Founded in 1908 by splitting with AC Milan, which it finds on Tuesday on the occasion of the semi-final second leg of the Champions League, the internal team has recently relied on a large number of Italian players, for the best.
In 2010, Inter Milan won the Champions League final against Bayern Munich (2-0). In the eleven interist: three Brazilians, four Argentinians but no Italian. A deal that has since changed since there were five Transalpine holders in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against AC Milan (2-0), whose return is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16, at the Giuseppe-Meazza stadium.
Arrived in December 2018 at the presidency of the Nerrazzuri after eight years as executive director of Juventus, the Lombard leader Giuseppe Marotta has established a new trend at the club. “The idea was to follow the same policy as the Turinese and their 100% Italian defense with Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Gianluigi Buffon, without forgetting Andrea Pirlo”, explains Paolo Tomaselli, Italian journalist at Corriere della Sera.
A new Italian fiber
“Relying on more Italian players was a desire clearly displayed by President Giuseppe Marottacontinues Paolo Tomaselli. He always said that Italians have a strong identity. According to him, they know the importance of the jersey, become aware of what this mythical stadium represents and can better teach these codes to foreign players”.
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While Inter had been accustomed to counting, unless believed exceptional, only on three to six Italian players since 2007 – for an average of 20% of its workforce mobilized (at least five games played) -, the arrival of “Beppe “Marotta made itself felt from the first summer transfer window in 2019. Under the impetus of a newly appointed Antonio Conte on the bench, several young shooters from the Boot were recruited, such as midfielder Nicolo Barella.
Despite a training center far from being as efficient as on our side of the Alps – according to CIES data, Inter ranks 39th in the number of active trained players among the five major championships (13) -, a few nuggets like the full-back Federico Dimarco have also been integrated into the professional group.
For the best. With an azzurra backbone, the Interists won the championship in 2021, ending nine years of Piedmontese hegemony. Before leaving the C1 groups last year for the first time since 2012, then finally reaching the semi-finals of the event in 2023, thanks in particular to two goals from Barella in the quarter-finals against Benfica but above all five assists from Dimarco on the edition. The latest, for Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the second goal against Milan rivals.
The break with the interist tradition
With now eight Italians regularly used this season by Simone Inzaghi, the current Serie A thirds have somehow broken with the club’s original tradition. Founded in 1908, FC Internazionale takes its name from the reasons that led its founders to split with Milan Cricket and Football Club, now AC Milan.
At the time, the Italian Federation wanted to ban the presence of foreign players in its championship, thus forcing the Rossoneri to comply with the rule when the club had just been created by an English expatriate. Enough to initiate the beginning of a fratricidal rivalry which punctuates from the Lombard capital and of which a new chapter must be written on Tuesday.