Things are going from bad to worse for the Nerazzurri, who now have to deal with an internal dispute after some very public humiliations
When it came time to speak to reporters after Inter's epic Champions League clash with Barcelona at San Siro, Davide Frattesi was still struggling to catch his breath, still struggling to find the right words.
"It's just incredible," the match-winner said, "I don't know what to say." But then it came to him: "This is the beauty of football." And it really was.
Inter's 4-3 victory at San Siro really was the stuff dreams are made of, the kind of surreal spectacle in which nothing much makes sense. Not even Simone Inzaghi had any idea what Francesco Acerbi was doing up front when the 37-year-old centre-back coolly converted a near-post cross from Denzel Dumfries in the 93rd minute to force extra-time.
Frattesi, meanwhile, probably shouldn't have even been on the pitch but, just like his captain Lautaro Martinez, the midfielder fought through the pain in order to play a pivotal role in Inter's stunning success. "I have to thank the physios, because yesterday I had an abdominal strain, so they did incredible work getting me fit for this match," Frattesi told .
Then, when he slotted home Inter's extra-time winner, he "nearly had a blackout" during the raucous celebrations that ensued. "I was fortunate to see out the game!" he admitted. "But 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."
In that sense, Frattesi kind of personified Inter, a team not lacking in gifted footballers, but nonetheless renowned for their tactical discipline and togetherness. It's, therefore, shocking that two months after beating Barcelona in the greatest Champions League semi-final ever player, Inter are not only divided – but in total disarray….
Getty Images SportThrowing away the title
Inter followed up their shock defeat of a brilliant Barca side by beating Torino on May 11 to keep alive their hopes of a second-consecutive Scudetto. The very next weekend – the penultimate of the 2024-25 season – the Serie A title race appeared to have turned in the Nerazzurri's favour.
With leaders Napoli being held to a scoreless draw in Parma, Inter were heading top of the table thanks to Dumfries' 79th-minute header at San Siro. However, in the dying seconds of normal time, Lazio were awarded a contentious penalty for a handball by Yann Bisseck, and Pedro slotted home the spot-kick to earn the visitors a 2-2 draw that effectively gifted the scudetto to Napoli.
Clearly believing themselves to have been the victims of some terrible injustice, Inter refused to fulfil any of their media obligations after the game. However, Inzaghi – who had been sent off for reacting furiously to the award of the Lazio penalty – and his players only had themselves to blame for throwing away the title, which Napoli sealed the following Friday with a Scott McTominay-inspired victory over Cagliari.
"We didn't deserve to win it because we're not top after 38 games," centre-back Stefan de Vrij told. "But there's a feeling that we could have done more in the league this year."
However, as the Dutch defender pointed out, Inter still had one game to play – the most important of their season: "We've worked really hard this year and done very well in the Champions League, so we'll now do everything we can to finish on a high. There's a huge desire to play a great final next week."
Unfortunately, what Inter produced against Paris Saint-Germain was a historically-bad performance on one of the most humiliating nights in the club's history.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportHumiliated
Ahead of their May 31 showdown with PSG in Munich, Inter's players insisted that they had learned a lot from their previous Champions League final appearance in Istanbul in 2023. On that occasion, they had lost 1-0 to Manchester City, but played far better than anyone had expected. At the Allianz Arena, though, they were worse than anyone could have imagined.
The game was essentially over after 20 minutes, with PSG 2-0 up thanks to Achraf Hakimi and Desire Doue. A clearly exhausted Inter offered absolutely nothing by way of a response. Alessandro Bastoni was among those left utterly shell-shocked by a "painful" 5-0 defeat that left "a deep sense of bitterness and will take time to fully understand."
From the outside looking in, it felt as if time had simply caught up with Inter. An exuberant PSG showed them to be exactly what they were: an old team in need of rejuvenation. What they definitely did not need, though, was Inzaghi stepping down as coach just three days later to take charge of Al-Hilal.
Getty Images SportFrom Inzaghi to Chivu – via Fabregas
Inzaghi's exit upset the majority of Inter fans. The Nerazzurri's financial constraints are well-documented, and a source of frustration to many connected with the club, but Inzaghi looked like a captain leaving a sinking ship.
The backlash only intensified after Al-Hilal revealed that Inzaghi had agreed to join the Saudi Pro League side before the Champions League final, which inevitably prompted questions over whether his imminent exit had played a part in the Munich debacle. The even suggested that Inzaghi had been trying to convince Nicolo Barella and Bastoni to follow him to Jeddah, which only intensified the feeling of betrayal at San Siro.
Aside from the manner of Inzaghi exit, which Inter had not been anticipating even in spite of the pre-existing uncertainty surrounding his future, the act itself created a problem for Beppe Marotta & Co. They suddenly had a massive hole to fill, and finding a worthy replacement before the start of their Club World Cup campaign was never going to be easy.
Cesc Fabregas was Inter's top target, as the Spaniard had done an excellent job securing a top-10 finish with Como in their first season in Serie A for 21 years. However, Como refused to allow the former Arsenal midfield to leave, meaning Inter had to turn to Christian Chivu, the former Nerazzurri defender who had earned praise for keeping Parma up after taking over at Ennio Tardini in mid-February, when the Gialloblu were 19th in the table.
Getty Images SportUnderwhelming Club World Cup campaign
Chivu's tenure didn't get off to the most encouraging of starts, with Inter held to a 1-1 draw by Monterrey in their Club World Cup opener. They were also staring an embarrassing loss to Urawa Red Diamonds in the face when captain Lautaro Martinez sparked a crucial, come-from-behind win with a 78th-minute equaliser in Seattle.
Inter then beat River Plate at the same venue to seal top spot in Group E and raise hopes that the cash-strapped Nerazzurri could not only finish a draining campaign with a flourish, but also earn some serious prize money in the process. However, while Inter did reasonably well out of the Club World Cup financially , they still suffered a humiliatingly early exit at the hands of Fluminense that exposed a massive divide in the dressing room.
