Italian journalist Paolo Condo believes that Inter could have all the ingredients necessary to make an impact in the Champions League knockout rounds.

Writing in his column in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, via FCInterNews, Condo argued that the Nerazzurri could be exactly the kind of team that former Sampdoria coach Vujadin Boskov desecribed as a “cup team.”

In Serie A this season, Inter have been punished for their inconsistency, and they find themselves hopelessly in the wake of league leaders Napoli.

However, there have been no shortage of excellent individual results in the league, whilst the Nerazzurri secured their spot in the Champions League round of sixteen with memorable matches against Barcelona.

Inter have already defended their Supercoppa Italiana title from last season, whilst they are in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia, a competition which they won last season.

On the whole, then, the Nerazzurri can certainly point to the individual results and performances, if not the broader arc over the long haul, but this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem in a competition like the Champions League.

“The definition of a ‘cup team’ that the great Sampdoria coach Vujadin Boskov attributed to his own team is certainly also a profile applicable to this Inter,” Condo writes.

He suggests that “They are less young, but the sense that their form is wavering is certainly the same.”

“After the goalless draw in Genoa, the win over Udinese was only made to look easy in the closing stages, and it confirmed their first-choice setup to face Porto (Calhanoglu in the holding role, Lukaku to be used as a substitute).”