Roma-Inter, the challenges: Mourinho and Inzaghi, Dybala and Lautaro…

Simone Inzaghi and José Mourinho. Inter, Roma, the Olympic stadium and the Argentines Lautaro, Dybala and… Milito. This afternoon’s maxi encounter brings back unforgettable memories of the Nerazzurri fans, those of the year of the treble with Special One as the undisputed protagonist, and makes us think positively in view of the future. Napoli has already celebrated the Scudetto and there won’t be a treble bis, but the hope of the Inter fans is that 2022-23 will bring more satisfaction after the Italian Super Cup. Nobody dares to say the word Champions, but the dream (“Not obsession” as the Portuguese said on the eve of the semi-final against Barcelona) is the same as it was thirteen years ago.

FROM ROME TO ROME

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In 2010 it all started at the Olimpico, with the victory in the final of the Italian Cup against Roma. Marco Materazzi reminded the Juventus fans who teased him about… May 5, 2002 and Inter’s “sporting suicide” in the capital against Lazio. On 5 May 2010, Zanetti and his teammates lifted the first of those three trophies that projected Massimo Moratti’s club into history. Three days earlier, Sunday 2 May, they had prepared the ground by beating Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio who was in his last season as a footballer, but he sat in the stands because he had ended his career early. A double victory at the Olimpico in the span of 72 hours. This year Inter will play in the capital this afternoon and Wednesday 24, on the occasion of the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina. Two wins would give away the second trophy of the season and would allow an important, perhaps decisive, step towards qualifying for the next Champions League given that the Giallorossi would be five points behind with four matches remaining. A margin of no small importance.

LAZIALE SIMON

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Inzaghi will return as an opponent to the city that was his home for 22 years. Piacenza, where he was born, remains … Piacenza, but Rome … is Rome. He will stop there at the end of the season, to say goodbye to friends, before leaving for the holidays. For over two decades, Simone has had the biancoceleste shirt like a second skin. First as a player, with the historic Scudetto of 1999-2000 and the other six trophies raised to the sky, but also with triumphs as a coach, first with Primavera (two Italian Cups and one Italian Super Cup) and then with the first team (one Italian Cup and two Italian Super Cups). It took Inter to make him say no to the renewal of the contract that Lotito had proposed to him in May 2021: everything seemed done for his stay on the Biancoceleste bench and instead, halfway through the dinner organized to sanction the signing until 2024, the Marotta’s phone call changed the tables. However, the Olimpico still feels that Inzaghi is “his” stadium, even if today he won’t be welcomed by the applause of the Lazio players, but by the whistles of the Roma fans. As a footballer he never gave them a displeasure by scoring in the derby, but on the other hand, as a coach, he beat them 4 times in the derby matches. He will pretend not to hear the whistles or maybe he will concentrate on the choruses of the Nerazzurri’s Curva Nord, which has never … abandoned him. Not even after the defeat against Monza, number 11 in Serie A.

SPECIAL… FOR EVERYONE

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The yellow and red people, on the other hand, will welcome their leader José Mourinho as a hero. Well, for Special One the ovation will bring both fans together because the Portuguese will be an opponent for ninety minutes this afternoon, but for the Inter fans he can never be an enemy. On the treble there is his indelible signature and, thirteen years later, the Nerazzurri supporters smile hearing Mou’s refereeing controversies. The last Wednesday against Chiffi … He fought the same battles in 2009-10 (remember the gesture of handcuffing Tagliavento?) In which he was entrenched at the Pinetina: he and his group against everything and everyone. The winning formula for building a business. Will the same happen in the shadow of the Colosseum, where he will attack the Europa League and qualify for the next Champions League? To get to the top four in Serie A, he’ll have to beat “his” Inter. A blow to the heart for the half of Milan that still loves him.

ARGENTINES

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And then there’s the cross between the Argentine world champions who will start from the bench. Paulo Dybala because he’s not in top condition, Lautaro because Inzaghi wants to dose his energy in this season finale. On May 2, 2010 Mourinho did the same with Milito, who started on the bench against Lazio, but three days later he was the starter and decisive, with the 1-0 goal, in the victory of the Italian Cup final. Martinez, who has already scored more than the Principe for the Nerazzurri (he’s three goals away from 100), would like to be a protagonist both today and with Fiorentina on Wednesday 24. So far, he has “designed” a season with 23 goals and dreams of exceeding his personal best of 25 (set 2021-22). Maybe reaching 30 points, like Bernal’s centre-forward, who was his partner and director at Racing. Diego also scored in the semi-final of the Champions League against Barcelona, ​​the first (and only) game in his career, and then scored two against Bayern Munich, in the final at the Bernabeu. The Bull will live the first semifinal of the most prestigious cup of the Old Continent on Wednesday, in the derby that the Prince liked so much. Lautaro dreams of beating the Devil to fly to Istanbul on June 10th. But first there are the Olimpico and Roma, a non-trivial intersection. For many of today’s protagonists.