As the group stage of this season's Champions League came to a conclusion, one of the standout fixtures of the final matchday was the match between Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Real won 2-0 to clinch first place in Group D. Toni Kroos and Marco Asensio scored the goals which ensured that Los Merengues would most likely avoid one of the favourites to win the tournament in the round of 16. Real were also aided by a completely needless Nicolò Barella red card which came due to a scrap with Éder Militão.
Inter will now have to play against a first-placed team in the round of 16. It is now rather unlikely that they will advance to the quarterfinals; thus, as far as Champions League participation is concerned, Inter probably won't make a deep run for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals in the 2010-11 season, when they were the reigning champions.
Looking back, Inter's best chance to be a serious contender to win a fourth Champions League title in the club's history was last season. This was a team which was utterly loaded with talent. Last season's squad featured players such as Achraf Hakimi, Christian Eriksen, Lautaro Martínez, Stefan de Vrij, and of course, star striker Romelu Lukaku. Inter also had elite coaching through Antonio Conte.
Inter won their first Serie A title in a decade last season, finishing ahead of city rivals AC Milan by a massive 12-point margin. However, their Champions League campaign could not have been in starker contrast. Despite having been placed into a fairly easy group containing Borussia Mönchengladbach, Shakhtar Donetsk, and the weakest Real team in many years, the Nerazzurri somehow managed to finish dead last among the quartet and thus even missed the Europa League berth provided to third-placed teams.
Had Inter advanced from the group stage as had been expected, a deep run could've been on the cards. For that matter, if things had broken just right, they could even have conceivably gone all the way. A second-place finish in their Champions League group last season would've seen Inter face off against Manchester City in the round of 16. While Inter would not have been the favourites over two legs against City, they would have had a puncher's chance at the very least. Certainly, Inter would've offered more of a challenge than did Gladbach - City's actual opponents in that round.
If Inter had advanced to the quarterfinals, they would've played against Borussia Dortmund. This matchup would likely have come down to a duel between Lukaku and Dortmund ace Erling Haaland. Once again, an Inter victory would not have been inconceivable. While a subsequent two-legged fixture against Paris Saint-Germain as well as the final against Chelsea would also have been unlikely victories, it would not have been as though Inter would've had no chance whatsoever in either matchup.
However, Inter are now a great deal weaker today than they were last season. Over the off-season, Conte left and was replaced by former Lazio head coach Simone Inzaghi. Chelsea signed Lukaku for €115 million; Hakimi also left the San Siro to join PSG for €60 million. Eriksen, meanwhile, has all but officially retired after having suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark at Euro 2020. None of Inter's off-season acquisitions to replace these players particularly moved the needle; this is somewhat disappointing given the enormous amounts of money Inter received for the departures of Lukaku and Hakimi.
Of course, Inter's season as a whole has not yet been completely lost. They are currently second in Serie A, just one point behind Milan. Inter are currently riding a four-match winning streak in the league. With Napoli slumping and Juventus continuing to struggle, Inter might just end up with back-to-back Scudetti for the first time in 12 years. A league and cup double, though rather unlikely, is therefore also not out of the question.
However, it's now highly unlikely that Inter will be the ones to break Italy's Champions League-winning drought which dates back to their own triumph during their legendary treble season of 2009-10. They might now be ruing their missed opportunity last season. Would they have won it all? Probably not - but their chances were definitely more than "almost zero" as they are now.
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