How Inter Milan’s ‘warrior spirit’ reignited a Champions League dream | OneFootball

Many of the Internazionale players still feel it. It is not the pride at returning to a Champions League, even after the spirit of that semi-final against Barcelona. It is really the pain from their last appearance at this stage in 2023. The Inter Milan players still remember the dejection on that Istanbul pitch.

Given that Manchester City won a treble that season, their 1-0 win has been cast as an inevitability, a translation of infinitely superior state resources into triumph. Inter have never felt that way. They thought they should have won, and were only a misfiring Romelu Lukaku away from glory.

Pride consequently isn’t enough here, as they face another state-owned club. Inter are determined to set it right, even after falling short to Napoli in a gripping Serie A title race last weekend.

There’s a fire within the squad that has driven them through this Champions League campaign. Who really thought they would get past Bayern Munich and Barcelona? Who now truly thinks they’ll beat this Paris Saint-Germain?

Well, Inter do, and no one can say they’ve had a forgiving draw this time. They’ve been dismissed at every turn, but displayed defiance at every turn.

Those close to the squad even talk of “a warrior spirit”. This is what they have shown, especially in that semi-final. “We put everything on the pitch,” goalkeeper Yann Sommer said. That passion has naturally swirled right around the club off the pitch, where there really is a pride in their grandeur.

Insiders enthuse about an old-fashioned team in an old-fashioned club, in an entirely positive way. Despite PSG’s status as the new elite, Inter are the European royalty here. A win would make it four European Cups after 1964, 1965 and 2010. That would be level with Ajax, ahead of Manchester United.

Lautaro Martinez and Matteo Darmian celebrate victory over Barcelona (Getty)

The club have naturally been surrounded by such memories this week, infusing an institutional memory further.

The power of the latter has been a theme of recent European seasons, especially with Real Madrid’s revival amid modern forces, and it has a resonance in campaigns like this. It won’t always have an influence, of course, but it’s always there. You only have to look at the defending.

Simone Inzaghi’s team aren’t built on it, but the club’s European legacy is, given they were the standard-bearers of catenaccio. They have fittingly leant on it when needed in this campaign. It is as if that memory comes alive, as well as decades of culture and coaching.

That defiance is all the more important amid present realities. Inter may have three European Cups, but they also have an annual revenue of £327m, according to the last accounts. That is just 58 per cent of PSG’s wage bill alone, and puts Inter at 14th on the Deloitte Football Money League. Inter’s own last reported wage bill of £192m is tens of millions less than Aston Villa (£250m), Tottenham Hotspur (£217m) and Newcastle United (£213m).

Martinez and Inzaghi salute the Inter fans (EPA)

That matters, lamentably, but it’s also why Inter’s spirit matters.

It’s what fires such overperformance.

There is, of course, a bit more to it than that. Inter’s ability to shift emphasis, for classic European defending, actually fits their part in a new trend.

Pragmatism, or at least compromised ideology, is back. Inzaghi is seen as supreme at implementing transitions. Rival dressing rooms even enthuse about it. Inter can play, as we can see with the technique of Nicolo Barella, but they can also break. Some even compare it to how Barcelona just know how to press, as if it’s second nature. Inter just know how to thrive in transition.

One coach this season marvelled at how his team lost the ball and in the space of seconds, Inter players were in position and then scorching away. They really commit players forward. The two wing-backs of Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco are essential to this. They’re always there, pushing it to the limit. Barca especially felt that. Their relentlessness is all the more remarkable since most sides have an imbalance, where one full-back is more defensive and the other more attacking. Inter’s constantly do both.

It reflects something else striking about this team. Opposition sides find that, other than the wing-backs, Inter don’t really do anything that surprises you. The two centre-backs drop deep. In front, they win the ball and seek to get behind you in two passes. Marcus Thuram makes those searing runs, Lauturo Martinez capitalises on any second ball.

Yann Sommer celebrates against Barcelona (Getty)

As one source says, in a complimentary manner, Luis Enrique won’t find it difficult to prepare for Inter. That absolutely does not mean his team will find the game easy.

It’s like you know what Inter are going to do, but they do it at this ferocious level and stopping it is the real challenge.

That’s where the “warrior spirit” is so important. It amplifies everything, in a manner reminiscent of the best Italian teams. The sheer relish for defending becomes infectious, fitting with that vintage image of Inzaghi rapturously pumping his fists in pouring rain.

On the other side, the coach is so good at identifying weaknesses in the opposition. It is classic Italian management of individual games, derived from their prestigious coaching education, with the prominence of Coverciano, known as the “University of Football”. That is similarly reminiscent of 2009-10, and makes Inter such a good cup team.

They would, of course, insist they’re much more than that. Inter believe they are still the best team in Italy, regardless of the Serie A table. They feel the only reason they didn’t retain the title was because they had a full new Champions League campaign to deal with, whereas Napoli had no European football at all. Even then, it still came down to Yann Bissek giving away an 87th-minute penalty for a 2-2 draw against Lazio two weeks ago.

Yann Bisseck (31) celebrates scoring against Lazio but he later conceded a costly penalty (Reuters)

That perhaps points to where the wage bill makes a difference, especially if fighting on multiple fronts, with one involving the elite. Inzaghi has managed Inter’s squad well, and the chemistry is good. That is because they have two strong players in every position, but one knows he is the first choice and the deputy is generally content.

Semi-final hero Davide Frattesi is a case in point. He stepped off the bench to soar. The wage bill has nevertheless left them short in a few areas, especially if Martinez is unfit. Mehdi Taremi just isn’t the same sort of player. Martinez himself almost personifies some of this Inter in how he is often dismissed at the top level but still performs there so effectively.

Inter are making it this far despite that relative lack of depth.

All of this has led to Inzaghi attracting significant interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Saudi Arabia. The word is that he is minded to stay. He feels there’s still work to be done.

There’s now another Champions League final to be won. The players can feel that, the emotion, the sense of history, the determination to set it right.