Inter’s Chinese owner oversees historic 20th title with Milan derby win, cementing place as Italy’s dominant force
- Steven Zhang took over as chairman in 2018 and club have won two league titles, reached two European finals
- Nerazzurri only second club in Serie A history to win 20 titles, having been level with city rivals on 19
Inter’s Chinese owner Steven Zhang has overseen the historic achievement of winning a 20th Serie A title with a 2-1 victory against arch-rivals Milan.
The Nerazzurri had been runaway leaders for much of the campaign and clinched the Scudetto in dominant fashion.
It is a title of notable significance. Not just because it was sealed with victory in a derby but, for every 10 league titles won, teams in Italy are awarded a star above their crest, and this means Inter become only the second side after Juventus to have two.
Before this, they were level with Milan on 19, so it’s particularly sweet as it sees them overtake their rivals, while cementing their places as Italy’s dominant force of late.
Victory caps an incredible rise for the club since Zhang’s appointment as the youngest-ever chairman of the club at 27 in 2018, after the Sunings Holdings Group’s acquisition of the club two years before.
Inter had toiled since winning a famous Treble in 2010 with the following season’s Coppa Italia their last major honour for 10 years.
The three-time European champions had been absent from the Champions League for seven years before returning at the end of the 2017-18, just before Zhang’s arrival and have competed in every season since.
After back-to-back fourth-place finishes, Inter brought in highly rated Italian coach Antonio Conte and broke their transfer record to sign Romelu Lukaku.
Inter finished the campaign a point behind winners Juventus but followed that up with a dominant following season in which they won the Scudetto by 12 points and reached the Europa League final in 2020-21.
But the following season saw Conte leave and Simone Inzaghi replace him as the financial pressure of the coronavirus pandemic told. Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, two important components of the title victory, were also sold to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
However, Inter won the Coppa Italia, reached the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in a decade and lost the title to Milan on the final day of the campaign – only relinquishing control after a shock defeat to Bologna five matches from the end.
Inzaghi and Co retained their domestic cup trophy the following season and, against all odds, reached a Champions League final, where they were narrowly beaten by Treble-winning Manchester City.
Despite, Inter saying goodbye to Ballon d’Or-nominated goalkeeper Andre Onana, who joined Manchester United, at the end of the last campaign, Inter dominated Serie A in 2023-24 and could yet break the 100-point barrier.
The win over Milan to seal the title capped an astonishing run of derby dominance with this their sixth consecutive victory in the fixture, having won 5-1 earlier in the campaign and conceding just two goals in that spell.
It’s not all positive for the Nerazzurri, however.
But speaking at Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Zhang told reporters “we will stay at the club to continue to win”.
