Champions League team guide: Inter Milan in the spotlight

Inter stormed to the summit of Serie A last season, holding onto their place at the top of the table from February onwards.

A 20-game unbeaten run between January and May, featuring 16 wins, saw them ultimately lift the title — 12 points ahead of runners-up and city rivals AC Milan.

This saw Inter comfortably into the Champions League alongside their ground-sharing neighbours, Atalanta and Juventus, with Italy’s top four all going straight into the competition’s group stage.

Inter Milan's Champions League group

Group D: Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sheriff Tiraspol

European history

The Nerazzurri won their first European Cup back in 1964 under legendary manager Helenio Herrera, in what was also their first appearance in the tournament.

They retained their title a year later, making them one of only eight teams to have successfully defended Europe’s top prize (the others are Real Madrid, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and AC Milan).

But Inter have only won it once since, with their third triumph coming in 2010 when Jose Mourinho was at the helm.

After not qualifying for the Champions League for six seasons between 2012 and 2017, Inter have participated in the tournament’s group stages for the past three campaigns and will make it four in a row this year.

Expectations

Those three most recent seasons in the Champions League have seen Inter exit at the group stage on each occasion.

In 2019-20 this saw them drop down into the Europa League, where they finished runners-up — losing to Sevilla in the final.

Going into this season’s tournament as champions of Italy, they will be hoping to put up a much better showing and at least make the knockout rounds.

But the Nerazzurri will have to do so without last season’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku — who has left for Chelsea — and manager Antonio Conte.

Star man: Lautaro Martinez

With Lukaku gone, the goalscoring responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the Belgian’s strike partner last season.

Martinez contributed 23 goals and assists in the 2020-21 Serie A campaign, scoring 19 times in all competitions.

New signing Edin Dzeko could partner the Argentine this term, although there are a handful of young players in the Inter squad who could emerge as potential attacking options in the months ahead.

Whoever he plays alongside, Martinez will be hoping to develop a similar connection to that which he had with Lukaku.

The 23-year-old has an impressive Champions League record to date, scoring six goals in 12 appearances since the start of the 2019-20 season.

One to watch: Nicolo Barella

If some football fans were not aware of Barella prior to this summer’s European Championship, they certainly were after it.

The midfielder, 24, played a key role for Italy — assisting one goal in the group stage against Switzerland, before scoring in their quarter-final victory over Belgium.

He will be looking to have the same impact for Inter this season and has recently emerged as a candidate for a captaincy role in the squad.

The former Cagliari man has grown into one of the best players in Serie A, and will only get better in the years ahead.

The boss: Simone Inzaghi

Conte has been replaced at Inter by Inzaghi, who has recent Champions League experience with his previous club Lazio.

Last year the 45-year-old guided Lazio to their first appearance in the group stage since the 2007-08 season.

They made it out of a group containing Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge and Zenit St Petersburg, before being eliminated by Bayern Munich in the round of 16.

Inzaghi’s spell in charge of Lazio — with whom he had spent most of his playing career — was his first senior managerial job, having previously coached the club’s youth sides.

His creation of a competitive team in Rome convinced the Inter hierarchy he was the man to take over from Conte, despite the former striker’s relative inexperience.

During his playing days, Inzaghi scored an impressive 15 goals in just 26 Champions League starts for Lazio.

He will be hoping that his current crop of strikers can fire Inter to European glory in a similar fashion.

All information correct as of 10am, September 2, 2021