Probably the most talked-about signing of the summer season of 2008 was not a participant however a coach, and Jose Mourinho lived as much as his nickname as ‘The Particular One’ by main Inter to a different Serie A title in commanding trend.
Juventus and Milan put up first rate challenges however they each completed 10 factors behind the Nerazzurri.
Inter’s triumph was a testomony to Mourinho’s man-management expertise, with the Portuguese serving to the gifted however inconsistent Zlatan Ibrahimovic obtain a brand new stage of efficacy.
He additionally made a vital tactical tweak in shifting Diego Stankovic right into a No.10 position, in addition to efficiently harnessing the uncooked expertise of an thrilling younger striker by the title of Mario Balotelli, who ended the season because the Nerazzurri’s second top-scorer within the league, with eight targets.
CHANGES
With Roberto Mancini having fallen out of favour with Inter president Massimo Moratti due to the coach’s failure to show home dominance into European success, the Nerazzurri turned to Mourinho and made three massive signings for his or her new boss: Ricardo Quaresma, Sulley Muntari and Alessandro Faiolhe Amantino (a.ok.a. Mancini).
In the meantime, metropolis rivals Milan pulled off a significant coup by signing Brazil famous person Ronaldinho, who had been deemed surplus to necessities at Barcelona, whereas on the similar time bringing Andriy Shevchenko again to San Siro on a one-year mortgage from Chelsea.
Sadly, it shortly turned obvious that each males had been previous their finest, significantly Shevchenko, who didn’t rating a single purpose in 18 Serie A video games.
Juventus additionally erred in selecting up Palermo’s prolific ahead Amauri, who in the end proved a colossal waste of cash at 22.8m.
Elsewhere, Roma introduced in John-Arne Riise, Jeremy Menez and Julio Baptista, Lazio took Mauro Zarate on mortgage from Al Sadd, whereas Fiorentina made an impressed signing in shopping for Stevan Jovetic from Partizan Belgrade for €8m.
SEASON SUMMARY
Regardless of dropping their opening two video games, Milan had been prime by the tenth matchday, thanks in no small half to a derby win over Inter that got here courtesy of Ronaldinho.
Nonetheless, neither the Rossoneri nor the Brazilian demonstrated adequate consistency over the course of the marketing campaign to cease Inter, who went prime in week 11 and by no means seemed again.
Juve, in the meantime, thrice went on five-game successful streaks however their title problem collapsed in April, once they went seven matches with no victory, a rotten run of kind which resulted within the sacking of Claudio Ranieri as coach.
Former fan favorite Ciro Ferrara was put in as caretaker coach for the Bianconeri’s last two outings of the season, in opposition to Siena and Lazio, received each and, thus, landed the job on a full-time foundation.
Carlo Ancelotti noticed out the season in Milan however he introduced the tip of his eight-year stint at San Siro simply hours after Milan’s last recreation of the season, in opposition to Fiorentina, with the Rossoneri’s defeat at Udinese on matchday 36 having already gifted the title to Inter.
Zlatan promptly paid tribute to Mourinho in usually self-aggrandising method: “Once I take a look at him, I see myself: an individual with the identical successful mentality.”
Mourinho, for his half, merely revelled in the truth that with Inter retaining the Scudetto, and Lazio lifting the Coppa Italia, the Nerazzurri’s principal rivals, Juventus and Milan had, as he predicted, ended up with “zeru tituli” (the Portuguese’s notorious pronunciation of ‘zero titoli’).
AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE SEASON
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
A second successive victory for the Swede, who was head and shoulders above each different participant in Serie A. Certainly, Ibrahimovic didn’t simply rating prolifically, he additionally racked up quite a few assists as he developed into the entire centre-forward.
MANAGER OF THE SEASON
JOSE MOURINHO
The Portuguese was unsurprisingly rewarded for masterminding Inter’s Scudetto success, together with his determination to desert his most well-liked 4-3-3 in favour of a fluid 4-4-2 formation having confirmed integral to their title triumph.
TOP GOALSCORER
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC – 25 GOALS
The Swedish striker has since admitted that he had been upset by Mourinho’s impassive response to his goalscoring excellence throughout the 2008-09 marketing campaign. It was solely when he noticed the Portuguese maniacally celebrating his Capocannoniere-clinching purpose in opposition to Atalanta on the ultimate day of the season that he realised that Mourinho had made him offended to be able to draw the perfect out of the enigmatic ahead.
GOAL OF THE SEASON
There was no higher illustration of the impudent genius of ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC than his stunning back-heeled volley in opposition to Bologna at San Siro.
MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFER
Ronaldinho
Barcelona to MILAN
€25m
KEY MOMENT OF THE SEASON
After giving their title rivals a flicker hope with a run of two factors from three video games in April, Inter wanted a win once they hosted Lazio at San Siro at first of Might. Fittingly, Zlatan soothed their nerves by netting the opener in a vital 2-0 win over Lazio that put the Nerazzurri’s title cost firmly again on monitor.
