Adriano then sealed the win in the 85th minute with his first touch of the game to give Inter all three points on a difficult night in the Greek capital. Mourinho has won this competition in the past with Porto and it is precisely that pedigree which convinced Inter president Massimo Moratti to appoint the former Chelsea manager after three disappointing years in the Champions League.
No secret has been made of Mourinho's and Inter's desire to win the competition this year, and they made their intentions clear in Athens on Tuesday. Ibrahimovic, who has been made the scapegoat for Inter's recent failures in the competition, also had a point to prove. But he missed a glorious chance to do so in the 11th minute when he was played through with just Mario Galinovic to beat, but he seemed to be caught in two minds as he passed the ball wide of the post.
Ricardo Quaresma had inspired Inter to their first win in Serie A at the weekend and he was looking to open his account for the Nerazzurri with two dangerous shots from the edge of the penalty area. Galinovic pushed his first shot wide before collecting the second one easily. He could do nothing to prevent Mancini opening the scoring in the 27th minute, though.
Ibrahimovic's persistence was rewarded and a few lucky breaks allowed him to find his strike partner in space to his left and Mancini picked his spot with aplomb. The home team's reaction was immediate and the lively Bryce Moon had three chances to equalise. His 29th-minute shot from 25 yards was tipped over the crossbar by Julio Cesar, who made a more comfortable save at his near post to deny Moon again minutes later.
The Inter goalkeeper was beaten by a wicked deflection off Marco Materazzi as Moon's shot struck the crossbar in the 42nd minute. The Greeks kept searching for an equaliser and they were getting closer and closer.
Cleyton's attempted one-two with a colleague failed, but the ball came back to the Brazilian nonetheless and he shot just inches wide of the post from 16 yards out. Andreas Ivanschitz was next up with a free-kick which missed everybody except Julio Cesar, who was almost caught out at the foot of his post.
At the other end, Mancini had a shot deflected over the crossbar, but that was only a rare moment of danger for Galinovic as Panathinaikos continued to dominate. But Inter hit them with the sucker punch five minutes from time as Ibrahimovic's pass set substitute Adriano free and he provided the finish with his one and only touch of the night, firing the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards out.
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