Inter on cloud nine
Nerazzurri fans party in Milan after 19th serie a title triumph
MILAN: Thousands thronged onto the Milan streets as Inter claimed a first Serie A title in 11 years to end rivals Juventus’ nine-year reign.
Antonio Conte’s side clinched their 19th Scudetto after Atalanta drew 1-1 at Sassuolo to leave the Nerazzurri 13 points clear with four games remaining. Conte had started Juventus’ record run, winning the first three titles in a streak that stretched from 2012 to 2020.
The 51-year-old took over Inter in 2019 and lifted the trophy against their bitter rivals after finishing second last season.
“This triumph is one of the biggest achievements in my career,” said Conte, who also won the English Premier League with Chelsea in 2017.
“It wasn’t an easy choice for me to go to Inter, at a time when the team were not used to winning. They were also the direct rivals of Juventus, my former club.”
Inter are now the second most successful team in Italy, one league success ahead of bitter city rivals AC Milan’s 18, but still some way short of Juventus’ 36.
The Lombardy side had not won the title since Jose Mourinho’s historic Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup treble in 2010.
Their last trophy was the Italian Cup in 2011 and they missed out on the Champions League for six seasons before Luciano Spalletti took them back to Europe’s top club competition in 2018.
Conte is the 13th coach since Mourinho to sit on the Nerazzurri bench and the club have changed hands twice over the past decade.
Billionaire Massimo Moratti, whose family controls Italian oil refiner Saras Group, sold Inter to a consortium led by Indonesian business tycoon Erik Thohir in 2013, with Chinese electronics retailer Suning Holdings Group taking a majority stake in 2016.
It is the first time that a foreign-owned Italian team have won the league title.
“It’s emotional, and a special time for everyone involved in this project and who has been with us on this journey,” said Inter president Steven Zhang. “To our fans throughout the world, in Milan and in Italy, this Scudetto is for you.