Why Inter Milan is the team everyone should fear in Europe

After PSG knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League at the quarterfinal stage, everyone thought Barcelona was now the best team on the continent.

This means the Catalans automatically became the favourites to win the Champions League, but at the semifinal stage, they were knocked out by 2023 finalists Inter Milan.

Very few people had paid attention to Inter’s remarkable season in European football, partly because they do not play in England or Spain.

They also do not seem to have the appeal of the other clubs, and this worked in their favour as they won games under less pressure and are now in the final of the Champions League.

Fans who buy Serie A tickets already know that Inter Milan is a club that has shown the potential to dominate the Serie A for several seasons to come.

They are currently the defending champions and are competing with Napoli to win the 2024/2025 crown.

It would not be surprising if they retained their league crown, even though we think Napoli has the perfect manager to help them do so.

Inter has consistently shown it should be taken seriously, but the other top European clubs and elites fail to show it as much respect.

This is why they have eliminated Bayern Munich and Barcelona, yet they are still seen as the underdogs in the final against PSG.

Loyal supporters who invest in Inter Milan tickets know how capable their team is, and it has repeatedly shown that it can be trusted to make things happen.

Why is Inter Milan underrated?

Inter Milan secured the fourth spot in the league phase of the Champions League, with Liverpool, Barcelona and Arsenal the only club who finished above them.

The Nerazzurri had the same number of points as Barcelona and Arsenal, yet most people rated Arsenal and Barca above them when naming their favourites to win the competition.

Inter reached the final of the Champions League in the 2022/2023 season, and they were knocked out of the competition last term at the round of 16 stage.

However, Atletico Madrid knocked them out via penalties, and they turned their attention to winning the Serie A.

Despite heartbreak in Europe, Inter won the Italian top flight, and their recent transfer business has made them arguably the strongest team in Italy.

We all agree that Serie A is one of the top five leagues in the world, yet Italian clubs do not receive the respect they deserve when it comes to continental competitions.

Not much has changed, even though Atalanta won the Europa League last term, despite beating Liverpool and the domestically unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen on the way.

One reason Inter could be underrated is their lack of star players and reliance on veterans like Henrikh Mkhitaryan (36) and Francesco Acerbi (37).

However, these veterans deliver terrific performances every week, sometimes outperforming players who are almost twice younger than them.

Whatever the reason why Inter is not usually considered a favourite when they face other top clubs, it has worked in their favour so far. 

Simone Inzaghi is a master tactician

Very few football fans knew about Simone Inzaghi during their playing days, because his brother Filippo Inzaghi was a terrific striker.

The latter played for AC Milan and was their star man, demolishing Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2007.

However, as managers, Simone has been far more successful than his sibling and he is doing an amazing job at Inter.

He joined them in 2021 after they had won the Serie A crown and Antonio Conte had walked out on them.

Simone arrived to fill a big shoe, but at Lazio where he spent the first five years of his managerial career, he had shown promise.

His team consistently competed against top clubs with bigger budgets, so Inter bet on him to achieve even more on their bench. He has done just that.

We all know he uses a flexible 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation that emphasises dynamism, which is why it is so difficult to predict what Inter will do next or which of their players will score against an opponent.

Inzaghi’s team makes the best use of the wide areas and inside channels to attack teams relentlessly.

His players also switch spots so often that they drag opposing defenders out of shape and create openings for teammates to exploit.

These were in full flow in their semifinal matches against Barcelona, which left the Barca defenders dazed.

What makes Inter Milan a team to fear 

Inter’s tactics might be a headache to almost every opponent, especially a team that loves to make good use of the ball.

However, what makes the Nerazzurri special is their stamina. This Inter team has players who have working engines that can last for five hours on the pitch.

This is one of their most underestimated traits, and it has served them so well during Inzaghi's tenure as their manager.

He seemed to pay special attention to his players' physiques during pre-season, which built their endurance level and left them strong enough to go the distance against any opponent.

The Champions League and the Coppa Italia are two competitions that give Inter the chance to play extra time, and they relish taking teams all the way, most of the time.

This is a reason every team should avoid them in cup competitions, unless there is a guarantee that they will beat the Nerazzurri in regular time.

Can Inter Milan win the Champions League?

Inter Milan is in its second Champions League final in three seasons, and its opponent is PSG, which also reached the final in 2020.

Both clubs are hurting from failing to win the last time they reached this stage of the competition, and this would be a very competitive final.

PSG remarkably eliminated all the Premier League clubs from the competition to reach the final, so you can trust them to deliver.

Luis Enrique has assembled a team that combines technique, youth, and pace to cause problems for teams.

In the final, he would unleash his runners against an ageing Inter team, which could be successful.

However, Inter’s dynamism means they have a great chance to hurt PSG if the Ligue 1 winners commit too much to scoring.

It would be an intriguing game that is difficult to predict, but Inter does have a chance to win this Champions League title.