2023-06-11 18:38:02
ISTANBUL (AP) — In the current Italian soccer renaissance, Inter Milan’s brilliant performance in a losing Champions League final was a standout note.
The Nerazzurri gave Manchester City more trouble than Real Madrid or Bayern Munich did in the previous two rounds before losing 1-0 in Istanbul on Saturday.
Combative at times against the most dominant club in football, with several missed chances to force extra time, Inter deserved better luck than joining Roma and Fiorentina in the trio of Italian teams that lost in a span of 11 days in the finals. of the European cups.
After missing a good opportunity against a blurred Man City, Inter found consolation for having lost with their heads held high.
“We have a lot to regret but we have to be proud of,” said coach Simone Inzaghi. “This final could serve as motivation for next season.”
Inzaghi’s team would have the resources to put up a fight against Napoli, the most prominent Serie A champions in recent years, a stretch that includes winning Inter’s scudetto in the 2020-2011 season — their first in 11 years.
“We showed what Inter is,” said defender Denzel Dumfries. “You have to put things in perspective.”
That perspective, however, includes a notable improvement in Inter’s finances after their European campaign, but there are still worrisome symptoms.
They will receive an injection of almost 100 million euros ($107 million) in prize money from UEFA this season — more than double the average of 45 million euros ($48 million) that Inter earned in the previous five years. City’s average outlay from UEFA was 95 million euros ($102 million) in the same period leading up to this season.
Inter was left out of Europe in 2017-18 and the Italian clubs fared worse than those of the Premier League within the income section that could not be captured during the pandemic, by way of audiovisual rights.
The Chinese consortium that owns the club managed to close a financing agreement in 2021 for around 300 million dollars with a United States investment fund, and Inter has received offers from several interested parties to acquire it.
Not owning its stadium, plus the uncertain future of the San Siro that it shares with AC Milan, do not help Inter compete with the historic clubs of England, Spain and Germany.
Inter reported 140 million euros ($150 million) in losses last season. They had to pay a fine of 4 million euros (4.3 million dollars) to UEFA for failing to comply with the requirement to keep their accounts balanced. The governing body set stricter limits for the coming years.
After Saturday’s game, Inter owner Steven Zhang, the 31-year-old heir to the family that owns the Suning corporation in China, spoke of strengthening the squad. It’s a promise that might be too hard to keep.
It is not known if Romelu Lukaku — sold to Chelsea for $135 million after the 2021 season but later loaned out — will remain with the team. Without Lukaku, Inter relied on veteran Bosnian striker Edin Džeko as a partner for Argentina’s Lautaro Martínez.
Lukaku is “an extraordinary player,” Zhang said. “He is under contract with Chelsea, so we will have to wait and talk to them to understand his situation.
Inter’s new shirt sponsor for the final attracted attention. Paramount+, the streaming platform, impersonated the cryptocurrency firm that would have defaulted on $25 million in payments to the club.
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