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If there is anything football teaches us, it is to never think about the end until the game is over.
Think back to the second leg of the 2024/25 Champions League semi-final at San Siro 25 days ago. That night, Inter were 2-0 up at half-time and Barca’s dream was over. But in the second half, the score was 2-1, then 2-2, and with just 3 minutes left, Raphinha completed an incredible counter-attack to make it 2-3. Now Inter’s dream of reaching the final was on the brink of collapse.
In the VIP area, Inter legend Marco Materazzi stood up and left, like many other fans. In the technical area, captain Lautaro Martinez was devastated. "I am devastated by what happened," he said afterwards. Teammate Federico Dimarco echoed the sentiment: "I could not believe it would turn out that way. It's a big disappointment."
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| Before the magic was created, many people thought it was over for Inter. |
At that moment, the sky over Milan poured rain. Coach Simone Inzaghi did not care. Despite being soaked, he tried to rally his players, calling on them to keep the faith. "I believe we are capable of doing something special. Luckily, my players think the same. They have complete confidence," said the 49-year-old strategist.
Football is all about tactics. Italians are obsessed with them. But at times like this, no one cares about tactics. When centre-back Francesco Acerbi says "I'm going to go", team-mate Matteo Darmian has no idea what he's doing. Striker Marcus Thuram has no idea either. And he thinks magic is needed more than tactics.
The magic did happen. Thuram won the second ball, Denzel Dumfries crossed and Acerbi equalised, sending the game into extra time. There, another spell was created by a combination of two substitutes, Mehdi Taremi and Davide Frattesi. The score was 4-3, meaning Inter were in the final, to keep the dream alive.
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| In the most difficult times, Inter warriors know how to create magic. |
Dimarco was crying tears of joy on the bench. There was so much drama and emotion, on a night when the Inter spirit was shining, as Darmian put it, who had been watching Acerbi's back with disbelief just minutes before. For longtime Inter fans, beating Barca to reach the final was a reassertion of the Nerazzurri's status.
In the past, Inter were at the pinnacle of Europe. They won the C1 in 1964 and 1965, and reached the final in 1967 and 1972. In the modern era, although their reputation has declined due to the general decline in Serie A, with the tireless support of the Moratti family, Inter still lifted the Champions League trophy in 2010. On the way to completing the incredible treble that year, Jose Mourinho's team also defeated Barca with two emotional performances.
Times changed, when Massimo Moratti sold Inter in 2013, the team began to fade into obscurity. Not only were they outclassed by the big teams in England, Germany and France, the Nerazzurri also lost ground in Serie A. They failed to win the scudetto for nearly a decade, and were outsiders in the Champions League for six seasons.
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| The last time Inter reached the Champions League final, they lost. But that must be considered a success for a team that was not highly rated. |
That is why this is the first time Inter has faced PSG in an official match. During the period when PSG became a giant with unlimited financial resources from the Qatari owner, the Milan team is no longer among the elite of Europe.
Admittedly, Inter are the least developed of the big three in Italy (alongside Juventus and AC Milan) in terms of commercial opportunities. A lot of potential has gone untapped. Among the few eight clubs to have won three or more European Cups/Champions League titles, the Nerazzurri are ranked 14th in terms of revenue according to the Deloitte Money League. The four teams above them, PSG, Arsenal, Tottenham and Atletico, have never even won the Champions League.
Joining Inter in 2018 as sporting director, Giuseppe Marotta is trying to make a change. With his experience with Sampdoria and Juventus, Marotta is rebuilding the winning mentality at the club based on three factors, firstly ability, then work ethic and finally corporate culture.
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| Giuseppe Marotta and Simone Inzaghi, the two architects of Inter's success. |
Having formed the Juventus team that reached the Champions League final in 2015, Marotta also succeeded in taking Inter to the final in 2023. Forget the defeat to Man City, it was still a great achievement for the Nerazzurri. Only that was the end, when the Chinese group Suning could not pay the emergency loan from the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing them to transfer ownership to Oaktree in early summer 2024.
As President and CEO of the Sporting Division, Marotta reoriented Inter. In fact, since the time Suning was in financial trouble, he had switched to selling big players, instead of making big deals, and bringing in cheap or free contracts. Now this policy is even more radical. However, the core players are still retained, along with Inzaghi, who Marotta believes possesses the most suitable philosophy and method to help Inter win.
In this season's Champions League, 43.3% of Inter's total minutes played were played by players aged 30 or over. This is only slightly less than Atletico (43.5%). The total of 6,151 minutes played by this group of players is also the most since Juventus in the 2016/17 season. Looking at PSG, their opponents in the final, it is easy to see the contrast. The French team only had 1,350 minutes, and all of them belonged to Marquinhos.
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| In the Champions League final for the second time in three years, Inter are rebuilding their reputation and status. |
Of course, the aging squad has its downsides. Inter failed to maintain their fitness and focus towards the end of the season, leading to failure in the 2024/25 Serie A title race and also losing out on the Coppa Italia. However, in a specific and important match, the Nerazzurri will be very strong.
Amazingly, on the way to the final in Munich, Inzaghi’s Inter were only behind three times, and none for more than 370 seconds. That was 285 seconds against Leverkusen, 370 seconds against Bayern and 343 seconds against Barca. Furthermore, they were ahead 50.8% of the time.
The old boys are always worth it. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer leads the league in clean sheets (7) and is third in saves (48). With an expected goals conceded of 15.9, he has only conceded 10 goals (another being an own goal), meaning the 36-year-old Swiss has stopped more goals than any other player in the Champions League this season.
Tonight, Inter will need Sommer, Acerbi, Lautaro Martinez, Dumfries or Frattesi to create magic again, based on the so-called "Inter spirit". With the "old Nerazzurri", never think about the end when the match is not over.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/chung-ket-champions-league-202425-inter-va-nhung-ong-gia-mang-phep-thuat-post1747156.tpo
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