Mourinho leads Inter to historic treble

Serie A success was taken as a given for Jose Mourinho. Inter had brought him to Milan to win in Europe and that’s exactly what he did in 2010, when he led the Nerazzurri to a historic treble, which culminated in an emotional Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich in Madrid.

The Scudetto was hard-earned, though, with Roma pushing Inter right until the last day of the season. Fittingly, Diego Milito scored the goal that clinched the title, with the Argentine attacker having proven the best of a plethora of fantastic signings primarily funded by the sale of superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona.

Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto’o, who was a part of €69.5 deal that saw Ibra move to Catalunya, immediately bought into the wonderful team spirit Mourinho had cultivated at San Siro.

Like Milito, Dutch No.10 Wesley Sneijder had the season of his life, Lucio bolstered the backline, and Thiago Motta was a colossus in the middle of the park for one of the most powerful and defensively disciplined sides Serie A has ever seen.

CHANGES

Serie A was rocked by the loss of its two biggest names, as Real Madrid broke the transfer fee world record to sign Kaka from AC Milan for €67m (and then promptly did it again in acquiring Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo) before Barcelona lured Ibrahimovic away from Inter.

Unfortunately, while the Nerazzurri reinvested well, actually managing to make a strong side even better, their city rivals Milan were less successful in the market, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar proving a major disappointment, netting just seven Serie A goals.

In addition, while Thiago Silva proved a fantastically shrewd signing for the Rossoneri, Paolo Maldini’s retirement was nonetheless keenly felt at the back. Still, Leonardo, who had played under his predecessor as Milan boss, Carlo Ancelotti, recovered from a shaky start to lead the club to a credible third-placed finish in his first season as a coach.

Elsewhere, Juve squandered €52m on two…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/mourinho-leads-inter-to-historic-treble-serie-a-in-2009-10/102

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-07-30 15:00:08

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