With the conquest of the scudetto (and the second star) in the derby, the Nerazzurri have completed a journey that started much further back than it seems to all those who see the defeat against Guardiola’s team as the spark for the championship triumph
«The circle has closed» is one of those classic phrases that we use to convey the idea of something that has come to fruition in the best possible way. That is, like the path ofInter towards the conquest of his championship number 20, that of the second star. A star has arrived
1)
beating the Milan
2) that is, the rival team in town
3) but also the one that until Monday evening had won the same number of championships and therefore also aspired to cross the finish line first
4) and all this in a stadium 90% full of Rossoneri fans.
This, of course, is more than enough to explain the happiness that every Inter fan is experiencing these days. A happiness bordering on bliss thanks to a sense of completeness that derives precisely from that sensation of closing the circle. Even without wondering too much about what exactly the circle in question is. Yet, this is precisely what makes the difference.
The beginning
When that circle opened, it is easy to remember: between the 75th and 78th minute of the derby on 5 February 2022. The brace from Giroud overturns Inter’s initial lead in the match and reduces their lead in the standings, leaving them hanging on to the match that Inter must recover with Bologna. We know how it ended: with the Nerazzurri defeated at From the Ara and overtaken in the rankings. And something similar is repeated on 3 September 2022, with Inter taking the lead again and then losing 3-2. More than open, the circle seems to have been blown up, even considering the numerous defeats in the championship which statistically compromise the race for the championship very quickly. And instead.
From afar
And instead on 18 January 2023 Inter won the Italian Super Cup derby by a landslide Riadin Saudi Arabia. Then on February 5th (that is, speaking of closing circles, exactly one year after the one decided by the previous championship) the return to the championship will also take place. But above all, between 10 and 16 May, he eliminated Milan in the semi-finals of Champions Leaguewinning both matches thanks to an impressive technical, physical and competitive superiority. Who knows why, however, no one notices that even around those two matches there is a closing circle. Perhaps because it is a much broader circle, given that it comes from very far back in time: from 2003 and 2005, when twice Ancelotti’s Milan eliminated Inter first in the semi-finals and then in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, certifying a superiority in the European field also demonstrated by the 7 European Cups/Champions Leagues won. There is in the middle the Inter treble of 2010, it’s true: but Milan’s overtaking in the final of the 2021-2022 championship becomes a sort of Italian reiteration of that duel, which in fact never occurred again in the following 17 years. And it could be read like this: if Inter and Milan fight for a trophy, in the end it is the Rossoneri who win it.
The taboo
Here, with the Champions League semi-finals in May 2023, history is reversed. And beliefs waver. Milan stops being Inter’s decades-long European taboo. And at that point only one thing is missing: to regain the lost championship, closing the small circle enclosed within the large circle. This is what happens first with the devastating 5-1 on 16 September 2023, then with the 2-1 on Monday 22 April 2024. In geometry it is called the internal tangent point.
Cause and effect
And if all this may seem excessively abstract or metaphorical to you, think instead of how many times, in recent months, you have heard that this year’s splendid and (in the league) almost unbeatable Inter team was born in a precise moment: the Champions League final on 10 June 2023 in Istanbullost with the Manchester City but played on equal terms. It’s a refrain repeated so often and by so many people that even those who are part of that team have come to believe it. But it is more than likely that this is not the case. The circle that closed last Monday at San Siro is the result of the one that closed at the end of the double semi-final of the Champions League and which, in turn, is what determined the extraordinary and unfortunate match in Istanbul. A match that is therefore an effect, not a cause. Or rather, not just cause. The lost Champions League final is the penultimate piece, the one that gives the final push. A very powerful push, which reaches up to the derby three days ago. When, now yes, all the circles are closed. And it will be interesting to see what story begins (and what circle opens) from now on.
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April 25, 2024 (changed April 25, 2024 | 06:55)
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