No one truly knew what to expect when Inter Milan took to the San Siro to kick off their 2025/26 season against Torino.

The way the Nerazzurri ended last term was an unmitigated disaster, internally combusting to miss out on the Scudetto to Napoli, losing in the Coppa Italia semifinals to rivals AC Milan, and finally suffering a brutal 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the most lopsided UEFA Champions League final of all time.

If that wasn’t bad enough, their FIFA Club World Cup campaign left plenty to be desired as well. 

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New boss Cristian Chivu took charge of league action for the first time, and it was clear that the Romanian had already stamped his authority on a talented Inter squad.

Five goals. Zero in the way of a reply. Less of a victory, more of a statement, and one that online sports betting sites certainly took notice of.

Heading into the new season, Bovada sports betting odds made Inter a distant second-favourite to win Serie A, sitting well behind reigning champions Napoli in the odds lists. Now, however, prices on the Nezzaruri reclaiming the Scudetto have been slashed to 9/4. Much of that is because of their opening day demolition of Torino, but how does this year’s crushing season opener compare to their best in recent years? Let’s find out. 

2021/22: Inter Milan 4-0 Genoa

Nothing reveals a team’s true character quite like defending a title. When Genoa arrived at the San Siro at the start of the 2021/22 campaign, they encountered an Inter side hungry to prove their Scudetto triumph wasn’t a fluke. What followed was 90 minutes of championship-calibre football that showcased exactly why this team had broken Juventus’s nine-year stranglehold on Serie A.

The numbers painted a picture of complete superiority. Inter registered 16 shots to Genoa’s 10, enjoyed 60% possession, and completed 88% of their passes in a display that combined patience with devastating efficiency.

Milan Škriniar’s sixth-minute opener set the tempo with the kind of defender’s finish that proved that the Nezzaruriri meant business under new boss Simone Inzaghi. Then, Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s 14th-minute thunderbolt elevated the performance to another level entirely. 

An hour would pass before Inter flexed their muscles once again. Late goals from Arturo Vidal and a debut strike from veteran striker Edin Džeko completed a 4-0 rout filled with tactical sophistication, individual brilliance, and the kind of killer instinct that separates champions from pretenders. 

2019/20: Inter Milan 4-0 Lecce

When Antonio Conte arrived at Inter in the summer of 2019, he brought with him a tactical philosophy that would transform not just how the Nerazzurri played, but how they thought about football itself.

Lecce’s opening day visit on August 26th provided the perfect laboratory for this tactical experiment—and the results were nothing short of spectacular.

The San Siro bore witness to a revolution starting at the ground level. Conte’s 3-5-2 formation stretched play horizontally while creating vertical overloads that Lecce simply couldn’t handle: 73% possession, 25 shots, and a pass completion rate of 91% in one of the most dominant Inter performances of all time. 

Marcelo Brozović’s 21st-minute opener encapsulated everything Conte demanded from his midfield general.

The Croatian’s positioning between the lines, his awareness of space, and the technical execution of a strike that flew into the top corner demonstrated the kind of tactical intelligence that would become this team’s calling card. 

Stefano Sensi’s debut goal three minutes later proved why the Italian was so highly rated, weaving through Lecce’s defense before finishing clinically and showcasing the kind of technical player that the new system was designed to unleash.

Romelu Lukaku’s 59th-minute strike announced the arrival of a new goalscoring hero to the Nerazzurri faithful, before Antonio Candreva’s 87th-minute screamer put the cherry on top of an already deliciously built cake. 

The season that followed would ultimately end in heartbreak, with Juventus claiming yet another Scudetto, finishing just one solitary point ahead of Conte’s men. But this opening night provided a glimpse of the future—and that future looked irresistibly bright.

2017/18: Inter 3-0 Fiorentina

Hope can be the cruellest emotion in football. When Luciano Spalletti’s Inter dismantled Fiorentina 3-0 in August 2017, it sparked dreams of a return to the summit that would ultimately prove premature. Yet for 90 minutes, the football on display suggested that Inter’s long exile from elite competition might finally be drawing to a close.

The statistical foundation was impressive—68% possession, 18 shots to Fiorentina’s seven, and a defensive performance that limited the visitors to just two efforts on target.

Mauro Icardi’s brace demonstrated the Argentine’s lethal finishing ability, while Ivan Perišić’s contribution highlighted the balanced attack that would become Spalletti’s signature.

The cruel twist? This brilliant beginning would prove to be a mirage. Despite launching an extraordinary 16-game unbeaten run at the start of the season, Inter managed just seven victories in the campaign’s second half.

The brilliance that seemed unstoppable in August had evaporated by February, but Inter would ultimately secure a UEFA Champions League return after seven years away, even if the Scudetto remained a far-fetched dream.