Diego - The Brace

They used to say that championships are won against the smaller teams. Like all clichés, there was some truth to it. We tend to remember the Treble as a triumphant procession: a league campaign dominated from start to finish, a Coppa Italia won without serious opposition and a Champions League run built on one major scalp after another. It was not quite like that, especially in Serie A, whose quality may have changed over the years (one of the favourite hobbies of those who discuss football on social media is to dismiss its level every season. Every year, you read: “The worst league ever”). Yet one thing has remained constant. There are certain grounds where Inter always struggle.

Take Cagliari as an example. Inter have won ten of their last eleven games in Sardinia, yet it has never been easy, with the game at the end of August proving just that. The 2009/10 season was no exception. Quite the opposite.

The Rossoblù were coached by an emerging Massimiliano Allegri, in his first season in Serie A. Cagliari’s tactical setup remained unchanged for years: a 4-3-1-2, with the key player being the “1”, the attacking midfielder, Andrea Cossu, who was impossible to contain between the lines. Cossu was the standout player in the first half, as Cagliari took the lead through a Jeda penalty and could easily have doubled their advantage.

A great team knows how to strike when things are at their worst. At the start of the second half, Eto’o won the ball from Conti’s feet and fed Milito, who raced through on goal. Cagliari were stunned and Inter turned the game around three minutes later: a long ball forward, Diego Milito brought it under control and, without breaking stride, touched it past the advancing goalkeeper. The scoreline would not change again, partly because, with just a few minutes remaining, an Inter defender cleared Marzoratti’s certain goal off the line. It was Cristian Chivu.

Why was this game important?

Because in the second half, José Mourinho took a gamble on a completely new formation, taking off a midfielder and putting Wesley Sneijder behind a front three of Eto’o, Balotelli and Milito. The result convinced him to persist with the tactical change and make it a permanent feature a few months later. The Inter side that would go on to eliminate Chelsea and Barcelona was taking shape.

And because Diego Milito was a remarkably consistent goalscoring machine that season. Thirty goals in 28 different matches. Just two braces. One, of course, came in Cagliari. The other? Come on, you remember that one…