'Del cielo e della notte', ahead of Udinese vs. Inter

Inter vs. Lecce was a classic trap game. Firstly, because it came just seventy-two hours after Inter vs. Napoli, probably the most intense of the 198 Serie A matches played so far which inevitably took a lot out of the players, as was clear a couple of hours earlier at the San Paolo.

Lecce were missing several starters, due to injuries and suspensions, and they had just lost their home game to Parma, with the game at San Siro just three days later. Inter came into the game having won six straight against the Giallorossi, with a total score of sixteen to one.

An easy win? There's no such thing in Serie A. Except when the top teams, and especially Inter, thrash their opponents. Yesterday wasn’t one of those days, for several reasons.

Then there's Francesco Pio Esposito, now just Pio, in a celebration that’s already become a meme, showing just how goals, as some commentators have said, should be weighed, not just counted. Scoring ten goals for a mid-table team is something Pio could probably do with relative ease, given his technical and physical qualities. But coming on for twenty minutes in a team fighting for everything is a different challenge, one that Pio handled with the skill and dedication he’s been known for since he was a kid: pure work ethic.

And yet, when Pio is mentioned, opinions are immediately split. On one side are those who see him as the natural long-term centre-forward for both Inter and the Italy national team, where he's been playing more and more. On the other are those who take an ironic stance: the ‘Pio Esposito Man of the Match award’, ‘Mbappé’s good, but he’s almost Pio Esposito’, and so on. At the very least, that feels unfair to a player who works relentlessly and who, at just twenty, already knows exactly where he is and what’s required of him. ‘Honestly, I’m playing more than I expected,’ he said after Lecce. A strikingly mature comment for someone so young. At twenty, you want to take the world by storm and play every game. Pio plays when he’s called upon, and he’s trying to take the world on one step at a time, maybe starting with Lecce.

He already has two full seasons as a starter in Serie B, close to eighty appearances, and nineteen goals in forty games in his second year. Those aren’t the numbers of media hype.

This season he’s started eight matches, and Inter have won every single one. Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it isn’t. You can feel his presence, you notice him, even when he comes off the bench. He played just seven minutes against Napoli, but he still showed his greatest strength: he’s always switched on and connected to the game. He had waited a long time for his first Serie A goal at San Siro. There had been that thunderbolt against Venezia in the Coppa Italia, but the league is different. Then came the anger and intelligence: first the assist for Lautaro, then the finish from Falcone’s rebound. 1-0. Muscles flexed, and the clear understanding that, yes, the dirty work matters. Cristian Chivu pointed out after the match, strikers are ultimately judged by goals. And Pio has always scored them, ever since he was a kid at Inter. Let’s put it this way: it won’t be his last Serie A goal at San Siro.

A mandatory minimum rest period of 72 hours between matches has been talked about for some time now. Last July, news agencies reported on an agreement between FIFA and the players’ union, reached during discussions that were never formally ratified. While waiting for it to become the rule, Inter are making the best of it and will be back in action just 66 hours and 15 minutes after Inter vs. Lecce, away from home, too. They’ll be up against the only side to have beaten them in the league this season, apart from their eternal rivals Juventus and AC Milan, with Napoli also joining that list, though only in the first half of the campaign, even if some were quick to spin Sunday’s 2-2 draw as a total victory for Antonio Conte. Winning is crucial to keep a safe gap over the Neapolitans, especially against one of Serie A’s hardest teams to read. Physically, Runjaic’s side are the most demanding in the league, even though they left San Siro with all three points at the end of August thanks to the quality of Arthur Atta, a player who looked capable of scoring ten league goals. We’re not the type to say ‘it only ever happens to us’, but there is a clear statistical anomaly. Arthur Atta’s Serie A record: 33 appearances, 1 goal.

For years, Udine was an almost impossible ground, and Inter wins there were rare and memorable. Like the one in December 1998: 1-0. An assist from the number 10, a goal from the number 9. Who were they? Easy. Roberto Baggio, perhaps the greatest number 10 in Serie A history, and Ronaldo, Il Fenomeno, perhaps the greatest number 9. A blessed partnership we sadly didn’t get to see often enough.

To win again in Udine, Inter waited another seven years, in which just about everything happened. There was a hat-trick from ‘El Pampa’ Sosa, who a year later dived in the box to win a penalty that cost Inter a victory. Another slipped away thanks to a goal from a certain Enock Goitom. No need to Google him to know it was the only goal of his career, in fact, he seemed to have been sent straight by the football gods to punish Nerazzurri hubris. He clocked up just eight minutes in Serie A, which were enough to score the goal that shattered the dreams of Roberto Mancini’s Inter, who had taken the lead through Verón. Then there was the great performance in Udine by the treble-winning Inter, who laid a crucial brick on the road to the Scudetto by coming back from Pepe’s early goal with strikes from Balotelli, a Maicon masterpiece, and a poacher’s finish from Milito. Di Natale’s customary goal proved, once again, to be in vain.

In Udine we’ve seen a Wesley Sneijder brace, a Ranocchia goal, two from Ricky Álvarez, and above all, a miracle that only a lucky few witnessed live. The Inter player you probably don’t think about today fits a very specific profile. He made tens of millions of euros from football, and hundreds from kebabs. German, with a footballing past in Turkey and a present in Poland (at last check, he’s still playing at 41), he opened a kebab shop that quickly became a chain, now boasting 30 locations and €207 million in revenue in 2025. He’s the third-highest scorer in the history of the German national team, with which he also won a World Cup: 49 goals. He scored 227 goals in his career, but only one in an Inter shirt. And yes, it came in Udine. Those paying close attention will already know who we’re talking about.

Lukas Podolski, Poldi, the man of the moment. In January 2015, Inter signed him and Shaqiri to bring quality to the attack, and the scenes at the airport for both were absolute chaos. Podolski’s debut was encouraging: a lively cameo in Juventus vs. Inter, which ended 1-1 and was remembered for Icardi not passing to Osvaldo and the row that followed. The first time Podolski and Shaqiri played together? A Podolski backheel, a Shaqiri goal, 1-0. With those two, we thought the Champions League was back. It didn’t quite turn out that way, as Max Collini of Offlaga Disco Pax once put it in Cioccolato. But at least the excitement had returned. For the Champions League, we’d have to wait a few more years. Podolski’s half-season at Inter is mostly remembered for his unforgettable Instagram account. He lived Milan with the carefree curiosity of an Erasmus student, Vespa rides, games of bocce in the park with elderly locals. Goals? None. Until April 28. Udinese went down to ten men in the 40th minute and to nine in the 58th. Inter had taken the lead through an Icardi penalty, only for the usual Di Natale tax to make it all square again. Eleven against nine, and still Inter struggled. So Mancini turned to the bench, throwing Podolski into the mix alongside Kovacic, Hernanes, Palacio and Icardi. A long-range shot, blocked by the defence. Another from distance, this time into the far corner. Prinz Poldi’s first and only goal for Inter: a player who gave the club plenty of smiles, and not quite as many goals.

Udine is where Frattesi shines brightest. He was decisive in stoppage time two years ago, and on the scoresheet again last season in the game opened up by Lautaro Martinez. It’s the stadium where a warrior like Ivan Perisic came to life, with a brace in 2017 and another goal in 2022. It’s also where Andrea Ranocchia scored twice, and where Rafinha Alcantara found the net too, a story we’ll delve into in a future episode. If we had to back someone, even if we're not playing roulette, we’d still put a few chips on 94.

There’s barely time to get back from Friuli before the Champions League is back, and the opponent is, to put it mildly, a difficult one. Arteta’s Arsenal are opening up a gap in what may not be Europe’s most beautiful league, but certainly its richest, and right now they look like the most solid and deepest squad on the continent, built from the ground up.

They started 2026 with a comeback win over Bournemouth. Saka, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Mikel Merino came off the bench, if they’re not all superstars, they’re close. Eberechi Eze, a €79-million signing last summer, didn’t even need to warm up. On the pitch were Martinelli, Odegaard, Madueke and Gyokeres. No one, not even Real Madrid, can call on that many attacking options. The history between the two clubs couldn’t be more different. Inter’s 3-0 win at the old Highbury, with goals from Cruz and Martins and Andy van der Meyde’s iconic celebration. Then Arsenal’s lesson at San Siro, a staggering 5-1. And last season, Inter’s defensive masterclass, with a Calhanoglu penalty enough to settle it at 1-0. Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League in 22 years, so their minds will inevitably drift there, perhaps dreaming of recreating the final scene of Fever Pitch (or Febbre a novanta, as we know it), our favorite film, with Colin Firth and Ruth Gemmell kissing as London erupts in a celebration of a Gunners title. But one thing’s certain: no one ever takes the Champions League lightly.