Jose Mourinho works hard on delivering his clever lines, even harder since he arrived in Italy and set about trying, week after week, to pique his rival coaches and managers in Serie A. But Mourinho did not invent these tricks. Sir Alex Ferguson had mastered them with more subtlety well before Mourinho had a platform. “When Italians tell me it’s pasta, I check under the sauce,” Ferguson once said of an entire nation. “They are masters of the smokescreen.”

Those who remember how gleefully we reporters laughed along with the Manchester United manager when he uttered those words will recall the context — United versus Internazionale in a Champions League quarter-final — and then the po-faced response of Uefa, which ticked Ferguson off. It happened when United were on their way to winning the Champions League for the first time under him and Inter started as marginal favourites. They will meet in February with United as European Cup- holders and, barring a dramatic slump, as the bookmakers’ choice. Ferguson may avoid culinary rhetoric but he will need to prod this dish carefully, so to speak, to check whether it’s tagliatelle, ravioli or penne. Mourinho’s Inter serve up all sorts: good and bad.

Inter are Serie A’s best team and have been for at least two years. They hold a nine-point advantage at the top of the table after last night’s 2-1 victory away to Siena. From there, they ought to claim a fourth successive scudetto. Two of them arrived on Roberto Mancini’s watch and the third because Juventus and AC Milan — who finished first and second in 2005-6 — were disqualified for excessive cosying-up to match officials. Yet in the Champions League Inter were conspicuously Italy’s poorest qualifiers from the group stage. Roma and Juventus topped their groups, while Inter allowed Panathinaikos to win theirs.

Mourinho’s brief on succeeding Mancini and taking on a pay package he likes to tell journalists is worth €14m (£13m) a year was to improve Inter. That means to make them better in Europe — the club have not won the Continent’s main prize since the 1960s and not reached a semi-final since 2003.

For the assignment Mourinho was allowed to make some significant signings. Once Frank Lampard had declined the invitation to become one of them, some clear strategic signals emerged. Most of the summer budget went on wingers: the Brazilian Mancini from Roma, the inventive Portuguese Ricardo Quaresma from Porto. Another winger, the Portuguese veteran Luis Figo, was kept on at 35 and even given a starting place when Mourinho embarked on the job. This looked like a firm declaration that Inter would play with width, 4-3-3.

But Mourinho’s game plans have changed since September. Injuries to Mancini and others have not helped, but it is hard to decipher what constitutes Mourinho’s best XI or even his 13 or 14. Of the new signings the most influential has been Ali Sulley Muntari, recruited from Portsmouth. Of the existing Inter crew, Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to grow into one of the game’s most compelling modern forwards and Javier Zanetti is evergreen. Patrick Vieira has not been so happy, while Marco Materazzi is not an automatic choice. Striker Adriano’s indiscipline baffles Mourinho, as it does every head coach, although Mourinho is never so baffled that he is short of words. Having started his Italian adventure as the urbane, charming, dashing newcomer, by early autumn he was the loudmouth Britain would recognise, picking fights and initiating personalised verbal jousts with Juve head coach Claudio Ranieri, among others. Suffice to say there will be plenty of Italians who want to see United in the quarter- finals.

Ranieri may or may not be among them. He has been obliged to hear sniping from Mourinho for a second time in his career — Mourinho was dismissive of his predecessor at Chelsea — but would urge people to, well, to look at the pasta beneath the sauce. “Jose has done very well with Inter, especially when you remember he’s new to the place and to the country,” Ranieri says. Serie A’s other former Chelsea boss has been doing as well with Juve, who are second in the league and were the best of the Italian clubs in the Champions League group phase.

Juventus meet Chelsea in the knockouts, a resonant tie above all for Ranieri, given his four years in London. His reputation is high. Eighteen months ago Juventus had just won promotion from Serie B and had been banned from Europe. Age seemed to count against their most distinguished players. Under Ranieri they have defied the odds to return to the Champions League, where footballers such as Pavel Nedved and, above all, Alessandro Del Piero thrive in their mid-30s. Ranieri has reason to believe that Juventus, pursuing Inter in Serie A and who twice overwhelmed Real Madrid last month, ought to be stronger by February.

The injured list for most of the season has included goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, midfield anchor Christian Poulsen and striker David Trezeguet: the spine of a team. In their absence, and that of other senior men, young players such as Claudio Marchisio and even the former Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko have shone.

The temptation is to wonder if the fact that the second-best team, Juve, are heavily indebted to Alex Manninger (let go a long time ago by Arsenal), Olof Mellberg (formerly of Aston Villa) and Sissoko (unwanted by Rafa Benitez) might show how far the gulf has grown between Serie A and the Premier League. With Arsenal, whose record against Italian teams is superb, meeting Roma in the last 16, the question will be asked repeatedly early next year. “It’s Italy against the guys with the money,” Ranieri says. “United won the Champions League last time, Chelsea only lost it on penalties. And Arsenal-Roma will be fascinating because these are two teams who want to play attacking football. But this is the chance to see where Italy are in terms of football.”

He means club football, naturally. The Azzurri are the reigning world champions. Italy also has a more captivating league than might be supposed from the indifference of British broadcasters. Last weekend the 10 fixtures in Serie A produced 41 goals. The Premier League, in which only two matches finished 0-0, featured 24. Among the players available for this weekend’s Serie A fixtures are the European Footballers of the Year of 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. In England the sole men carrying that endorsement are Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo.

But for many Italians the draw for the last 16 seems to present as daunting a barrier as could have been created. It is inconveniently timed too. They have only three teams left and the final is scheduled for the country’s capital. Rome doesn’t want 80,000 visitors from England in late May, ordering their lunches and asking to check under the sauce.

Continental blockade: the European powers trying to stop the Big Four making the last eight

ARSENAL (Lge Pos 5) V ROMA (10)
Arsenal CL form DWWDWL
CL best runners-up 2006
Odds 12/1
Roma CL form LWLWWW
CL best runners-up 1984
Odds 25/1

Welcome back Real’s Julio Baptista, ‘The Beast’, spent a year on loan at Arsenal in 2006-07. The Brazilian scored only 10 goals but has a permanent place in the fans’ affections because two came in the Carling Cup semi-final success against Tottenham

If it goes to penalties Watch out for John-Arne Riise. The former Liverpool man missed in the 2005 shoot-out against AC Milan and his stoppage-time own goal, which opened the door for Chelsea in last season’s semi-finals, won’t have boosted his confidence. Worth every penny of the £139,634 his monthly payslip for October 2007 showed when it was stolen from his dustbin and leaked

Hate figure Francesco Totti was so rattled by the attention received from Arsenal’s defenders when the sides met in 2003 that he shoved his hand in Martin Keown’s face and was sent off. He should expect similar wind-up tactics again

To be played Feb 24/Mar 11

INTER MILAN (1) V MAN UTD (3)
Inter CL form WDWDLL
CL best winners 1964, ’65
Odds 17/2
Man Utd CL form DWWDDD
CL best winners 1968, ’99, 2008
Odds 6/1

Welcome back Jose Mourinho never antagonised Sir Alex Ferguson in the way he did Rafa Benitez and Arsène Wenger, though he did offend the Govan wine buff with the plonk he served up when Chelsea played United in 2005. For once, Mourinho was contrite: ‘It was very bad, so when we go to Old Trafford, on my birthday, I will take a beautiful bottle of Portuguese wine’

If it goes to penalties Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s miss saw Sweden crash out of Euro 2004 against Holland. Cristiano Ronaldo missed from the spot against Barcelona in the 2008 semi-finals and in the final shoot-out against Chelsea

Hate figure Patrick Vieira, inset, played for Arsenal when the rivalry between the London and Manchester clubs was at its height. The Frenchman’s prematch tunnel bust-up with Roy Keane has passed into legend

To be played Feb 24/Mar 11

CHELSEA (2) V JUVENTUS (2)
Chelsea CL form WDWLDW
CL best runners-up 2008
Odds 11/2
Juventus CL form WDWWDD
CL best winners 1985, ’96
Odds 20/1

Welcome back Claudio Ranieri managed Chelsea from 2000-2004. Blues fans were largely sympathetic to the Italian, though some will no doubt recall the Tinkerman’s very dodgy substitutions during the 3-1 Champions League semi-final defeat by Monaco in 2004

If it goes to penalties Blues fans will hope Juve’s David Trezeguet is involved and that John Terry isn’t. Trezeguet was the only man to miss in the 2006 World Cup final shoot-out won by Italy. As for Terry, did you know he plans to market his own brand of vodka? It’s called Bottled in Russia

Hate figure Peter Kenyon probably has the unique claim of being disliked by both sides. Chelsea fans are still sceptical of his plans to build the club into a global brand. The fact that he led the side up to collect their losers’ medals after their defeat by United in Moscow didn’t go down too well either

To be played Feb 25/ Mar 10

REAL MADRID (6) V LIVERPOOL (1)
Real Madrid CL form WWLLWW
CL best winners 1956, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’66, ’98, 2000, ’02
Odds 14/1
Liverpool CL form WWDDWW
CL best winners 1977, ’78, ’81, ’84, 2005
Odds 11/1

Welcome back To the Scouse burglar. The breaking-and-entering count for the homes of Liverpool players away on match duty in the last three years is now up to eight. And with the squad off to Madrid for a couple of nights in February, those mock-Tudor mansions must prepare for another visit

If it goes to penalties Liverpool fans will pray Madrid reserve keeper Jerzy Dudek is not on duty. AC Milan failed to beat the Pole three times from the spot to give Liverpool their unlikely Champions League triumph in 2005

Hate figure Step up Gabriel Heinze. As a former Manchester United full-back, he is guaranteed a hostile reception at Anfield. Ironically, Heinze is believed to be the target of a second approach from Liverpool after Ferguson refused to allow him to move to Anfield in 2007

To be played Feb 25/ Mar 10