Sunday 6th of April 2008 was the last time Inter played a Serie A fixture at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo against Atalanta and headed back to Milano with all 3 points. Back then Roberto Mancini was in charge of an Inter who were on their way to winning their 3rd successive Scudetto, today he led a team fighting to find an identity after having had 7 different coaches in as many number of years.
Same coach in charge of same team at the same venue to play the same opponent with the same outcome: a win for Inter but other than that there is nothing else that today even slightly resembles Inter in 2008. Back then Patrick Vieira and 17 year old wonderkid Mario Balotelli won the match for Inter against a team that has always proved to be a tough opponent for the Nerazzurri, something José Mourinho discovered in January 2009 when Atalanta demolished his Inter 3-1 in weather conditions which were very similar to the ones we saw today. Today however (unlike then) Inter played like a big team that were there to win, and make their presence felt as they completely dominated the match from the start with an aggressiveness and determination that was only matched by the teams clinical finishes and cynicism, aspects Inter have been lacking for years and which are typical characteristics of a big team.
No other player has symbolized this as much as Fredy Guarin, who’s inconsistent performances have led to some fans dubbing him Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When he’s been good he’s looked like a world class player but when he’s been poor he’s been painful to watch. However, under Roberto Mancini Fredy Guarin has blossomed into a tenacious box-to-box midfielder who makes tireless runs up and down the pitch, winning the ball when required as well as scoring goals with his weaker left foot whilst demonstrating vision and craft when setting up his team-mates for goals. Today he did all those things which led to his first goal before elegently placing the ball for his second. Before scoring he’d already won Inter a penalty so blatantly clear that referee Luca Banti had no choice but to give it, and after having bagged his brace he set up Rodrigo Palacio for Inter’s 4th goal of the day. All in a days work for a player which just over 12 months ago was sitting in Juventus head-offices and was just about to put pen to paper to a transfer where he’d join the Bianconeri in exchange for Mirko Vucinic, when Erick Thohir decided to pull the plug on that transfer after Inter-fans all over the world revolted online.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that day, and Inter are now a team which is more and more being made up of talented young players about to peak rather than a bunch of over the hill hasbeens and overpaid mediocre players. As the saying goes ‘a swallow doesn’t make a summer’ but with 2 wins in a row in the Serie A Inter go into Thursday’s Europa League second round fixture against Scottish champions Celtic with a completely different mentality which hopefully, if a string of positive results and performances continue, can become the new and permanent mentality of this squad as opposed to the one which the squad had when Mazzarri was appointed. When or if that curse is to be broken are questions that can’t be answered today, however breaking a 7 year winless curse away against Atalanta is certainly a good place to start.
