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It’s been 15 years since an Italian club last lifted the Champions League trophy – a long and barren stretch for the calcio-mad country.
To see a team from Italy win the most coveted prize in European club soccer feels overdue, particularly given the nation’s history and pedigree in the sport. That could all change this weekend when Inter Milan faces Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Munich on Saturday – a second Champions League final in three years for the Nerazzurri.
A fourth European title for Inter might be a flickering reminder of the golden era of Italian club soccer in the 1990s, back when Serie A was home to the greatest players of the time. Today’s teams hardly boast the same number of global superstars, but Champions League success for Inter – following the lesser European titles of the Europa League and Conference League for Atalanta and AS Roma, respectively – would perhaps offer a glimpse of an Italian Renaissance. pride now has been restored with the performances of teams in recent years, but in order to truly restore that – and I guess for Italian football to gain that bit of pride back – I think to win the Champions League, to win the ultimate prize, to have a club that has to be called the best team in Europe, that’s massive.”
Inter has been on the cusp of silverware on three, arguably four, occasions this season. Just last weekend, it came achingly close to winning the Serie A title, only to finish a single point behind champion Napoli on the final matchday. That prompted manager Simone Inzaghi to acknowledge that there had been “a lot of suffering in me and in the players” at the start of this week, though Saturday’s final offers a chance to ease that pain. And one positive for Inter is that Inzaghi and many of his players have been in this position before, the current squad not radically different to the one which narrowly lost to Manchester City in the 2023 final.
This Inter team is full of experienced campaigners – the likes of defenders Francesco Acerbi and Matteo Darmian, plus midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan. It has the highest average age of any squad in Italy this past season – 29.1, according to Transfermarkt – and will be hungry for silverware after a series of near-misses. As well as failing to clinch the league title, Inter lost to bitter rival AC Milan in January’s Italian Super Cup and again to Milan in April’s Italian Cup semifinals.
But the bigger picture for the Nerazzurri is one of success under Inzaghi. The 49-year-old, who arrived at the club in 2021, has already won a Scudetto, two Italian Cups and three Italian Super Cups during his time in charge. Just to reach two Champions League finals is also an impressive feat, especially given the financial firepower of some of Europe’s top clubs – the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester City, and, indeed, PSG.
“This isn’t just a coach who’s a flash in the pan or somebody who’s up and coming,” says Summerton. “People might disagree, but in my view, he’s an established, elite-level coach now, and I think that to win the Champions
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