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#1 Under Spalletti, Inter could be onto something this season
Once one of Europe's biggest teams, Inter Milan reached the peak of their powers towards the end of the previous decade when they won the Italian Scudetto for three consecutive seasons, culminating with their treble triumph in 2010.
Since then however, it has been downhill for the three-time European champions, as a string of off-field problems manifested itself into poor results on the pitch. Prior to this season, they had not made it to the Champions League since their poor defence of their crown in 2011, and have struggled to show any form of consistency in their play, wandering around in mid-table obscurity for much of the last five seasons.
A host of coaches have come and gone, as the Inter manager’s seat became notorious for its rapid hiring and firing of its occupant. Luciano Spalletti was appointed in the summer of 2017, and it was believed that his arrival would turn around the fortunes of the club, as he had shown his tactical nous in multiple top-tier sides, most notably at AS Roma where he earned rave reviews for positively influencing the way the Giallarossi played.
Under his guidance Inter led the Serie A table for much of the first few months, and were in title contention for much of the campaign before they fell away during the latter stages of the season. Despite this, they managed to secure qualification for the Champions League for the first time in six years, during an encouraging debut season under the 59-year-old.
During the current campaign, Spalletti has continued where he left off from last season - the club finds themselves in third place in the league standings, just six points behind leaders Juventus. Meanwhile in the Champions League, they are also in pole position to make it out of their tough group, which features Barcelona, Tottenham and PSV.
On a nine-match winning run across all competitions, this confidence was evident during this derby as their self-belief triumphed in dramatic circumstances here. Inter have fallen from their impressive heights in recent years but Spalletti has shown that he could be the man to restore them back to the pinnacle of Italian football.
