The "poor" giants in the Champions League final: How does Inter Milan use Paris 1/5 budget to build a championship team?

Before the start of this season, I'm afraid no one could have expected Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan to meet in the Champions League final. Simeone Inzaghi's team has experienced the peak battle of the event (2023 against Manchester City), and now they will launch a rush to the fourth Champions League trophy in team history.

The most striking thing is that compared with other giant clubs, the Nerazzurri does not squander in player investment. With their smart management strategies and full trust in coach Inzaghi's work, they have continued to win championship trophys over the past few years and have performed outstandingly on and off the court. On the eve of the final battle in Munich, let's take a deeper look at how they did it.

Mark's philosophy: Create a star lineup with a small budget

Current sports director Marlotta is one of the core architects who built this team. I believe you are not unfamiliar with him, not only because of his outstanding achievements at Inter Milan. Juventus' revival in the early 1910s was often associated with Conte, but it was Marlotta who built that golden army. Previously, he formed a promising team in Sampdoria, not only successfully advanced to Serie A, but also reached the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, and finally ranked fourth in the league, which became his key bargaining chip for joining Juventus. The arrival of Conte and his successor Allegri is just the tip of the iceberg. Without the recruitment of top players, the dominance of the Zebra Legion is beyond the reach of the question. Looking back at several wonderful signings during the Marlotta period:

Lichsteiner (Lazio): 9.9 million euros

Vidal (Leverkusen): 12.5 million euros

Tevez (Manchester City): 9 million euros

Morata (Real Madrid): 20 million euros

Pogba (Manchester United):

But the most classic case is undoubtedly Pirlo without a sign. At that time, AC Milan happily let the midfielder join his mortal enemy, believing that he could no longer maintain his peak form. However, at Juventus, Pirlo is the best player in Serie A. A series of championship trophys and two Champions League finals are self-evident. However, Marotta's opposition to the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo and the differences between the two sides on the club's development philosophy prompted him to switch to Inter Milan.

At that time, the Nerazzurri returned to the Champions League after many years of separation, but was unable to shake Juventus's position as the league and was struggling to recover from the management crisis. Marlotta immediately used his talent to build a star lineup with a limited budget. The initial results were the league runner-up and the UEFA Cup final. A year later, the team won the Serie A championship under Conte.

After Conte left office in the summer of 2021, it was Marlotta who insisted on inviting Simeone Inzaghi. Although Inzagi had reached an intention to renew his contract with Lazio president Lotito, a phone call from Marotta convinced him to change his decision and take charge of the LeBron and Black Legion coach.

Inzaji has long proved his coaching talent, but it was at Inter that he ranked among the top coaches in the world. Marotta knew his ability well during Samp's time and invited him to join in the 2000s. Even after selling the core players of Conte's era (Lukaku, Ashraf), the club's scouting system still found a qualified replacement: Dzeko, who scored 31 goals in two seasons, signed Damian from Parma; and after performing well in the European Cup, he bought Dumfries for a large sum of money.

The total cost of the above players is only 20.3 million euros. In addition, the club has successfully joined Cialhanolu, Onana, Mkhitaryan, Marcus Toulam, Taremi, Jelinski, Archerbi, Augusto, Vlatesi and Aslani (lease rent and then buy, which is a low-price transaction according to the modern transfer market standards). It can be called Marlotta's transfer master class.

What is more commendable is that Inter Milan successfully resolves the influence of core players leaving the team by finding alternatives and even upgrading the lineup. Take Onana as an example: He performed well in the team's advancement to the 2023 Champions League final, and later transferred to Manchester United for 50.2 million euros... The Nerazzurri became the absolute winner. Onana was in a sluggish state at Dream Theater, while Sommer, who bought for only 6.9 million euros, continued to highlight.

Therefore, Marlotta's "low-price signings (especially paying attention to the Italian market) + visa-free strong aid" has achieved outstanding results. From a business perspective, the club's transfer revenue reached 521.84 million euros and the recruitment expenditure was 576.9 million euros (most of which occurred in the first two quarters of Marlotta's tenure). Considering the championship honors again, two Serie A, one Italian Cup, and three Italian Super Cups, this account is obviously worthwhile.

Underrated Tactical Master: Simeone Inzaghi

Although often overlooked in the world's best coach selection, Simeone Inzaghi's work is perfect. If Conte restored Inter Milan's top position in Italy and laid the foundation for future victory; then Simeone Inzaghi has built the Nerazzurri into one of the most stable strong teams in European football. As early as Lazio's time, he proved his ability and led the team to the Champions League and compete for the league championship with far inferior resources.

The coach's ability to stimulate players' potential and even achieve leaps in ability when funds are limited, is perfectly consistent with Inter Milan's operating philosophy, which is the key to such a successful cooperation between the two parties. First of all, Inzaji's advantage lies in his tactical flexibility: he is good at judging the situation and playing smart football. When defending the position, Inter Milan usually adopts a compact 5-3-2 formation; but on the offensive end, they pull the opponent's defense line through frequent positions, forcing their formation to press forward, thereby quickly delivering the ball forward. Midfielder Calhanoglu or Barrera can retreat to serve as central defender, and even central defender Archerby will step forward into the third offensive zone depending on the situation.

It is extremely difficult to predict the movements of the Nerazzurri, and it is difficult for you to determine who to guard against and when to impose oppression, because players can appear in completely different areas within seconds. In addition, this Italian giant is good at adjusting flexibly according to the characteristics of strong opponents: it can not only dedicate a visual feast (Champions League semi-final vs. Barcelona), but also use compact low-post defense to lock in the victory (Champions League group stage vs. Manchester City this season).

These fully demonstrate the outstanding command art of Simeone and his coaching team. It should be clear that there are almost no world-class superstars in Inter Milan, so this case strongly confirms the importance of system construction. In teamwork, even the most average player can shine. This is particularly prominent in the Champions League. Many players reach their peak in their careers under Inzaji's command, which is by no means a compliment.

Sommer: Although he has long been regarded as an excellent goalkeeper, his strength in top clubs is questionable. After transferring to Bayern, he quickly fell into a trough and conceded goals almost every game. In Meacha, he not only proved his ability to play, but also demonstrated his traditional reliability in front of the goal line.

Damian: He played for Parma during the transfer, but Manchester United's previous career was not a success.

Calhanoglu: Recognized as a genius, but Simeone transformed him into the core of the top organization.

Mkhitaryan: Regaining the true nature of assisting king before joining Manchester United and Arsenal.

Lautaro Martinez: Evolved from a good striker to a stable scorer with at least 20 goals in a single season.

Retain the final team, and the strength is better than the past

First, compare Inter Milan's starting lineup against Manchester City in the 2023 Champions League final, and the starting lineup against Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final this season. We focus on the position where changes start with the comparison between Onanana and Sommer:

Onanana (2023): Conceded 11 goals / 49 saves / 6.7 goals blocked / 134 long passes / 75.3% accuracy of long passes.

Sormer (2025): Conceded 11 goals / 48 saves / 5.2 goals blocked / 123 long passes / 69.9% accuracy of long passes.

data shows that Onana even has a slight advantage, but two points should be noted: First, Sommer has not yet played in the finals, and he has one more game than Onana in the 2022/23 Champions League; second, the indicator background of "stop expected goals" is crucial. Cameroon goalkeeper and Swiss successor both conceded 11 goals. However, according to the expected goal (xG) model, Onana should concede about 17 goals at the punctual time, and if Sommer had not been brave this season, Inter Milan would have conceded 22 goals. Conclusion: The goalkeeper's position strength increased instead of decreasing

Damian Inshkrinyar was injured and forced to start in the 2023 final. Now Inzaghi has more options such as Paval and Bisek. Bissek's playing time far exceeds last season and has made significant progress; Paval ranks among the top in the Champions League in terms of interception, air confrontation and clearance data. Don't forget that Defrey is still in the formation. Combined with the improvement of depth in this position and the outstanding performance of the above players, the strength of the defense line has been significantly enhanced.

Although Brozovic left the team, the team did not lose their combat effectiveness. Instead, the Croatian midfield transfer victory in Riyadh forced Inzaghi to reshape Carhanoglu's role and achieve a win-win situation. Therefore, the midfield position also has a slight advantage compared to Saturday's lineup against Paris.

The biggest upgrade lies in the forward line: Marcus Toulam replaces veteran Dzeko. Although Dzeko has made outstanding contributions, he obviously needs to equip Lautaro Martinez with a younger partner who is more distinctive and more similar to Lukaku (the original golden partner). Turam fully proves his own value and brings more to the team overall than Romelu.

Since the Istanbul final, the strength of the Nerazzurri has not declined but increased, consolidating its position as a favorite to compete for the championship in the European arena.

Age structure: Double-edged sword

11 players in Inter Milan are over or over 30 years old, and another 9 are 26 years old or older. They are currently the oldest team in Serie A and rank second in the top European leagues. Therefore, the team lacks enough lineup to deal with multi-line combat. This spring, its league performance dropped significantly, lagging behind Naples and losing to AC Milan in the Italian Cup semi-finals. The coaching staff was forced to rotate to prepare for the key battle against Barcelona in the Champions League. The team had previously suffered three consecutive losses in various competitions.

The lack of qualified substitutes for many core players has led to their appearance in too many games and affecting their state. In addition, the Nerazzurri conceded high goals after 75 minutes. A lot of examples of this season:

2-2 Genoa (Messias 90+5 ')

1-1 Monza (Danny Mota 81 ')

1-2 AC Milan (Matéo Gabiya 89 ')

3-2 Udinese (Lorenzo Luca 83 ') Note: Final victory

3-2 Turin (Nicol Vlasic 86 ') Note: Final victory

4-4 Juventus (Kenan Yeldez 82 ')

3-1 Parma (Damian Oolong 81 ') Note: Final victory

0-1 Leverkusen (Nurdi Mukille 90 ')

2-3 AC Milan (Plicic 80 ' / Abraham 90+3 ')

3-1 Empoli (Esposito 83 ') Note: Final victory

0-3 Fiorentina (Moise Keane 89 ')

1-1 Naples (Billing 87 ')

2-1 Bayern (Müller 85 ') Note: Final victory

2-2 Bayern (Dale 76 ')

0-1 Bologna (Ricardo Orsolini 90+4 ')

0-3 AC Milan (Reindez 85 ')

4-3 Barcelona (Lafinia 87 ') Note: The final victory

2-2 Lazio (Pedro 90 ')

This trend is extremely significant. The club may reorganize the lineup in the summer. Even so, the team still holds another trump card: spiritual attributes. At the critical moment, Inter Milan showed strong willpower and decisive determination, which is crucial to the elderly lineup.

In short, the Neptune is a unique existence. How they performed in the second Champions League final in several years is undoubtedly eye-catching.