Inter Milan have won the 2020/21 Serie A title for the first time in 11 years.
The Nerazzurri's clinched their 19th “Scudetto” on Sunday after nearest rivals Atalanta drew 1-1 at Sassuolo to leave the “Nerazzurri” 13 points clear with four games to spare.
They had won their game away to Ctotone 2-0, with Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen and Moroccan full-back Achraf Hakimi scored both goals at the Ezio Scida Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The victory for Inter Milan is extraordinary because it marked the 14th time this season that Conte's team has kept a clean sheet, and bringing to an end Juventus’s nine successive years of dominance in Italian football.
Though it has been an underwhelming season for Juve, as the Turin club's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League could be further jeopardized by Inter when the two teams meet on May 15.
Antonio Conte had been the manager who started Juventus’s record nine-years run in 2012, winning the first three titles in a streak.
When Juve appointed Conte in May 2011, the Turin club had finished seventh in Serie A as AC Milan pipped Inter to the title the previous season. He was the manager who also won Juve's first Scudetto since 2002 (9-years).
The former Chelsea manager took over Inter Milan in May 2019 after winning the Premier League with the Blues in 2017.
He finished second last season behind Juventus with just a point separating both sides.
“I’m astonished,” said Antonio Conte after Inter emerged Champions of the Serie A for the first time since Jose Mourinho’s historic Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia treble in 2010.
“We’re breaking up a dynasty. Not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that we’d make up this much ground on the team that dominated Serie A for nine years in the space of two seasons.”
Conte is the 13th manager since Mourinho to sit on Inter's hot-seat, having missed out of the Champions League for six seasons, before returning to European competition in 2018 under former manager Luciano Spalletti.
Thousands of Nerazzurri fans gathered in the main square outside the Duomo di Milano with flags and scarves, chanting and singing as they jumped and clapped with little heed to coronavirus restrictions. Almost all wore masks but many were pulled down below their chins.
“We are, yes, we are. Champions of Italy. We can finally scream it, after dreaming of it, after keeping it hidden in the depths of our hearts, after holding on to it like a precious dream that we did not want to waste,” read a lengthy statement on the Inter Milan website.
Inter's 19th league title, have now surpassed city rivals AC Milan with the most league trophies won in Italy, but are still some way behind Juventus’s 36 titles.
Post a Comment