Simone Inzaghi will be feeling the pressure to finally deliver the Serie A title in his third season as Inter Milan coach.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInter1908.
There have been plenty of positives in Inzaghi’s first two seasons at the helm of Inter.
It has understandably become a cliche that the “king of cup competitions” Inzaghi has made Inter a force in one-off and knockout matches once again.
In both of the last two campaigns, Inter have won both domestic cups. Last season, they beat Fiorentina in the final of the Coppa Italia to round out a perfect record in Italy’s cup competitions.
And perhaps even more impressive were Inzaghi and Inter’s exploits in the Champions League last season.
On the one hand, the Nerazzurri did not lift the trophy. They had to settle for runners-up status after losing to Manchester City in the final.
However, Inter put in a performance in that final that defied almost all expectations.
The Nerazzurri missed a slew of chances and could claim to be somewhat unlucky to have fallen to 0-1 defeat without at least forcing extra time against the Premier League’s dominant force.
And Inter’s victories against Barcelona, Porto, Benfica, and AC Milan to reach that final were no less impressive.
Now Simone Inzaghi Must Win Inter Milan The Serie A Title
But where Inzaghi’s work has had less success has been in the Italian top flight.
Both of the last two seasons have been broadly adequate for Inter in Serie A – they’ve finished in the top four on both occasions.
And last season, Inzaghi steered Inter out of a genuine crisis period to assert themselves in the final weeks of the campaign.
But there have been few doubts that the Nerazzurri have had what is necessary to do even better. On paper, they should fight for the Serie A title.
In Inzaghi’s first season in charge, Inter did fight for the Scudetto. They lost out to city rivals AC Milan on the very last day of the season.
Last season, by contrast, there was little fight. Napoli’s march to the title looked inevitable as early as January or February.
This time around, the Gazzetta suggests, Inzaghi will know that coming close or finishing in the top four aren’t enough. He will want to prove that he can take this Inter team all the way domestically.
