The Italians arrive at their second European final in three years knowing that Saturday's match in Munich could mark the end of an era
After the 2-0 win over Feyenoord at De Kuip on March 5, Simone Inzaghi was asked by a journalist if Inter were targeting a double. "A treble," the coach interrupted, holding up three fingers on his right hand.
Inzaghi was smiling as he spoke, but it was a serious and legitimate objective for Inter. At the time, they had one foot in the last eight of the Champions League, were already through to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, and occupying top spot in Serie A.
Now, though, there's a very real fear that the Nerazzurri will finish the season empty-handed, which would be another bitter blow for an long-underappreciated side that may not get another chance to claim the Champions League trophy they so richly deserve.
Getty Images SportHeartbreak in Istanbul
Defeat in the 2023 Champions League final hit Inter hard. They had not been expected to win; truth be told, plenty of supposedly informed pundits predicted that they'd be swept aside by Pep Guardiola's mighty Manchester City side.
However, Inter's brilliant backline completely nullified the threat posed by Erling Haaland and, despite falling behind to a fortuitous goal from Rodri, who was the beneficiary of a deflected cross, they dominated the final quarter of the game.
Unfortunately, the Nerazzurri squandered a succession of gilt-edged opportunities to level the game, with Romelu Lukaku the main culprit. As a relieved Guardiola later quipped in an interview with , "I am a European champion because a player failed three metres from the goalie!"
AdvertisementGetty Images SportDefiant rather than deflated
Still, while the nature of the defeat frustrated Inzaghi and his players, it didn't deflate them. On the contrary, it served as a source of encouragement.
In Istanbul, they had gone toe to toe with one of the most expensively assembled sides in football history and, as Inzaghi pointed out, "deserved to at least go to extra-time". Consequently, the performance actually gave Inter even more "belief in our capabilities", and that confidence played a major role in them running away with last season's Serie A title race.
They should have retained the Scudetto this season, too, but they ran out of steam in the home straight and ended up finishing a point behind Antonio Conte's Napoli, who were unburdened by European football.
AFPCostly lack of 'sharpness'
Inter had had the chance to reclaim top spot on the penultimate matchday, but they conceded a 90th-minute equaliser in their decisive 2-2 draw with Lazio on May 18, which left Napoli needing only to beat Cagliari at home in their final game to claim the Scudetto – which they did thanks in no small part to Scott McTominay.
The way in which the title was effectively decided riled Inter. Inzaghi was even sent off for his reaction to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) controversially awarding Lazio a penalty in the dying seconds of the game at San Siro for a handball by Yann Bisseck.
In truth, though, the real damage had been done during Inter's week from hell at the tail end of April, when they lost league games against both Bologna and Roma, either side of the humiliating Coppa Italia semi-final defeat to struggling city rivals AC Milan. The Nerazzurri looked spent, utterly devoid of energy in all three games, with Inzaghi left lamenting a lack of "sharpness" caused by a congested schedule.
And yet, in the midst of this mini-crisis, Inter somehow summoned up sufficient mental and physical strength to outlast a brilliant – and far younger – Barcelona side in the greatest tie in Champions League history.
Getty Images Sport'Beauty of football'
The 3-3 draw in Barcelona was a wonderfully dramatic encounter of the highest quality. What unfolded in the return leg at San Siro was something else altogether, though, a game so thrilling that it nearly gave the great Ronaldo a heart attack, while David Frattesi said he nearly blacked out after scoring the winner.
"It's just incredible, I don't know what to say," the latter confessed in his post-match interview with . "This is the beauty of football. And this has been my career, really. I wasn’t blessed with incredible talent, but I am the last to give up and the first to believe, so this is a reward for effort and dedication."
He may as well have been talking about Inter, too. As Alessandro Bastoni admitted after Inter's 2-1 win over Bayern Munich the previous round, "There are teams out there who have more individual talent at their disposal, but we can cause huge problems for anyone."
