After being crowned champions of Italy in 2024, Inter started this season with the status of the team to beat in Serie A. What's more, after a summer of transfers, which made the Nerazzurri even more competitive, there was an immediate conviction that the team had all the cards to compete across competitions. And so it has proved.
Taking advantage of the progressive growth of some individuals and the maturation of the team, Inter made it clear from the start that the 2024/25 season could have been the one for them, even if the first weeks were not the best in the league, with two somewhat unexpected draws in the first four matches.
Inter finished second in Serie AFlashscore
A unique ability to react to setbacks
A constant of this Nerazzurri team has been to always react to the most negative moments, refusing to be sucked into dangerous negative spirals.
There have been missteps in Inter's season (the number of defeats doubled compared to the previous season), but the team has always shown that it is immediately able to bounce back.
That happened twice after the derby defeats against AC Milan and following the Leverkusen slip-up in 2024, then again in 2025, in response to away defeats against Fiorentina and Juventus.
Specifically, after poor defensive performances at the start of the season, which had manager Simone Inzaghi somewhat worried, the squad responded with an enviable series of clean sheets.
The only serious signs of collapse were in April, when the team collected an incredible string of three losses without scoring (this had not happened since 2012). They also overcame this thanks to brilliant performances in the Champions League.
Even in Europe, Inter showed enviable fortitude in individual matches, immediately cancelling out Bayern Munich and Barcelona's goals in the playoff stages with strong reactions that were anything but trivial, like a real team fighting until the end.
Steady growth in Europe
Inter limped along here and there during the season, even badly losing the Italian Super Cup in January against AC Milan, but in Europe, they offered a mature and almost invulnerable version of themselves.
This continental pedigree has not been built up in a few weeks but is the fruit of Inzaghi's work over a three-year period, when Inter had to digest defeats against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid but also gained valuable lessons and victories that consolidated their self-esteem in no small measure.
How Inter finished in the league phase of the Champions LeagueFlashscore
This process also involved overcoming difficulties and learning how to deal with them. Having started the European campaign with a precious 0-0 draw in Manchester, probably the most feared match of the eight to be faced in the first phase, Inter strung together many victories one after the other, both at home and away, only tainted by the 1-0 loss suffered in Germany.
Of all the successes, the home win against Arsenal, defending for a long time and collecting just 37% of ball possession, and the away one against Young Boys, which came in the 93rd minute, had the biggest impacts on the Nerazzurri's Champions League, increasing their conviction in their own means.
Moments of magic in the playoffs
Leaving aside the tie against Feyenoord, an inferior opponent but one that tested Inter, the Italians had a lot to do to get past their other playoff opponents, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Goals from Harry Kane and Lamine Yamal (three between the first leg and the second leg of the semi-final) in those ties forced Inter to fight back, with the final flash of brilliance from Francesco Acerbi in the semi-final second leg proving Simone Inzaghi's team are unmatched for mental resilience.
Martinez's goals key to success
If scoring is the key to winning, Lautaro Martinez is surely the one who can decide the final. Bouyed by the World Cup he won in 2022, the Argentine has increased his hunger for success by showing he is absolutely at ease on every stage.
The South American is not the only player to have won international titles in this Inter, however. Together with him are Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella (European Championship winners in 2021), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Europa League winner in 2017 with Matteo Darmian, and Conference League winner in 2022), Benjamin Pavard (Champions League winner in 2020), Marko Arnautovic (Champions League winner in 2010) and Joaquin Correa (Copa America winner in 2021). It's certainly a team of winners.
But Martinez has been the constant in this Champions League season, scoring nine goals so far and in five matches in a row, becoming Inter's all-time top scorer in the competition in the process.