The perplexing pedigree of Inter Milan
In the age where Juventus dominate the Italian landscape and city rivals AC Milan edge them in popularity and revenue stakes, where does FC Inter fit in?
How does one define Inter’s legacy? Much like their representative symbol Biscione, it is complex, and serpentine in trajectory.
I’m a long standing AC Milan fan but given their seemingly false start (yet again), I look away… and cast my eye over to the Curva Nord to empathize with the Nerazzuri half of the San Siro.
Pedigree…
Let us start from where Inter seem to be further from — Champions League glory. These days the Champions League has just become a sequel to the La Liga. The odd German or English club has briefly broken the Spanish monotony, and even that seems distant now.
It is easy to forget that Inter were European Champions in 2010 — the last Italian team to win it and one of the only 4 teams to win the last 8 editions. They have been European Champions twice before, back-to-back in 64/65 and three time UEFA Cup Winners.
Indeed, after city rivals AC Milan, Inter have the best record for Italian team in the Champions League. In the UEFA Cup, they have the second best record overall, jointly shared with Italian counterparts Juventus, and bettered only by Spanish side Sevilla.
Domestically, while Juventus dominates the Italian league beyond compare, Inter have won 30 domestic trophies, including 18 scudetti — on par with AC Milan. Uniquely, Inter remains the only association in Italian football to never be relegated.
Inter have also given their fans some memorable high points.
Let us go back to the golden era of Serie A — the late 80s and early 90s. While the Rossoneri (AC Milan) were undoubtedly the story of that period, both domestically and in Europe, Inter can also claim a genuine victory.
Sandwiched between legendary AC Milan and Napoli sides, Inter won the Serie A title in 1989 powered by their German duo of Brehme and Matthaus. In the very next year, this duo would become immortal for scoring the winning goal and captaining the World Cup winning side. To put the quality on display that season in context — AC Milan were fielding their fabled Dutch trio while Napoli were competing via their talented South American trio, spearheaded by Diego Maradona.
The 90s were disappointing for Inter but they still managed to break the world transfer record twice. They would also find in their ranks great players like Bergomi, Baggio, Seedorf, Vieri, Pagliuca, Ronaldo and Zanetti.
As I’ve written earlier, more than statistical records, I place a premium on footballing paradigms. Records are temporary. Paradigms endure and add to the technical advancement of the game. Inter are one of the few clubs to distinguish themselves in this space with Helenio Herrara’s sides pioneering a specially formulated catenaccio to winning effect in the 60s.
with an equivocal legacy
Theoretically, Inter has ticked every box. They’ve won every major domestic and European trophy at least once and also claimed the Treble in 2010. They’ve paid world record sums, included genuine greats among their ranks and would easily make a Top 20 by revenue or popularity.
Inter are 7th equal in European Cup and 2nd equal in both UEFA and domestic titles. However, for practical purposes, Inter always remains a top 20 club but never a top 10 club.
Why for instance, do we not usually term Inter in the same breath as Man United? Theoretically, they have identical European Cup records and while Inter have won 2 less domestic titles (18/20), they’ve won UEFA Cup two times more. Seems quite equivalent to me.
Whether it was luck or something else, it seems that Inter’s high points have always been overshadowed by something else.
For this reason, their legacy is perhaps not as unequivocal as it could have been.
For all of Inter’s achievements, in recent decades, their immediate rivals AC Milan have done much better comparatively and deservedly outshone them in both silverware and the popular narrative. This is not counting the hegemony of Juventus in Italy and, the crushing dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid at European level. In football, shadows don’t come larger than these and they obscure even the most valiant efforts.
The 90s brought mixed fortunes. But, while Inter would not win a Serie A title, they paid record transfer fees for Ronaldo and Vieri. Of these signings, Vieri was a success, but unfortunately Ronaldo phenomenal start was overshadowed and indeed lost to injury. Somehow Inter could not translate their potential energy (money and talent) into the highest honors. They did win the UEFA Cup thrice in this period but maybe such high were expectations that this was probably only considered “par for the course” and nothing overly special.
In the following decade, Inter claimed 5 consecutive domestic titles but mitigating factors transpired again. The Italian championship had declined in quality. Moreover, with Juventus claiming their 6th consecutive title, the Serie A has become a one-horse race, further diminishing current and past achievement of other clubs into oblivion.
Currently, Inter are producing very mediocre results. Management changes (ownership and coaching) have also added to the state of flux. AC Milan are also in the same boat yet ironically here also, AC Milan dominate the headlines and transfer priorities, while Inter remain in the background.
A glass half-full or half empty?
Have Inter been unlucky? Or have their achievements simply been overshadowed by Italian rivals? Have they not received due credit? Or indeed, have they achieved commensurate with their actual potential?
All these perspectives can be equally argued for. Inter’s legacy is difficult to define. It’s a perplexing case. The jury remains out.
