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Champions League: declaration of war: Inter believes in final coup after derby victory

Champions League: declaration of war: Inter believes in final coup after derby victory

Hardly anyone expected this march through – now Inter also believes in the final triumph in the Champions League. The opponent will be the favorite. But parallels to 2010 are encouraging in Milan.

Actually, the very first rush of joy was almost gone. Inter Milan footballers had just defeated city rivals AC Milan and reached the Champions League final.

The first supporters left their seats in the stands, some professionals took out their mobile phones on the field. The TV stations have already switched to the studios to analyze Inter’s 1-0 win in the second leg of the semi-finals and the deserved success after the 2-0 win in the first duel.

Then suddenly Federico Dimarco grabbed the stadium microphone on the field, raced wildly to the fan curve and yelled over the loudspeakers: “If you don’t jump, you’re red and black – hey hey…” And tens of thousands of Inter-Tifosi in black and blue obeyed the national player – the venerable San Siro Stadium vibrated. Dimarco intoned more and more chants. The native of Milan, who had played at Inter when he was still at elementary school, didn’t want to let go of the microphone on this historic night for the club.

“INTERSTANBUL!”

13 years after the coup against FC Bayern Munich and for the sixth time in total, Inter is back in the most important final of European club football. On June 10th, the Italians in Istanbul – or “InterSTANBUL!”, as the newspaper “Tuttosport” called it – will reach for their fourth triumph in the premier class. The Milanese may then not have the footballing class of teams like Manchester City or Real Madrid, who faced each other in the second semi-final. But this Inter is capable of anything, even as an outsider on the Bosphorus.

Coach Simone Inzaghi reported “great emotions”. “We deserved everything, nothing was given to us.” There was plenty of satisfaction in the words, as the coach was on the verge of being thrown out several times this season when his team weakened in the league. On the night of the derby success, club boss Steven Zhang gave the 47-year-old a job guarantee beyond the summer – Inzaghi still has a contract until 2024.

He is only the fourth coach after Helenio Herrera, Gianni Invernizzi and José Mourinho to take Inter to the premier-league final. Like club legend Herrera twice in the 1960s and Mourinho 13 years ago, he can now hoist the Milanese to the throne.

Experienced players over 30 form the core

There are parallels to 2010: Like Mourinho, Inzaghi managed to get the best out of the team in the crucial phase of the season. The core is made up of experienced players over 30: the Lucios, Javier Zanettis and Dejan Stankovics from back then are now called Francesco Acerbi, Henrich Mchitarjan and Edin Dzeko. The defense in particular is convincing: Mourinho’s splendid 1-0 defeat in the second leg of the semi-final against Lionel Messi’s FC Barcelona was an unforgettable feat in Milan. Like the Interisti, Inzaghi’s charges conceded just three goals in the knockout stages – all of which, incidentally, were conceded in the quarter-final second leg against Benfica when progress was all but certain.

Hardly anyone had believed Inter capable of marching through to the final – only striker Romelu Lukaku apparently spoke of it last summer, as President Zhang said. The fact that the Belgian international was only a noble joker against AC Milan speaks for the quality and depth of the squad. On Tuesday, the beefy attacker set up Captain Lautaro Martinez’s winning goal in the 74th minute after coming on as a substitute.

“And now we’re going to Istanbul and get the trophy,” announced the Argentine world champion just before midnight. At that point, thousands of fans in Milan had already gathered in the central cathedral square, setting off fireworks, singing, hooting and celebrating. No party order from Federico Dimarco was necessary for this.

Source: Stern

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