Inter Milan have won their first Serie A title after a decade following second-placed Atalanta’s draw with Sassuolo on Sunday. The Scudetto is also Inter’s first trophy since 2011 and the first league glory since their illustrious treble-winning campaign in 2009-10 under Jose Mourinho.
Atalanta’s 1-1 draw against Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium caused an eruption of cacophony across the city of Milan as fans celebrated and descended on the main square in front of the city’s famous cathedral. Hundreds of the Nerazzurri faithful gathered near Piazza Duomo, with their scarves and flags, chanting and singing amid the strict coronavirus restrictions.
“We are, yes, we are. Champions of Italy. We can finally scream it, after dreaming of it, after keeping it hidden in the depths of our hearts, after holding on to it like a precious dream that we did not want to waste,”
the club wrote in its website.
In his second year with the club, manager Antonio Conte led Inter to their 19th league title, ending Juventus’ firm grip on the Scudetto for nine successive years, in the process.
“This is certainly one of the most important successes in my career,”
“It wasn’t an easy decision to come to Inter, right at the time where the team wasn’t equipped to win something.
“Moreover the opponent was Juventus, for which I worked for so long and it had dominated for nine years. I accepted the challenge with great willingness … today we can say that our sacrifices have been repaid.”
said Conte, who guided Chelsea to Premier League glory in 2017.
Interestingly, Conte himself was the architect behind Juventus first Serie A crown among the rest nine, back in 2011, and the Bianconeri were one of the first teams to congratulate their bitter rival on social media. Juve chairman Andrea Agnelli also lauded his Inter counterpart Steven Zhang on Twitter.
The Scudetto also made Inter Milan the first foreign-owned team to win the coveted trophy. In 2016, Chinese retail group Suning took over the club and has been pushing for glory ever since. The first three years saw mass replacements among club officials and players as the club struggled to lift any silverware in that period. However, since Conte’s arrival in 2019, the Nerazzurri has been dominating the league thanks to their exhilarating football and has been rewarded for their rigorous efforts last night.
Until January, Inter were second in the league table – two points behind city rivals AC Milan. But since then, they won 11 games in a row and firmly established themselves at the top with four games left to play. Their unassailable 13-point lead confirmed them as league champions on Sunday and Conte has already matched Mourinho’s record (82) point haul from their famous 2009/10 season.
While Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez have been widely credited for Inter’s recent success, it was Conte’s favoured 3-5-2 formation with a reliable back three and two pacy wing backs that stood out throughout the season, conceding just 29 goals in 34 games.
Conte’s smart transfer policy also played a key role in Inter’s glory. The Italian coach spent €40m to sign Achraf Hakimi, who scored seven goals and provided seven assists this season and has turned into one of the world’s best right-back. Conte also brought in a few superstars in their twilight from the Premier League – Alexis Sanchez, Matteo Darmian and Christian Eriksen, as the latter netted two crucial goals against Napoli and Crotone quite recently.
So with this formidable team at his disposal, the former Juve player and manager will certainly favour Inter’s dominance in the league for a while, and now it is up to the Bianconeri or the rest of Italian clubs to dethrone their new Serie A champions.
