's Dynamo Kiev 1-1 Barcelona. If it stays like this at the final whistle, we're in the last sixteen. |
| 47' | Maicon forces a reflex save from Ryzhikov with a sting shot from the edge of the box after some great attacking play by Eto'o. |
| 45' | Two minutes of stoppage time. |
| 45' | Sneijder's free kick is blocked by the Rubin wall. |
| 43' | More brilliance from the Inter captain. He surges past three players, eventually going down under a challenge from Cesar Navas, who is promptly booked by Pieter Vink. |
| 42' | Wesley Sneijder sends a thunderous shot just over the bar after a terrific run down the left by the inspirational Javier Zanetti. |
| 38' | Dominguez' right-wing cross is saved by Julio Cesar at the near post. |
| 36' | Thiago Motta floats upfield for Balotelli. Cesar Navas is first to the ball but Balotelli puts him under enough pressure to concede a corner. |
| 34' | More good news. Xavi has equalised for Barcelona in Kiev! |
| 31' | That was Eto'o's first goal for Inter in the Champions League. What a crucial goal it could turn out to be. |
| 31' | GOAL!!!!! Samuel Eto'o!!!!! Javier Zanetti muscles past two on the left-wing by-line and gets the ball to Balotelli who back-heels into the path of Eto'o and the Cameroonian rifles past Ryzhikov. INTER 1-0 RUBIN KAZAN. |
| 28' | Murawski gets a yellow card for a horrendous sliding tackle on Wesley Sneijder. |
| 27' | Julio Cesar makes an easy save from a weak free kick taken by Dominguez. |
| 24' | Murawski receives just inside our area and has a spectacular effort blocked. |
| 23' | If San Siro is on our side, Kurban Berdyev has a saint of his own to pray to. The Rubin coach has some rosary beads firmly in his grasp. |
| 21' | Eto'o serves Sneijder in the box after the ball spins off referee Pieter Vink, but Rubin regroup and win the ball back. |
| 18' | Julio Cesar makes a fine one-handed save from Karadeniz as Rubin have their first attempt on goal. Corner to the Russians. |
| 17' | Dejan is okay to continue and play resumes inside the Giuseppe Meazza. |
| 16' | More injury problems as Stankovic hurts himself. It looks like the Serbian will be able to continue though. San Siro, where are you? |
| 15' | Samuel is substituted by Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, who hasn't even had time to warm up. |
| 14' | Mourinho is forced into an early change as Walter Samuel has pulled up with a thigh problem. Play is halted as we wait for a stretcher. |
| 14' | Stankovic releases Balotelli with a great ball upfield and the Italian takes on two players before going down just outside the area. |
| 10' | Samuel Eto'o plays into space and runs at the ball, forcing Cesar Navas to act quickly and play back to his keeper. |
| 8' | Mario Balotelli produces the game's first shot on target. He collects from Thiago Motta with his back to goal and turns before testing Ryzhikov with a fierce right-footer. |
| 7' | Maicon wins the ball in the Rubin half and swings a cross over to Milito. Salukvadze intercepts and concedes a corner. Nothing comes of it as the Russians clear. |
| 5' | Maicon looks for openings down the right but Kaleshin sticks to the Brazilian like an urchin and makes the tackle. |
| 4' | Inter come charging forward and Sneijder looks for Milito but the Dutch midfielder's pass is intercepted. |
| 2' | Nothing much to report about here so far, but Dynamo have taken the lead against Barcelona in Kiev, Milevskiy scoring for Gazzaev's men. |
| 1' | It's simple. Win and we're through. Draw 0-0 and we qualify on head-to-head record if Barcelona win or draw against Dynamo. Draw 1-1 and we progress on goals scored if the Champions League holders escape defeat in Kiev. Ciao and welcome to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza for live coverage of tonight's decisive Group F match. |
| 1' | Russian champions Rubin, who haven't played a competitive match since 24 November, kick off against Inter. FORZA NERAZZURRI! |
| 1' | Rubin Kazan: 77 Ryzhikov; 9 Salukvadze, 24 Popov, 4 Cesar Navas, 19 Kaleshin; 15 Ryazantsev, 16 Noboa, 7 Semak, 42 Murawski; 61 Karadeniz; 10 Dominguez. 
<br>Subs: 29 Revishvili, 3 Ansaldi, 5 Bystrov, 6 Sibaya, 23 Balyaykin, 32 Gorbanets, 88 Kasaev. |
| 1' | Inter: 12 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 25 Samuel, 4 Zanetti; 5 Stankovic, 8 Thiago Motta; 45 Balotelli, 10 Sneijder, 9 Eto'o; 22 Milito. <br>Subs: 1 Toldo, 2 Cordoba, 11 Muntari, 14 Vieira, 18 Suazo, 19 Cambiasso, 23 Materazzi. |
| 1' | Back to the Champions League and we have the lineups for tonight's decisive clash. And they make interesting reading. José Mourinho challenged the press to read his mind in yesterday's news conference, and none of Italy's three sports dailies have correctly guessed his lineup. The Portuguese has opted for an innovative 4-2-3-1 formation, with Milito the lone striker in front of Balotelli, Sneijder and Eto'o, and Stankovic and Thiago Motta providing cover for the defence. |
| 1' | The first of those seven San Siro Day victories was a 3-1 win against Lazio in 1928 when we were known as Ambrosiana, the most recent being a 4-0 victory over Torino two seasons ago. In between, the Nerazzurri racked up wins against Novara (3-1), Spal (3-2), Torino (1-0), Perugia (3-2) and Strasbourg (3-0). |
| 1' | Three good omens: 1) When Wesley Sneijder plays, Inter don't lose - with the Dutchman on the pitch the Nerazzurri have won eight games and drawn three. 2) We have never lost at home to Russian opponents, having recorded five wins and a draw in six matches. 3) In their long history Inter have played seven home matches on Saint Syrus (San Siro) Memorial Day, which falls on 9 December, and have won every time. |
| Minute | Text commentary |
| 48' | We're home and dry! Inter beat Rubin Kazan 2-0 and qualify for the last sixteen of the Champions League as runners up in Group F. |
| 47' | Eto'o has a free kick parried by Ryzhikov as the Cameroonian tries to rub the salt in. |
| 46' | Milito dribbles two players in the box but the tiredness shows and he can't get a shot in. |
| 45' | Three minutes more to go. |
| 45' | Ryzhikov smothers the ball to deny the onrushing Sulley Muntari, who is flagged offside. |
| 44' | Kasaev tries to walk through the entire defence but there's no way past Julio Cesar, who makes a save from Semak moments after. |
| 43' | Lionel Messi has put Barcelona 2-1 up against Dynamo Kiev. |
| 39' | Rubin's last change sees Balyaykin come on for Ryazantsev. |
| 36' | Berdyev makes his second switch. Bystrov on, Noboa off. |
| 32' | Substitution number three for Inter. Balotelli is replaced by Sulley Muntari. |
| 30' | The Russians counter-attack but Kasaev and Murawski fail to capitalise. |
| 28' | Rubin Kazan make their first change. Kasaev comes on for Karadeniz. |
| 28' | Wesley Sneijder shoots against the post after an Inter attack involving Balotelli and Milito. |
| 26' | Semak twists and turns on the edge of the area before finding in space Noboa, who fires a weak shot wide. |
| 23' | Lucio is booked for foul play. |
| 21' | Balotelli steals in at the far post to slide wide Milito's inch-perfect left-wing cross. |
| 19' | GOAL!!!! What an amazing goal from Mario Balotelli. The young Italian almost pierces the net with a drilled 35-yard free kick that gives Ryzhikov no chance. INTER 2-0 RUBIN KAZAN. |
| 17' | Dominguez floats a 35-yard free kick into the box, finding the head of Maicon. Seconds later, the Argentine forces a tremendous save from Julio Cesar with a diagonal snapshot. |
| 16' | Another chance for Inter as Balotelli sends wide a low angled shot from 10 yards out. |
| 14' | Milito serves Cambiasso who takes one touch of the ball and tests Ryzhikov with a left-footed shot. |
| 13' | Balotelli creates space for a long-distance shot but his effort goes way over the bar. |
| 11' | Brilliant interception by Cordoba. At full stretch, the Colombian beats Ryazantsev to Noboa's dangerous through ball. |
| 9' | Noboa wastes a chance for the visitors from a corner, miscuing his shot at the far post. |
| 8' | Inter make their second substitution as Dejan Stankovic comes off injured. On comes Esteban Cambiasso. |
| 7' | Julio Cesar does well to beat Karadeniz to a tricky cross into the box and he palms it to safety. Moments later Dominguez creates havoc in the area but not enough to create a scoring chance. |
| 5' | Rubin win two corners in quick succession. The second one is played directly to Karadeniz on the edge of the box and the Turkish midfielder blasts wide. |
| 1' | Inter get the second half under way. FORZA RAGAZZI!!! |
| 1' | Balotelli is yellow-carded for a foul from behind on Noboa after losing the ball in attack. |