The Inter Milan football team keeps alive its dream of succeeding in the event in the first season with Cristian Chivu (45 years old) as coach. Second-placed leader in Serie A, the Lombard group dramatically eliminated Como from the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. “Pazza Inter (Mad Inter),” captioned the Italian press in the online edition.
After 0-0 in the round, Inter prevailed on Tuesday evening, at home, score 3-2, even though Inter did not have captain Lautaro Martinez. The team of Cesc Fabregas (38 years old) scored the first, through the Croatian Baturina (32) and the French Da Cunha (48).
The Turkish Calhanoglu (69 and 86), with a shot from the edge of the big box and a header, restored the tie. The winning goal came in the 89th minute, being the work of Croatian Petar Susic.
Chivu’s victory is even sweeter as Fabregas turned down Inter in the summer, preferring to stay at Como, and the management of the Millenians chose the Romanian.
Inter stays with the championship and will find out its rival in the final tomorrow, after the game Atalanta – Lazio (2-2 in the round, in Rome).
The former Romanian international is about to become the first post-war international to win the title both as a player and as a coach! Before him, the only one who had managed such a feat was Armando Castellazzi, but in April 1938!
A select company awaited him if he succeeded in the event. Antonio Janni, Carlo Parola, Ottavio Bianchi, Marcello Lippi, Sven Goran Eriksson, José Mourinho and Massimiliano Allegri are the coaches who have achieved the Italian double: scudetto and Coppa Italia.
Hopes of qualifying for the grand final were huge. Not only the round score helps. And tradition was on Inter’s side. The Como side have not beaten Inter at the San Siro for 76 years and in total since 1985. Their only away win dates back to May 14, 1950.
The Nerazzurri manager will win the Scudetto at the first attempt, as will José Mourinho, the man he won the Treble with as a player in 2009-10. Chivu, however, can win both the championship and the cup at the first attempt. In 2008–09, José won the title but was knocked out in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia by Sampdoria.
The first to achieve the double was Antonio Janni, the coach of AC Torino’s first title in the 1942-43 season. It was the last season before the war suspended the championship.
The second manager to achieve the double was Carlo Parola. As manager of Juventus, he won the championship and the Coppa Italia in the 1959-60 season. Next on the list was Napoli and Maradona coach Ottavio Bianchi who won the Italian title and cup in the 1986-87 season, the Neapolitans first Scudetto Marcello Lippi also joined the list in the 1994-95 season. The Bianconeri, with players such as Baggio, Del Piero, Ravanelli and Vialli, clearly dominated the championship, before also winning the Coppa Italia.
The list of ‘double’ winners also includes Sven Goran Eriksson in 1999-00 and José Mourinho in 2009-10, who also won the Champions League. Chivu started in two of the three decisive matches, missing only the Siena-Inter championship match. Max Allegri, however, remains the undisputed dominator, winning the double with Juve four times in a row. The current AC Milan coach won the league and Coppa Italia from 2014-15 to 2017-18. They beat Lazio twice and Milan twice, while in Serie A they finished ahead of Roma twice and Napoli twice.
Chivu aims to join these glorious names.
