Article 34 — Inter 06–09
Before I begin my throwback in the latest series, I would just like to pay homage to the late Gigi Simoni who sadly passed away on the 22nd May 2020, Friday at the age of 81. He is the first manager that brought Inter very close to tasting glory in Serie A, a little unfortunate along the way. He did bring some success in the form of the UEFA Cup that season and did it in style. He was also unfortunate to have not been given more time in 1998–99. We will always remember him fondly for his short time at Inter. May his soul rest in peace.
Roberto Mancini stayed on for his 3rd season in a row, equalling Hector Cuper’s reign of 2 seasons and 2 months. However, Mancini would outlast Cuper. Things had taken a 360-degree turn in Italian football which had been rocked on its heels after the devastation caused by Calciopoli. Almost overnight, Inter were now the top dogs and the favourites to win their first Scudetto on the pitch since 1989.
Inter took advantage of Juventus’ relegation to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Viera from them. We also signed Maicon, recent World Cup winner, Fabio Grosso and Olivier Dacourt. Cesar was signed permanently after his loan spell at Inter last season. Hernan Crespo returned on a 2 season loan from Chelsea and Mariano Gonzalez was signed on a season-long loan.
I was caught by surprise when Obafemi Martins was sold to Newcastle United in the summer. Ze Maria, Kily Gonzalez, Cristiano Zanetti and Giuseppe Favalli were released. David Pizarro only lasted one season and was sold to Roma, Pierre Wome was sold to Werder Bremen, Juan Sebastian Veron’s loan spell was over and was not signed permanently while Sinisa Mihajlovic retired from football to be Roberto Mancini’s assistant.
Inter began the season by winning the Supercoppa Italiana in a remarkable and exciting come-from-behind, 4–3 win after extra-time over Roma. As expected, there was no problem at all for Inter in a weakened, watered-down Serie A. Inter created a record by winning 17 games in a row, we only lost 1 game all season and wrapped up the league title, our first won on the pitch since 1989 with 5 games to go. We ended the season with a 22 points advantage over Roma who as expected was our closest rival with a record points haul of 97 points.
We beat AC Milan home and away this season including a remarkable goal-fest with 7 goals shared in a 4–3 win for us in the season’s first derby. We gained a vital 1–0 win over Roma at Stadio Olimpico and they were the only team to beat us this season. There was another game where 7 goals were shared in another 4–3 win for us, Inter vs Lazio. Remarkably there was another 4–3 win this season in Serie A and that one came about in the 3rd week of the season against Chievo at home.
We got to the final of the Coppa Italia for the 3rd season in a row but were all over the place and disjointed in the first leg after the celebrations for securing our 15th Scudetto. Also for the 3rd season in a row, our opponents in the final were the same, AS Roma. Roma took advantage of Inter’s festivities and stupor to thrash us 6–2 in the first leg which all but wrapped up the cup for them. We won the return leg 2–1 but it wasn’t enough as Roma won the Coppa Italia this season with a 7–4 aggregate win.
In the Champions League, we overcame 2 consecutive defeats in as many matches to qualify from the group stage in 2nd place to face Valencia in the 2nd Round. We drew 2–2 in the first leg before being held 0–0 in Spain to bring to an end, a disappointing season in Europe. What happened at the end of that match was shocking and a disgrace for football when a running brawl took place between Inter and Valencia players.
Inter might have finally won the Scudetto on the pitch but it didn’t feel the same as the competition was severely weakened. We can be forgiven for taking our eye off the ball in the Coppa Italia after winning it for 2 seasons in a row but our participation in Europe ended on a whimper and that was the biggest disappointment in this season.
Roberto Mancini was in his 4th season in charge now. After dominating Serie A the previous season, the objective this season, 2007–08 would have to be to retain the Scudetto and do much better in the Champions League and even possibly winning it.
Inter signed Christian Chivu from our rivals Roma, David Suazo, Nelson Rivas, a player with a very famous name, Pele and Luis Jimenez. In the winter, we signed Maniche on loan. A young, Italian player of Ghanaian origins, Mario Balotelli made an explosive debut this season in the first team having been promoted from the youth team.
Inter lost the Supercoppa Italiana 0–1 to Roma at San Siro, failing to make it a hat-trick of Supercoppa Italiana after winning the previous two. In Serie A, Inter went to the top of the table on the 5th matchday and stayed there for the rest of the season. The start included an impressive 4–1 win away to our closest title challengers, Roma. Juventus was back in Serie A after a season’s absence, we played them 4 times this season between the league and Coppa Italia and only managed one win over them in the 2nd leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final.
Inter had at one point an 11 points lead over Roma but made things difficult for themselves when they started dropping points in the final weeks of the season. It allowed Roma to close the gap to 1 point and the league would have to be decided on the final day of the season. We needed to beat Parma away at Ennio Tardini or match Roma’s result at Stadio Angelo Massimino while Roma needed to win and hope Inter dropped points. Unlike in 2002, Inter held their nerves thanks to the brilliance of Zlatan Ibrahimovic who came off the bench to score twice in the 2nd half and win us the league title for the 2nd season in a row on the pitch and 3rd season in a row officially.
I never had any doubts that Inter would fumble and falter at the finish line this time. If we had lost the league this season, the fault will be all ours as we let slip a healthy lead and in the true sense of the word, we LOST the league, allowing Roma to catch up with us.
Inter qualified for the final of the Coppa Italia again for the 4th season in a row and for the 4th season in a row as well, we played Roma in the final. The final was no longer played over two legs now. It was played at Stadio Olimpico which is in the capital of the country, Rome, the home of AS Roma. Roma beat Inter 2–1 in the final to make it 2 Coppa Italias a piece for Inter and Roma in 4 seasons.
We did well enough in the group stage of the Champions League this season, winning 5 matches in a row after losing the first match. We qualified for the 2nd Round to play against last season’s Champions League runners up, Liverpool and lost 3–0 on aggregate after having a player sent off in each of both legs. In his exasperation, Roberto Mancini tendered his resignation at the end of another premature European exit but Moratti managed to reverse his decision and convince him to stay on for the rest of the season. This caused some instability in the team which led to a drop off in Inter’s results in the final weeks of Serie A.
Inter might have won the Scudetto again, largely dominating it before nearly letting it slip to bring some excitement into an otherwise one-sided title race but the season ended with an over-riding feeling of disappointment and under-achievement. We felt we should have done better in the Coppa Italia and especially the Champions League but lost in the final of the Coppa Italia and were eliminated in the 2nd Round of the Champions League again.
I would have been surprised if Roberto Mancini kept his position as Inter’s manager for 2008–09. Mancini was sacked at the end of the 2007–08 season. He ended his time at Inter with 2 Coppa Italia, 2 Supercoppa Italiana and 2 Scudetti, 3 if you count the 1 awarded in the courtroom, it was not something to be scoffed at as we had gone a long time without winning anything or winning much. I felt it was the right time for a change at Inter, we needed a manager that could bring us up to the next level.
Jose Mourinho was hired to replace Mancini and he was the perfect choice if Inter was to replicate their domestic success on the European stage. Massimo Moratti was now desperate to bring back the glorious era last seen when his father, Angelo Moratti was the Chairman.
Inter signed Mourinho’s compatriot, Ricardo Quaresma, Sulley Muntari, Amantino Mancini, Luis Jimenez, Victor Obinna and Hernan Crespo on a free transfer at the end of his loan spell last season. Mourinho discovered a young full-back who belied his age from the youth ranks in Davide Santon. He did well and surprised everyone with his performances and was touted as the next Maldini in Italy.
The players that left in the summer were Pele, Santiago Solari and Alvaro Recoba. David Suazo left on loan too. Olivier Dacourt was not in Mourinho’s plans so he was allowed to leave on loan in the winter. In the same winter, Ricardo Quaresma left on loan too after struggling to impress in the first half of the season. Adriano had a premature decline in his career after the death of his father. He spent the previous season on loan in Brazil and was back at Inter this season. It wasn’t Adriano at his best yet but it looked like he was on the mend. The club couldn’t salvage him as he failed to return from international duty on the 4th April 2009 and his contract was rescinded shortly after.
Jose Mourinho made an ominous start to his time as Inter manager after winning the Supercoppa Italiana against Roma 6–5 on penalties after a 2–2 draw after extra-time.
Jose Mourinho didn’t find it too challenging in sustaining Inter’s dominance in Serie A. Inter won their 3rd Scudetti in a row on the pitch and 4th officially with 3 games to spare, ending the season with a 10 points lead over our closest challengers, bitter rivals, Juventus and neighbours, AC Milan. One of Inter’s best performance this season was a 4–0 thrashing of Roma at Stadio Olimpico early in the season. The reverse fixture was a 3–3 draw. We ended the season in an exciting 4–3 win over Atalanta which was Luis Figo’s last ever match as a professional footballer.
Inter’s run of 4 consecutive Coppa Italia final appearances was ended in the semi-final stage this season by a 3–1 aggregate defeat to Sampdoria. Mourinho was appointed with the aim of achieving the new Holy Grail which is success in the Champions League after achieving the previous Holy Grail which was the Scudetto. However, he too failed in getting Inter far in Europe. They were knocked out in the 2nd Round for the 3rd season in a row this time by the eventual champions, Manchester United.
From struggling to achieve much success, Inter were spoilt for success in Italy now but progression deep into the Champions League rounds and European success proved elusive. Everything was to fall in place very nicely for Inter the following season.
