After a season that promised glory on three fronts, Inter Milan arrive at the Club World Cup seeking redemption. The Italian side came up empty-handed, but still have enough firepower to dream big in the United States.
1) Who will Inter Milan face at the Club World Cup?
Inter Milan have been drawn into Group E and these are their group stage fixtures:
17 June: vs Monterrey. Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.
21 June: vs Urawa Red Diamonds. Lumen Field, Seattle.
25 June: vs River Plate. Lumen Field, Seattle.
2) Domestic titles
Internazionale Milano are the second-most successful team in Serie A history, behind only fierce rivals and fellow-Club World Cup participants Juventus in terms of title.
Inter and A.C. Milan were both tied on 19 Scudetti, Juve have 36, until I Nerazzurri secured the 2023/24 title by virtue of a 2-1 victory in the Derby della Madonnina at San Siro on an historic night.
3) Continental success
Meantime, Inter have been crowned champions of Europe on three occasions. They won back-to-back European Cups under the legendary Helenio Herrera in 1964 and '65, before José Mourinho's team of 2009/10 became the first Italian side to complete the treble, beating Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Bernabéu back then.
4) A season that promised so much
Well, as recently as 23 April, Simone Inzaghi's team were on course to repeat Mourinho's treble triumph, but ended up empty handed. First, Il Biscione were beaten 3-2 by Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana Final, despite leading 2-0, before their biggest rivals also dumped them out of the Coppa Italia at the semi-final stage.
Meantime, in Serie A, they were unable to retain the Scudetto, ultimately finishing just one point below champions Napoli, having conceded a stoppage time penalty at home to Lazio in their penultimate fixture. Thus, they were all in on the Champions League, reaching a seventh final, having dumped out Bayern Munich and Barcelona en route. Well, the match will go down in history as the most one-side European Cup Final of all time, with Inter demolished 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain, probably fortunate it wasn't even worse, a pitiful way to end a season that promised so much.
5) Past Club World Cup expirence
This will be Internazionale's second FIFA Club World Cup appearance, winning the competition in 2010, demolishing both Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and TP Mazembe 3-0 in Abu Dhabi back then.
Meantime, I Nerazzurri also prevailed both times they featured in the Intercontinental Cup. Inter defeated Independiente in extra time of a replay, after the series finished all square over two legs, in 1964, before defeating the same Argentine opposition 3-0 on aggregate 12 months later.
6) Inter Milan players to watch: Lautaro Martínez
Speaking of Argentine, Inter's main man for goals this summer will surely be Lautaro Martínez.
Since arriving from Racing Club in 2018, the club captain has scored 151 goals in 331 appearances for I Nerazzurri, leaving him sixth on their all-time list, still 133 shy of Giuseppe Meazza's record that has stood for 78 years. Martínez was the Capocannoniere last season and scored 22 times across all competition this time round, so can he fire Inter to glory stateside?
7) Inter Milan players to watch: Marcus Thuram
Meanwhile, very few teams at this tournament can boast as potent a strike partnership as Inter.
Since making the move from Borussia Mönchengladbach two years ago, Marcus Thuram has racked up 33 goals for Inter, 18 of which came this season, including four during their run to the Champions League Final. Alongside Martínez, these two will cause problems for everyone they come up against.
8) Inter Milan players to watch: Denzel Dumfries
Elsewhere, one of the primary attacking threats that this team boast is their right-wing-back.
Denzel Dumfries has scored 22 goals and registered 26 assists in 177 appearances for Inter so far, 11 and six respectively of which came during his most productive season in black and blue. Most-notably, the Dutch international bagged a brace during the thrilling 3-3 draw with Barcelona at Montjuïc in the Champions League semi-finals, accumulating three assists across that tie too.
9) Manager Cristian Chivu: thrown in at the deep end
Following their humiliating hammering at the hands of PSG, Simone Inzaghi departed as manager to take over fellow-Club World Cup participants Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia. His tenure ended in heartbreak, but it should not be forgotten the excellent job Inzaghi did during four seasons at San Siro, winning a Scudetto, two Coppa Italias, three successive Supercoppas and reaching two Champions League Finals in three years. Thus, he will certainly be a tough man to replace.
Well, as his successor, they have decided to appoint Cristian Chivu, who will not have long to get ready for Inter's tournament opener in LA. Having previously been in charge of Il Biscione's primavera teams at various youth levels, the Romanian took his first senior management role as recently as February, appointed Parma boss. In his 13 matches, Chivu won three, drew seven and lost three, helping guide I Gialloblu to safety, finishing five points clear of the drop zone.
As a player, Chivu made 169 appearances for Inter, winning nine major honours, including the treble in 2010, but will be under pressure to make a strong first impression stateside this summer.
10) Will Inter go all the way?
I Nerazzurri will kick off their Club World Cup campaign against Monterrey in Los Angeles, before facing both Urawa Red Diamonds and then River Plate 1,135 miles north in Seattle.
Inter are surely favourites to top Group E and, despite the abomination that was the Champions League Final, they have to be considered amongst the front runners to go all the way, potentially even meeting PSG in the final in East Rutherford on 13 July.