It is mission accomplished for Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi, who led his Inter Milan to their 20th Scudetto triumph in April, and in some style.
There was plenty of drama in the final full round of the Serie A campaign last weekend, but Inter were long gone, and they eventually won the title by a whopping 19 points. And, after watching AC Milan and Napoli win the league in 2022 and 2023, this was the perfect answer from Inzaghi after he picked up his first league title as a manager.
AC Milan and Juventus have had to settle for second best for some time, and while I Rossoneri have been confirmed in second place, the Old Lady will drop to fourth if Atalanta win their final game at home to Fiorentina.
The Serie A 2024 betting odds here at SBOTOP backed a Nerazzurri triumph very early in the campaign, and they saw off their biggest challengers in a ruthless fashion. And when you look at the players Inzaghi has in his ranks and the way they gelled into a near-perfect Italian team, you can see why.
Difficult to break down, Inter had by far the best defence, conceding just 22 goals, and marshalled for much of the campaign by the veteran Francesco Acerbi, with the excellent Yann Sommer as the last line of defence. But this is a modern Italian team with flair by the bucketload, and led by Capocannoniere winner Lautaro Martinez, they have scored a whopping 89 goals.
World Cup winner Martinez has bagged 24, eight goals more than Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic, and he has been joined in the top ten by team-mates Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu, who have scored 13 each. And the team has been held together by midfield maestro Nicolo Barella; the vice-captain has oozed class from start to finish.
The 2024 Nerazzurri team are untouchable.
Inter’s foot on Milan’s neck
While I Rossoneri had a good campaign for the most part, Stefano Pioli’s team were put in their place early in the season by their city rivals, and they had to swallow being beaten 2-1 by Inter in April, the victory that handed the Scudetto to Inzaghi’s men.
Goals either side of halftime from Acerbi and Thuram put I Nerazzurri in firm control, and while Fikayo Tomori pulled a late goal back, Inter held on and the celebrations erupted in the blue and black parts of the city.
There were ugly scenes at the end of the game, and both teams were reduced to ten men as feelings ran high. Inter were now 17 points clear of Milan with five games left, and their fans partied long into the night.
But it was another humiliation for Milan, who were hammered 5-1 by the champions-elect back in September. And Martinez wasn’t even on the score sheet in that game, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a brace.
The Old Lady fell off a cliff!
It was a season of great contrasts for Juventus, who pushed I Nerazzurri hard in the first half of the campaign with a superb set of Serie A 2024 results, losing just once, a surprise defeat to Sassuolo, from the start of the season to February.
Without any European distractions I Bianconeri were ticking along nicely and looked to be Inter’s biggest rivals. Then the two giants collided in a battle of attrition, which I Nerazzurri won courtesy of an own goal from Juve centre back Federico Gatti.
A Bianconeri win would have blown the title race right open, but the effect was the opposite, as Juventus collapsed and won just three of their remaining 15 Serie A games, drawing six in succession and nine in total.
So, despite winning the Coppa Italia and returning to the Champions League in some comfort, the second half of the campaign was something of a damp squib in Turin, the only spark provided by the dramatic exit of boss Max Allegri, who left the club after a spectacular tantrum in the wake of the club’s Coppa Italia triumph.
It’s difficult to see where Juventus go next. Star midfielder Adrien Rabiot is out of contract, and he doesn’t look in a hurry to renegotiate; and over at AC Milan they have said goodbye to their veteran striker Olivier Giroud, and Pioli has work to do to close the gap between his team and Inzaghi’s.
Inter are sitting pretty. With the Scudetto back in their hands after a two-year absence, they have established themselves as the Kings of Italy once again. Inzaghi’s next step is to try to challenge the European top dogs at Manchester City and Real Madrid; but they have seen off their Serie A rivals with ease, and I wouldn’t back against them in 2025.
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