"Taroga Kaku, no one can prevent it!"
It's a phrase that Inter fans often say this season, and although the Inter pair missed goals at the World Cup last winter, Lautaro and Romelu Lukaku proved their importance to the club through a brilliant attack after another after returning to Inter.
Inter Milan took the lead after beating the Rossoneri 2-0 in the first leg of this season's Champions League semi-final against arch-rivals AC Milan, and although Inter Milan, who sit at the Meazza Stadium in the second leg, took the initiative from the start of the game, the team did not wait until the 74th minute of the game to arrive with the goal that would have sealed the series victory.
Substitute Romelu Lukaku calmly played the ball after attracting the attention of three defenders in the AC Milan penalty area, assisting Lautaro to score the winning goal, helping Inter Milan beat AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate to reach this season's Champions League final, while also allowing the Nerazzurri to beat the Rossoneri with four consecutive clean sheets.
Inter last beat AC Milan four times in a single season, half a century ago, in 1973/74, according to post-match statistics, and a full 13 spring, summer, autumn and winter have passed since the Nerazzurri last appeared in the Champions League final.
[13 years ago, the unpopular Nerazzurri stood on top of Europe]
In the summer of 2008, Jose Mourinho succeeded Roberto Mancini as Inter's new manager, and in his first season at the helm, Mourinho's Inter Milan continued the invincible momentum of previous seasons, and after an unbeaten run at home throughout the season, Inter Milan eventually won the league title by 10 points over Juventus.
In that season of completing four consecutive Serie A titles, Inter Milan's top scorer Ibrahimovic won the Serie A Golden Boot with 25 goals, and veteran Figo also ended his legendary playing career as a champion, but Inter, who played well at the league level, were out early after losing to Manchester United in the 1/8 final of the Champions League, which also made Inter the "outsider" team known to the outside world.
Inter's desire for the Champions League title reached its highest point amid skepticism, prompting Nerazzurri management to quickly make drastic changes to the squad after the summer transfer window opened in 2009, after Serie A silver boot Milito landed at the Meazza Stadium for a transfer fee of €28 million.
Although Inter wanted to use Milito and Ibrahimovic to partner the striker, when the Swedish striker insisted on moving to Camp Nou to join Barcelona, Inter Milan finally accepted the offer of Eto'o and 49.5 million euros from the red and blue, because he was dissatisfied with his role in the deal, Eto'o was determined to use his excellent performance to make Barcelona management regret sending him away.
With the huge transfer fee left by Ibrahimovic when he moved to Barca, Inter also brought in Sneijder, who was swept away by Real Madrid, and Lucio, who was depressed at Bayern.
However, after the summer of change, it meant that Inter Milan needed to spend more time to grind the squad, and after losing to Lazio in the Italian Super Cup before the start of the season, the outside world further undermined the Inter Milan team's season prospects, compared to the previous season, Inter Milan was left with only one "veteran" among the starters in the front court in the 2009/10 season.
Inter suffered a three-game draw in the group stage of the Champions League that season, and although they won their first win away to Dynamo Kyiv in the fourth round of the group stage, Inter Milan lost 2-0 to Barcelona at Camp Nou in the following round of the group stage, which also forced Inter Milan to struggle to qualify for a group place after winning a life-and-death battle against Kazan Ruby in the final round of the group stage.
Jose Mourinho signed Pandev from Lazio during the subsequent winter transfer window, and the North Macedonian international became a key member of Inter's treble that season after arriving in Meazza.
In the subsequent knockout rounds, Inter eliminated Chelsea and CSKA Moscow, and in the semi-finals of the Champions League that season, with the lead established after the first leg at home to Barcelona, Inter finally eliminated the La Liga giants in the dream dynasty to advance to the final, and finally defeated Bayern Munich with Milito's goal in the final at the Bernabeu Stadium, becoming the first treble team in Italian football history.
[Now, 13 years later, Inter enter Istanbul]
Compared with the dream of the Champions League 13 years ago, Inter Milan has not been favored by the outside world from beginning to end this season, in the Champions League group stage draw, Inter were drawn into the death group with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, although they were doubled away at home and away against the Southern Star, but the Nerazzurri eventually advanced to the knockout stage as second in the group with four points against Barca.
Although Inter Milan drew Porto and Benfica from the Portuguese Premier League in the 1/8 final and 1/4 finals, the Nerazzurri suffered a dilemma of winning only one game in seven consecutive league games in the league under the intensive schedule of weekly double matches.
However, after that difficult period, Inter Milan has recently won eight consecutive victories in all competitions, advancing to the final in the Coppa Italia and Champions League, Inter Milan has basically locked themselves in the top four with only three rounds left in the league, and with Inter Milan already winning the Italian Super Cup this season, the Nerasoneri under Inzaghi Jr. are expected to attack the "mini-treble" for the rest of the season.
Argentina international Lautaro is a worthy leader in the current Nerazzurri squad, wearing the captain's armband while supporting the team on a mental level, and although he repeatedly missed opportunities at last year's World Cup in Qatar, Lautaro returned to the club to show great attacking prowess, and since entering 2023, Lautaro has actually scored 17 goals in 31 official games for Inter, including several crucial goals.
After leading the Nerazzurri to the Champions League final for the first time in 13 years, Lautaro clearly wants to help Inter go further, although Inter Milan will welcome the powerful Manchester City in the final, but the Nerazzurri can travel lightly, and in the case of success in reaching the Champions League final, Inter Milan's players obviously want to go further in the final in Istanbul.