Como 0-2 Inter Milan: Talking points as Nerazzurri win on final day but lose Scudetto race

Inter Milan wrapped up their Serie A season with a professional 2-0 victory over 10-man Como on Friday, thanks to goals from Stefan de Vrij in the 20th and Joaquin Correa in the 51st minute. However, the result ultimately wasn’t enough to retain their Scudetto crown, as Napoli held their nerve with a 2-0 win over Cagliari to clinch the title.

Inter entered the final day trailing Napoli by a single point and needed a slip-up from the leaders to have any chance of overtaking them. Despite doing their part at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, Simone Inzaghi’s side were forced to settle for second in a gripping title race.

Teams

For Como, Sergi Roberto, Assane Diao and Alberto Dossena missed the final-day clash through injury, while Edoardo Goldaniga had to sit it out through yellow-card suspension.

For the last time in his professional career, Pepe Reina stood between the posts. Fullbacks Mergim Vojvoda and Alex Valle flanked centre-backs Ignace van der Brempt and Ivan Smolcic in defence. The midfield trio consisted of Maximo Perrone, Maxence Caqueret and Lucas da Cunha, while up front, striker Anastasios Douvikas had the of Nico Paz and Gabriel Strefazza from wide positions.

As for Inter, they were still without long-term absentee Valentin Carboni, as well as Piotr Zielinski and Benjamin Pavard. Inzaghi deviated slightly from his usual 3-5-2 shape, deploying his men in a 3-4-2-1 this time.

With Yann Sommer in goal, Carlos Augusto was named in the back three together with De Vrij and Yann Bisseck. Hakan Calhanoglu was ed by Kristjan Asllani in the middle of the park, with both Nicolo Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan given a bit of rest, though Barella did come off the bench for the final third of the match. Matteo Darmian and Federico Dimarco played on the flanks. In attack, Correa and Nicola Zalewski ed Mehdi Taremi. The usual duo of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram sat the game out, preserving their energy for the Champions League final.

Key moments

Inter nearly struck early through Darmian, whose volley from a Dimarco cross was heroically cleared off the line by Maximo Perrone. The breakthrough came in the 21st minute, as Stefan de Vrij powered home a header from Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner.

Inter had chances to extend their lead, but veteran keeper Pepe Reina – making his final professional appearance – denied Taremi with a fine one-on-one stop. Reina’s farewell, however, took a sour turn moments before halftime when a VAR review resulted in a red card for a last-man foul on Taremi.

Just six minutes into the second half, Joaquin Correa added a second with a composed finish after cutting inside his marker.

But any hope of retaining the title vanished as Napoli’s Romelu Lukaku netted almost simultaneously, confirming the Neapolitans as champions and leaving Inter to settle for second despite a strong finale.

Inter turn attention to Champions League final

The Nerazzurri still have a chance to make the 2024/25 season one to as they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday, and having suffered heartbreak in the Scudetto race, they will need to forget that disappointment quickly and redirect their focus to what awaits at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Speaking to DAZN after the match, De Vrij itted that his team could’ve and should’ve done more throughout the season. As it is, they didn’t deserve to keep the title.

“We did our part, we knew we were depending on others,” he said. ” We couldn’t have done more today, but we have to put it behind us and prepare for the final.”

“We didn’t deserve (the title) because if we’re not top after 38 games, then whoever is top deserves it, but there’s a feeling that we could have done more in the league.

“There’s a huge desire to play a great final next week. We’ve worked really hard this year and done very well in the Champions League. We’ll do everything we can to finish on a high.”