The mature version of Inter who proved that they can stand up to the toughest European opposition with displays against Liverpool and Real Madrid last season went absent in yesterday evening’s Champions League loss to Bayern Munich.
This is the view of today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, who contrast the Nerazzurri’s display against the German champions with their credible performances against both of last season’s Champions League finalists.
Inter also lost their group stage opener last season, falling to a 1-0 defeat against eventual winners Real after a late sucker punch, but the strong sense had been that their performance was worth a lot more.
Then, in the round of sixteen, the Nerazzurri were unfortunate to draw one of the favourites for the competition, beaten finalists Liverpool, but they hardly looked intimidated by the Reds and will have taken much encouragement from the nature of their 2-1 aggregate elimination.
Against Bayern, by contrast, the gap between Inter and their truly top-class opponent was clear to see for virtually the entire match, and this represents a worrying sign for a team who will have hoped to use last season’s performances in Europe as a springboard rather than take a step backwards.
