Jubilation in the Spanish capital. Match-winner Diego Milito embraced an adoring Nerazzurri faithful while Esteban Cambiasso paid homage to a former great in Giacinto Facchetti. Javier Zanetti was about to lift Inter's third Champions League trophy.
This was José Mourinho's night; the man who took the Nerazzurri to the top of the continent for the first time in 45 years. Inter's 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu completed a historic treble, but there was a hint of solemnity to Mourinho's celebration. A cathartic release.
Inter's 2009/10 season was one for the ages, but it'd be Mourinho's last in Normandy. The Portuguese boss knew the Champions League epilogue in Madrid would be his last leading out this group of warriors. A teary embrace with Marco Materazzi signalled the end. A new chapter beckoned at the amphitheatre where he enjoyed his crowning moment.
Here's a look back at Inter's 2009/10 Champions League campaign.
Inter's 2009/10 Champions League campaign
Inter appointed Mourinho in 2008 for the sole purpose of Champions League glory. Roberto Mancini had just guided the club to their third successive Serie A title, but an insatiable Nerazzurri hierarchy craved more.
Mourinho's maiden season brought about further domestic success, but they were swatted aside by Manchester United in Europe. Inter weren't quite there yet, but the 2009 summer transfer window set the club up for an ascension.
Milito, Thiago Motta, Samuel Eto’o, Lúcio and Wesley Sneijder all joined the club with the aim of being crowned European champions in Madrid the following May. However, Inter's Champions League campaign started rather inauspiciously with three draws as Mourinho's narrow 4-3-1-2 set-up centred around Sneijder failed to pay dividends.
Defeat to Barcelona on Matchday 5 meant they needed a result at home to Rubin Kazan in their final group game. A 2-0 victory ensued, but their second place finish in the group resulted in a tough round of 16 tie against Mourinho's former club, Chelsea.
However, a shift to a 4-2-3-1 which moved Eto'o out to the left flank facilitated a distinct improvement, and Inter overcame Chelsea over two legs with the Cameroonian forward netting the dagger in a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge. A measured performance in the quarter-finals against an overachieving CSKA Moscow ensured Inter progressed into the last four where Pep Guardiola's imperious Barcelona, the defending champions and treble-winners the season prior, awaited.
Let the masterclass commence.
Inter capitalised on a disjointed Barça display in the first leg - the Catalans' travel to Milan was hindered by the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull - as Mourinho's ploys of nullifying Lionel Messi and attacking space in behind the visitors' full-backs worked a treat in a 3-1 triumph.
The job was far from done, though, as Mourinho's side were up against it in the return leg after Thiago Motta was harshly dismissed in the first half. "Don't party now because this isn't over yet," the special one defiantly whispered to Guardiola.
Inter's defensive effort with ten men was nothing short of gladiatorial. Barcelona's vaunted attack was stumped as they failed to make use of their 86.4% share of possession. Gerard Pique eventually halved the deficit, but Julio Cesar was rarely troubled as the Italian outfit clung on to progress into the final - their first since 1972.
The showpiece at the Bernabeu was tame in comparison to Inter's gargantuan duels with Pep's Blaugrana. Louis van Gaal's Bayern were a good but hardly outstanding outfit and the Nerazzurri brushed them aside in typical Mourinho fashion thanks to two goals from Milito, who also scored the decisive goals to win Inter Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
Mourinho's triumph in Madrid was most certainly bittersweet. He couldn't reject Real Madrid for a third time and the chance to end Guardiola's dominant reign in Spain. His time at Inter drew to a close on the highest of highs, and that would be the last time Mourinho sat atop the continental perch.
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Bayern Munich 0-2 Inter - 2010 Champions League final
Starting XIs
Bayern Munich: Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Badstuber; Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger; Robben, Altintop (Klose 63'); Muller, Olic (Gomez 74').
Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu (Stankovic 68'); Zanetti, Cambiasso; Eto'o, Sneijder, Pandev (Muntari 79'); Milito (Materazzi 92').
This article was originally published on 90min as How Jose Mourinho won the Champions League with Inter.
