Now there is also the arithmetic: it is title number 21 in Nerazzurri history and it arrives after the Zero Tituli season. From Chivu to Lautaro Martinez, here are the protagonists of the ride.
Inter wins the scudetto, the 21st in its history. A year after the shock of the sprint lost by one point against Napoli and the final that was never played against PSG in Munich, after a summer of disappointment, whispers and shouts and with an almost rookie coach on the bench. Inter wins a title that to describe today as obvious means to offend the memory and intelligence of those who read or listen. He had a strong team, perhaps very strong, Chivu who had been called by Marotta to the bedside of the seriously ill man, but it was also a team to be recomposed piece by piece, creased in body, mind and soul. Having succeeded makes the 21st scudetto in Inter’s history not a feat and yet leaves the season in the annals: to be remembered as an example of how a group full of talent and character is capable of leaving behind even the most bitter disappointments.
The tricolor celebration arrives three days before the end of hostilities. It was a dominion, which was also not to be taken for granted. Inter’s season was not linear except in its long central phase, the one in which the Nerazzurri traveled at an unsustainable pace for everyone with 14 wins and only one draw between the defeats in the two derbies against Milan which remain the stain washed away only by the joy of the final celebration. Before and after the big break there was room for everything, including doubts.
The championship of Chivu and of those who wanted and defended it
Cristian Chivu he spent the spring removing stones from his shoes, remembering how in the summer many were skeptical about the chances of the almost champions of everything (and screwed in everything) and those of the coach who before landing in Milan had sat on a bench as a professional only 13 times. Wrong, because those who had doubts then did nothing but report and because the start of the tournament had not been immune to errors and omissions: series falls (4 in the first 12 days), direct clashes without or almost no victory and the widespread sensation of a change of skin not digested by the locker room. Then the change of pace which left a legacy sufficient to manage the only unsuccessful passage due to a drop in condition between February and March.
It is the championship of Chivu and of those who chose it, Marotta And Helpdefending the decision. The championship of Lautaro Martinezsoul of the group, of Dimarco king of assists, Stretcher And Calhanoglu which, albeit intermittently, have risen to the top, confirming themselves as the top in Europe, Zielinski luxury reserve e Pio Esposito who made his way up the hierarchy, also covering Thuram’s long fast. The Scudetto for the defence, the best in the championship, and above all for the attack which produced record numbers, confirming the idea that Chivu tried to theorize and that is that Inter must adapt to modern football in which attacking is more important than controlling the game.
Chivu like Mancini and Mourinho?
Should the triumph in the Italian Cup also arrive, it would be a historic season, in the sense that on only two other occasions with Mancini and Mourinho did the Nerazzurri achieve a double. The campaign in the Champions League was not a lucky one even though it wasn’t the disaster that many have described: it was a mistake to go out in the playoffs with Bodo Glimt, not to have closed one step away from direct qualification in a first phase in which Inter found two semi-finalists on their way (Bayern Munich and Arsenal) and a top team that had made it into the top eight like Liverpool. There was a lack of experience and legs in the moment of truth, perhaps even a pinch of motivation given that the minds of the locker room were full of thoughts of revenge after the Zero Titles and the ironies of the summer.
Was it the last dance of this cycle, opened by Conte before Covid and fortified by Simone Inzaghi? A lot will change in the coming months, partly due to contractual issues and rejuvenation of the squad and partly due to corporate choice. Marotta and Ausilio, however, have a very delicate task to complete because the body of the team is not at the end of its journey, it just needs to be innervated with fresh forces and renewed in motivation. Change without distorting, strengthening without rebuilding.
