“Fino alla fine, Forza Juventus”. This is the chant that the Bianconeri fans can be heard singing during the final minutes of all most every Juventus match. In English, it simply means “until the very end”. A chant that pays tribute’s to the club’s notorious habit of snatching last-gasp wins. In the Premier League, they have a term that describes the last few minutes of a football match, as some call it “Fergie Time” in reference to the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson who led Manchester United to numerous victories thanks to added time winners (including an unforgettable Champions League triumph). But in the recent weeks, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter are slowly but surely cementing themselves as the new added time experts.
Despite the Old Lady’s famous mantra, it was the Nerazzurri who sealed the Italian Super Cup thanks to a 121st minute winner at the expense of their arch-rivals.
During the previous week, the Italian champions appeared to be all set for a shocking elimination from the Coppa Italia at the hands of Empoli, but Andrea Ranocchia’s acrobatic effort equaled the scoring right before the final whistle. Of course Inzaghi’s men eventually won the day following extra-time.
Few days later, Venezia were few minutes away from pulling off the upset of the weekend by holding Inter to a 1-1 draw, but Edin Dzeko chose the right timing to break his duck in front of goal, and heading home a 90th minute winner.
So how did Inter suddenly become added time experts? The reasons may be numerous, but perhaps it can be summarized in just three.
The Champions’ Aura
Let’s start with the mental aspect. After winning the Scudetto title the last season, Inter are no longer a club wandering without a clear direction. Now surely a summer turmoil sent some worrying signals to say the least, but with Giuseppe Marotta leading the sporting department, the project remains in safe and capable hands.
As the reigning and defending champions of Italy, a certain aura can now be felt at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium every time Inter takes the field.
Despite some changes in personnel last summer, this remains largely the same squad that won the Italian crown and as a consequence ended the longest winning dynasty in Italian football.
Sometimes, a little self-belief can do all the difference.
Squad Depth
While some of the others managers in Serie A are struggling to field a decent starting lineup amidst injury crisis and Covid-19 outbreaks, Inzaghi has always been able to introduce five strong substitutes during the match, bolstering his side with much-needed energy for the latter stages of the match without having to make sacrifices in terms of quality.
Take the Supercoppa Italiana as an example. While Massimiliano Allegri failed to make any real impact with his changes, three Inter subs combined to score a last-gasp winner. We’re talking about Federico Dimarco, Matteo Darmian and Alexis Sanchez – three players who would have been regular starters anywhere else in Italy.
Superior Quality
We talked about the quantity, but at the end of the day, it all goes down to the quality present in the Nerazzurri’s squad.
The fact that a benchwarmer and a wantaway like Stefano Sensi can enter a Coppa Italia fixture and seal the victory with a wonderful strike speaks volume in this regard.
While the rest of the field contains courageous clubs who try their best to unbalance the reigning champions, sometimes their physical conditions could drop by the end of the game, and they end up submitting to a team that is superior in terms of quality.
All in all, besting Inter won’t be an easy task for any other side in Italy this season, and despite the departure of Antonio Conte and his Juventus-esque style of football, it is in fact his successor who managed to produce a side that expertizes in fighting until the very end.