When Inter collapsed on the final day to hand the title to Juventus

The 2001-02 Serie A season will forever be associated with Inter’s remarkable final-day collapse.

The Nerazzurri had appeared set to claim their first Scudetto since 1989, having gone into their last game a point ahead of Juventus at the top of the table. However, Inter capitulated, suffering a 4-2 defeat that gifted the Scudetto to Juve, who had triumphed 2-0 at Udinese.

Although Inter’s self-destruction was the story of the season, the Bianconeri had got their just reward for rounding off their campaign with five successive victories. It was also a personal triumph for Marcello Lippi, who had returned to Turin after his chastening experience at Inter.

Juve’s board also deserved for credit for offsetting the loss of Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid by bringing three men who would become club legends: Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thurman and Pavel Nedved.

CHANGES

Inter turned to Hector Cuper in their hope of finally ending their Scudetto drought and the former Valencia boss was handed a couple of strong defensive additions to work with: goalkeeper Francesco Toldo and centre-half Marco Materazzi.

Milan also had a new man on the bench, with Fatih Terim taking over from Alberto Zaccheroni, and the Turkish coach brought Rui Costa with him from Fiorentina, for €42m.

David Trezeguet’s impressive debut season in Serie A had also persuaded Juve to cash in on Filippo Inzaghi, who joined Milan for €37m.

The Bianconeri used the proceeds from selling ‘Super Pippo’ and Zidane – who moved to Real Madrid for a world-record €77.5m – to plunder Parma for Buffon and Thuram, as well as prise Pavel Nedved and Marcelo Salas away from Lazio. All bar Salas excelled, with the Chilean spending most of his time in Turin either injured or on the bench.

Lazio, meanwhile, struggled without Nedved and also Juan Sebastian Veron, who left for Manchester United, after wasting a significant chunk of the money accrued on Gaizka Mendieta.

SEASON SUMMARY

Juve and Inter both began the…

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Author : [email protected] (Mark Doyle)

Publish date : 2024-07-23 12:00:00

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