Throwback Thursday: When Inter defeated Bayern to land the historic treble
As we approach the pinnacle fixture of the European football season, much of the attention has been on Manchester City and their pursuit of a famous treble, which they'll clinch with a win in the Champions League final on Saturday.
What mustn’t be forgotten is the team who intend to stop them, Inter, can still themselves win a treble of sorts this season. Though not an official treble, with Napoli winning Serie A, the Milan-based club have already won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana and could cap off a positive campaign by winning a third trophy of the season this weekend.
This will be their first Champions League final appearance since 2010, a year in which they themselves were chasing the treble.
For Throwback Thursday this week, we decided to look back 13 years ago to when Inter were the side destined to make history.
Jose Mourinho was the man at the Inter helm back in 2009/10 as he geared up for his second season in charge, after guiding them to the Serie A title in his first year.
The start of the treble hunt was clinched on May 5th 2010 with a 1-0 win over Roma in the Coppa Italia final. Mourinho’s side came into the final weekend of the season two points clear of Roma, with a far superior goal difference, knowing that if they matched or bettered Roma's result, they'd be crowned champions. Proceedings for the Serie A season ended with both teams winning their respective fixtures, meaning Inter were crowned champions for the 18th time.
Attention would now turn to a Champions League final with Bayern Munich, who like Inter had already clinched a league and cup double in Germany after winning the Bundesliga by five points and winning the DFB-Pokal with a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen.
For Inter, their Champions League campaign had been a mixed one, finishing second in their group, accumulating only nine points and winning only two of their six group matches. Nonetheless they made it through to the knockout phase where they eased past Premier League chasing Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate in the last-16, before a quarter-final 2-0 aggregate win over CSKA Moscow.
The semi-finals posed a much sterner challenge as they were drawn against the holders Barcelona, who were managed by none other than Pep Guardiola and spearheaded by Lionel Messi. But an impressive first leg win by Inter, where they registered less than 40% possession, set the benchmark for their place in the final, as they lost 1-0 at Camp Nou, a game in which they conceded 20 shots and could only muster one of their own, but still saw them through, unleashing the infamous celebration from Mourinho, in what is still considered one of his masterclass matches.
German giants Bayern Munich now awaited them in the final after they had beaten Lyon 4-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals, as Inter prepared to not only win a third Champions League, but to set the record as the first Italian side to win the treble, with Ajax, Barcelona, Celtic, Manchester United and PSV being the only UEFA coefficient sides to have achieved such a feat prior to the 2010 final. Bayern were seeking to do similar and become the first German side to hold such an accolade.
The game started as many would have expected with Bayern looking in control of proceedings, though after 30 minutes both sides had produced four shots each. 10 minutes before the break, and it was 1-0 to the Italian champions, as Diego Milito finished off a sweeping counter with a chipped effort over Hans-Jorg Butt.
Inter’s gameplan from then on centered largely on conceding possession and trying to catch Bayern on the counter, but despite their lack of possession they were still having chances, noted in that with 25 minutes to go they had produced six shots on target, compared to the German champions’ three.
With 20 minutes to play, it was 2-0 to Inter with Milito scoring his second after twisting and turning his way around the Bayern defence, before finishing neatly into the bottom corner to all but wrap up the game. Inter saw out the win to be crowned European champions for the first time since 1965 and seal a famous treble.
The Serie A outfit became the sixth UEFA side to achieve the feat and in doing so; etched their name into history. City will attempt to become the eighth, and only second English side, to seal the treble when they take on Inter on Saturday but know they have a tough task at hand in order to secure victory. Guardiola, after all, knows all to well about losing to Inter in the Champions League.
Records, trebles and history are all on the line this weekend, not only for Guardiola’s outfit, but Simone Inzaghi’s side too.
