José Mourinho’s Inter Milan: An Unstoppable Serie A Beast

José Mourinho joined Inter Milan in 2008 after he made a name for himself as the best European coach at the moment. In the previous three seasons, he won six trophies with Chelsea, becoming the most successful manager in the team’s history from Stamford Bridge. Still, a slow start to the season and constant disagreements with Chelsea’s owner, Roman Abramovich, saw the two sides part ways in what was called “a mutual consent.”

Following the Calciopoli scandal, Inter won three consecutive Serie A titles. Mourinho replaced Roberto Mancini and took the team to another level and the top of the football team rankings. Inter’s owner, Massimo Moratti, wanted to conquer Europe, and Mourinho delivered faster than anyone could have expected.

Mourinho initial impact on the team

At Chelsea, Mourinho worked with the best players in the world, and no matter how good Inter was at the moment, the talent was not on that level. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Dejan Stankovic were in their prime, Luis Figo was still brilliant in the midfield, and Mario Balotelli was the youngster who arrived at the European scene under Mourinho. 

Mourinho’s compatriot, Ricardo Quaresma, was the key addition to the team who arrived from Porto for a €25 million fee. Mourinho made his impact felt immediately and experimented with a 4-3-1-2 formation. Inter won the Scudetto with a ten-point advantage over Juventus and won the Italian Supercup but lost in the Champions League round of 16 to Manchester United, failing to score in each leg.

Winning the treble in 2010

Going into his second season at Inter, Mourinho signed a three-year contract extension for €9.5 million, making him the highest-paid man in football. He already had an excellent roster, but the transfers he made that season made Inter unbeatable.

Ibrahimovic’s departure seemed like a huge problem. Still, Mourinho made a brilliant move by signing strikers Diego Milito from Genoa and Samuel Eto’o from Barcelona. Midfielder Wesley Sneijder arrived from Real Madrid and ended up being one of the key players in Inter’s success. Thiago Motta and Goran Pandev were additions who will add extra quality to Mourinho’s starting eleven.

Inter had a tough start to the Serie A season, playing only 1-1 in the opener against Bari. Many doubted how efficient the team would be without Ibrahimovic, but Mourinho was able to get the best out of his players when they needed the most. 

Inter demolished the city rival Milan in the second matchday, winning 4-0. Motta, Milito, Maicon, and Stankovic scored for Inter, who went on to win 8 of the next 9 Serie A football matches. Motta, Sneijder, and Lucio were great in Mourinho’s midfield, and as the season progressed, the entire team improved.

However, things did not go so well in the Champions League. Playing a scoreless draw against Barcelona in the opener was not an issue, but failing to beat Rubin Kazan and Dynamo Kyiv in the next two games rang the alarm. Later in the season, Inter managed to win against these two teams and advance to the knockout stage.

The season’s turning point was the round-of-16 matchups against Mourinho’s former team, Chelsea. He showed his patience playing defensively against the Blues, and the fast transition with counterattacks proved to be the winning recipe. Inter won both legs, 2-1 at home and 1-0 in London, and advanced to the quarterfinal against CSKA Moscow.

That was a routine matchup for Inter, winning both legs by 1-0, and the real challenge followed.

In the semifinals, Inter faced the defending Champions League winner, Barcelona. The Catalans looked scary with Leo Messi and Ibrahimovic in the offence, but Inter was ready for the battle. Things didn’t start well for Inter, as Pedro put Barcelona on the board in the 19th minute. However, Sneijder made things even at the half-hour mark before Inter took off in the second half. Maicon gave Inter the lead right after the break, and Milito set the final score at 3-1 in the 61st minute, which was only Barcelona’s fourth loss that season.

A two-goal advantage looked very promising for Inter, but Barcelona’s away goal kept the Spanish team alive. Pep Guardiola had no other option but to attack from kick-off, and Mourinho was ready to defend with the counter-tiki-taka approach. Inter was confident in front of their own goal with calculated risk-taking, but things got heated when Gerard Piqué scored in the 83rd minute. Barcelona needed only one more goal to advance to the final, but Inter hung on and celebrated at the end.

The path to glory

Meanwhile, Inter was playing well in the domestic league, but the competition was much better than in the previous seasons. They needed a run of five consecutive wins at the end of the season to win their fifth consecutive Scudetto by only a two-point advantage over Roma. Milito scored the only goal on the road in the last matchday against the already relegated Siena, which sealed the deal for Inter.

Milito was also the hero for Inter a week before when he scored the lone goal in the Coppa Italia final against Roma.

With both trophies on the shelves, Inter was heading to the biggest challenge of the season, the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. The stage was set at Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, and the entire world was watching. Both teams were in perfect shape, so no 100% accurate football predictions were confident for this match.

Mourinho pulled an ace from the sleeve going with a 4-3-3 formation, leaving Stankovic on the bench. Of course, the new tactics proved to be brilliant, and can you guess who was the Inter’s hero? Diego Milito again scored both goals in a 2-0 win, which brought Inter their first continental trophy since 1965.

“I will always remember this season with Inter. More than the words, it was an incredible marriage between us. I am very, very proud right now to be coach of Inter,” said Mourinho following the game.

Of course, winning the treble in a single season was as good as it gets. Mourinho managed to build a team ready to die for a victory, and they absolutely deserved it. Against all the odds, Mourinho left the team to join Real Madrid, but the legacy of that season shaped his reputation.

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