The 2010–11 season was Football Club Internazionale Milano's 102nd in existence and 95th consecutive season in the top flight of Italian football.
The team took part in the Serie A, UEFA Champions League and the Coppa Italia, as titles holders of all these competitions. Internazionale won the Supercoppa Italiana against Roma, the Club World Cup against TP Mazembe and the Coppa Italia against Palermo, but lost the UEFA Super Cup to Atlético Madrid.
Season overview Departure of Mourinho and arrival of Benítez Less than a week after winning the Champions League, on 28 May, Inter manager José Mourinho left the club and joined Real Madrid. On the 10 June, Inter signed Rafael Benítez from Liverpool on a two-year contract, ending a six-year stint as manager of the English side.
Summer transfer window During the summer transfer window, Inter signed Luca Castellazzi from Sampdoria, and also bought the entire rights to Jonathan Biabiany from Parma. After spending his last two seasons with Vasco da Gama in Brazil, Philippe Coutinho returned to Inter. Inter sold Ricardo Quaresma to Beşiktaş and Mario Balotelli to Manchester City, as well as also sold half of the rights to Rene Krhin to Bologna, Andrea Mei to Piacenza, and sent on one-year loan Vid Belec to Crotone, Victor Obinna to West Ham United and Andrea Ranocchia to Genoa after brought the half of his contract.
World Cup Meanwhile, during 2010 World Cup in South Africa ten players from Inter were included in their national teams, these players were Walter Samuel and Diego Milito with Argentina; Rene Krhin with Slovenia; Dejan Stanković as a captain of Serbia; Sulley Muntari with Ghana; Wesley Sneijder with the Netherlands; Samuel Eto'o as a captain of Cameroon; and Júlio César, Maicon, and Lúcio as a captain with Brazil. The Netherlands, including Wesley Sneijder, reached and lost the final match of the tournament against Spain after extra time.
Completing the Treble Inter started their season with a win over Roma in Supercoppa Italiana, to secure their first trophy of the season. Six days later Inter lost to Atlético Madrid in UEFA Super Cup, this defeat meant Inter lost their chance to collect six trophies in the same year, as Barcelona had done the year before. In December, Inter claimed the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time after a 3–0 win against TP Mazembe in the final.
pacho Departure of Benítez and arrival of Leonardo After this win, however, on 23 December, due to his poor performance in Serie A and separated by 13 points from the leader Milan, Inter announced on its website the departure of Rafael Benítez to be replaced by Leonardo the following day.
acho impact in January Leonardo had huge impact on the team even with the absence of Samuel Eto'o due to suspension, and Wesley Sneijder and Júlio César due to injury. Inter won their match against Napoli with two goals from Thiago Motta and another one form Esteban Cambiasso. Inter continued their good start with Leonardo with five wins in row in all competitions, until they lost against Udinese, but Inter got in their feet quickly by qualifying to the semifinal of Coppa Italia and winning against Palermo after great comeback from 0–2 to win with 3–2 and two goals from new signing Giampaolo Pazzini.
Winter transfer window Meanwhile, the winter transfer window for Inter was busy with transfers. Due to the long-term injury of Walter Samuel, Inter bought the remainder of Andrea Ranocchia's contract from Genoa to become Leonardo's first signing. On 13 January, Mancini left the club to join Atlético Mineiro. On 28 January, Inter announced the signing of Giampaolo Pazzini from Sampdoria, as part of the deal that saw Jonathan Biabiany join Sampdoria. The next day, Houssine Kharja joined Inter on a loan deal from Genoa with option to sign permanently, while Sulley Muntari joined Sunderland on loan. On the last day of winter transfer window, Inter sent Nelson Rivas to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on loan, and brought Yuto Nagatomo from Cesena as part of the deal that sent Davide Santon in the opposite direction, also on loan. Both Joel Obi and Nwankwo Obiora signed co-ownership by Parma, however Obi will remain with Inter and Nwankwo will spend the rest of the season with Parma. Inter also signed Marco Andreolli from Chievo in co-ownership, and will remain at Chievo the rest of the season.
Coppa Italia title On 6 March, Leonardo set a new Italian Serie A record by collecting 33 points in 13 games; the previous record was 32 points in 13 games made by Fabio Capello in 2004–05. On 15 March, Inter had a memorable 3–2 Champions League away victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the round of 16 after losing the first leg at home, but lost in the quarter-finals against Schalke 04. After Inter lost against Milan, and two weeks later Parma, Inter's Serie A season title ambitions had effectively ended. The only trophy the club won with Leonardo as a manager was the Coppa Italia.
Key dates
2010 28 May: Inter and Real Madrid presidents Massimo Moratti and Florentino Pérez reached agreement over manager José Mourinho, which saw the Portuguese coach moving to Real Madrid in a four-year deal. 10 June: Rafael Benítez signed a two-year contract that will run until 30 June 2012. 13 June: Inter and Beşiktaş agreed a transfer fee in the region of €7.3 million for Ricardo Quaresma. 15 June: Inter presented new coach Rafael Benítez at the Angelo Moratti Sports Centre. 17 June: Luca Castellazzi, formerly of Sampdoria, joined Inter, signing a two-year contract until 2012 with the option of a one-year extension. 25 June: McDonald Mariga and Jonathan Biabiany joined Inter permanently from Parma. 29 June: Paolo Orlandoni signed a one-year deal, which extended his contract with Inter until 30 June 2011. 6 July: Vid Belec joined Crotone on loan until 30 June 2011. 7 July: Francesco Toldo announced his retirement from football. 21 July: Andrea Ranocchia joined Inter, the former defender of Genoa, signed a five-year co-ownership contract until 2015. Ranocchia, however, will remain at Genoa for the 2010–11 season. 27 July: Inter and Bologna agreed a co-ownership deal for Rene Krhin, allowing him to play for the club during the 2010–11 season. 31 July: Luca Castellazzi and Philippe Coutinho made their debut for Inter against Manchester City. 3 August: Philippe Coutinho scored his first goal for Inter against Panathinaikos. 9 August: Javier Zanetti signed a two-year extended his deal, which extended his contract with Inter until 30 June 2013. 9 August: Diego Milito signed a one-year extended his deal, which extended his contract with Inter until 30 June 2014. 13 August: Inter and Manchester City agreed a transfer fee in the region of €30 million for Mario Balotelli. 21 August: Inter won the Supercoppa Italiana for the fifth time, defeating Roma in the final 3–1. 27 August: Inter sent Victor Obinna to West Ham United on one-year loan. 27 August: Inter lost 2–0 to Atlético Madrid in UEFA Super Cup. 28 October: Wesley Sneijder signed a two-year extended his deal, which extended his contract with Inter until 30 June 2015. 14 November: The 46 home matches unbeaten streak in Serie A was ended by losing the Derby della Madonnina. 18 December: Inter won the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time, defeating TP Mazembe in the final 3–0. 23 December: Inter and Rafael Benítez reached agreement over separating by mutual agreement. 24 December: Leonardo appointed as Inter new coach, and signed a contract that will run until 30 June 2012. 29 December: Inter and Massimo Moratti officially presented their new coach Leonardo at the Angelo Moratti Sports Centre.
2011
3 January: Andrea Ranocchia signed a deal until June 2015. 12 January: Mancini joined Atlético Mineiro permanently from Inter. 19 January: Javier Zanetti overtook Inter's legend Giuseppe Bergomi in Serie A appearances. 28 January: Giampaolo Pazzini signed a deal until June 2015, as part of the deal Jonathan Biabiany joined Sampdoria. 29 January: Houssine Kharja joined Inter on a loan deal with option to sign permanently in June 2011. 29 January: Sulley Muntari joined Sunderland on a loan deal until the end of the season. 31 January: Nelson Rivas joined Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on a loan deal until the end of the season, with option to sign permanently. 31 January: Yuto Nagatomo joined Inter on loan as part of the deal Davide Santon moved to Cesena on loan also until the end of the season. 31 January: Joel Obi and Nwankwo Obiora signed co-ownership by Parma, however Obi will remain with Inter and Nwankwo will spend the remainder of the season with Parma. 31 January: Inter signed Marco Andreolli from Chievo in a co-ownership deal; however, he will remain at Chievo for the remainder of the season. 15 March: Inter had a memorable 3–2 Champions League away victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in the round of 16 after losing the first leg at home. 2 April: Inter lost 3–0 to Milan in the Derby della Madonnina. 13 April: Inter were knocked out of the Champions League by Schalke 04 in the quarter-finals after 2–1 defeat in the second leg at the Veltins-Arena. 22 May: Inter finished the Serie A season in second place with 76 points, behind champions Milan. 29 May: Inter won the Coppa Italia for the seventh time, defeating Palermo in the final 3–1.
Players Squad information
Squad no.NameNationalityPositionDate of birth (age) Goalkeepers1Júlio CésarGK12Luca CastellazziGK21Paolo OrlandoniGK Defenders2Iván Córdoba (vice-Captain)CB4Javier Zanetti (Captain)RB / CM / RM6LúcioCB13MaiconRB15Andrea RanocchiaCB23Marco Materazzi CB25Walter SamuelCB26Cristian ChivuLB / CB / DM55Yuto NagatomoLB / RB / LM Midfielders5Dejan StankovićCM / AM8Thiago MottaDM / CM10Wesley SneijderAM / CM / LW14Houssine KharjaCM / DM / AM17McDonald MarigaDM / CM19Esteban CambiassoDM / CM29Philippe CoutinhoAM / LW / RW40Nwankwo ObioraDM / CM Forwards7Giampaolo PazziniCF9Samuel Eto'oCF18David SuazoCF22Diego MilitoCF27Goran PandevSS / RW / CF
From youth squad
Transfers In No. Pos. Name Moving From Type of Transfer Ends Transfer window Transfer fee Source 12 GK Luca Castellazzi Sampdoria Full ownership 2012 Summer Free inter.it 17 MF McDonald Mariga Parma Co-ownership Termination 2014 Summer reported €10,000,000 88 FW Jonathan Biabiany Parma Co-ownership Termination N/A Summer 16 DF Nicolás Burdisso Roma Loan return 2011 Summer Free 24 DF Nelson Rivas Livorno Loan return 2011 Summer Free 30 MF Mancini Milan Loan return 2012 Summer Free 29 MF Philippe Coutinho Vasco da Gama Loan return N/A Summer Free 18 FW David Suazo Genoa Loan return 2011 Summer Free N/A FW Kerlon Ajax Loan return 2012 Summer Free 33 FW Victor Obinna Málaga Loan return N/A Summer Free 36 DF Simone Benedetti Torino Co-ownership N/A Summer included in Stevanović's deal torinofc.it 15 DF Andrea Ranocchia Genoa Full ownership 2015 Winter €12,500,000 inter.it 7 FW Giampaolo Pazzini Sampdoria Full ownership 2015 Winter €12,000,000 + Biabiany inter.it 14 MF Houssine Kharja Genoa Loan with an option for full ownership 2011 Winter Free inter.it 55 DF Yuto Nagatomo Cesena Loan 2011 Winter Undisclosed inter.it
Total spending: €34.5 million
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