After the Calciopoli scandal rocked the football world, Inter were crowned the 2005-06 Scudetto winners once the dust had settled. As the new season approached and the league was trying to turn the page on an ugly chapter in it’s history, the Nerazzurri were heavy favorites to repeat as champions after further strengthening the team with additions of Zlatan Ibrahimović, Patrick Vieira and Maicon for a combined fee of €39 million.
Fiorentina were trying to re-establish themselves among Serie A elite. Following the successful years under the brilliance of Batistuta in the late 90s, Fiorentina had gone through a rough patch. Going through bankruptcy and returning back to Italy’s top flight in 2004, Viola were now starting the third season back in Serie A and were coming off a fantastic season from their star striker Luca Toni.
Inter traveled to Stadio Artemio Franchi with a heavy heart due to loss of club president and legend Giacinto Facchetti, who had passed away on September 4th, 2006. The team was determined to honor his legacy by starting the season on the right note and wore a black ribbon on the arm to mourn the death.
Before the match, Zanetti paid tribute to Facchetti, saying “I want to express the immense pain that the whole Nerazzurri family feels, we will miss Giacinto a lot, an extraordinary person in every sense and a very good human being. Facchetti was and always will remain one of the truest and authentic symbols of the heritage of an unrepeatable and unforgettable football in Milan.”
As the match got underway, Roberto Mancini’s men were lined up in a 4-3-1-2 formation with the striking partnership of Crespo and Ibrahimovic with Luis Figo in the trequartista role. Cambiasso, Dacourt, and Vieira as the midfield trio and Maicon, Cordoba, Materazzi, and Zanetti forming the defensive line in front of Francesco Toldo in goal.
To counter the Nerazzurri, Cesare Prandelli had Viola line up in a 4-3-2-1 formation with former Inter goal-keeper Sebastian Frey in goal and defensive line of Ujfalusi, Dainelli, Gamberini, and Pasqual. Midfield trio of Donadel, Montolivo, Blasi and attacking trident of Luca Toni, Adrian Mutu, and Massimo Gobbi.
Right from the start, Fiorentina defense was having trouble with the constant movement of the attacking trio. Their movement constantly stretched Viola defense wide, leaving spaces for midfielders to make late runs. Inter took full advantage of this mismatch and took the early lead at 11-minute mark.
Maicon’s trademark run straight at opposition defense, dragged Pasqual out of position, leaving ample space for Figo to run into his preferred right wing position. In doing so, forcing Gamberini to move to the wing to cover him, leaving the center of the box for Ibrahimovic. Defense fully aware of the threat he posed, double-teamed him which left Cambiasso completely unmarked inside the box to score Inter’s first of the night.
After conceding the early goal, Fiorentina tried to build-up their attack through Adrian Mutu on the left wing. Cutting in constantly on his right foot unsuccessfully tested Toldo from range on a number of occasions. Inter were comfortable in letting Fiorentina hold possession, being fully aware of their quick counter-attack and prolific attackers at the top.
Viola were unable to break down Inter defense, and allowed a second goal for the visitors resulting from a turnover in midfield. With the defenders fully occupied covering Crespo and Ibrahimovic in the attack, Figo found an unmarked Cambiasso yet again on the far left post, who grabbed his second goal of the game, giving the visitors a comfortable 2-0 lead going into half-time.
When play resumed in the second half, Prandelli hadn’t made any half-time adjustments and Inter continued to exploit the fragile Fiorentina defense. Cambiasso, already bagging a brace in the first half, set up Ibrahimovic’s debut goal for Inter at 51-minute mark as his perfectly weighted pass over the top of Fiorentina center-backs found the run of Ibrahimovic inside the box. With only Frey to beat, he struck the ball on the volley to put Inter firmly in charge of the match with a 3-0 lead. It should have been game over at that point, however with Pazza Inter mode enabled, Fiorentina fought back to make it tough match again.
Fiorentina added their first goal soon after, as Luca Toni headed home a cross from Adrian Mutu from the left wing following lack-luster defending. The goal gave Fiorentina some hope and Prandelli’s men were still going head to head, fighting and looking for the all-important second goal. With the prolific target-man center-forward in Luca Toni in the box, the idea was simple, push the ball out wide, cross it into the box. Toni came close a few times testing Toldo, before finally adding a second goal for Viola ten minutes after their first, heading home another cross this time from the right wing.
The score was 2-3 in favor of the visitors, with 11 minutes remaining of the match and Inter held strong to end the match. Figo came close to adding a fourth goal, however shot was wide of the target. Started the season on a positive note showing the full potential of what the team was capable of. With a plethora of attacking options and a deep bench to play with, Inter were on their way to a fantastic season where the team only lost one match and won the Scudetto with 97-points tally at the end of the season.
