The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Inter clinch third straight Serie A title

Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti (top) holds up the trophy as he celebrates with teammates at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, yesterday. Inter Milan won their third straight Italian league title as Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from a six-week injury layoff and scored twice in a 2-0 win over Parma in the final round of the season. - AP

MILAN, Italy (AP):

Nobody can accuse Inter Milan of not making things interesting.

After dominating the Serie A for most of the season and building an 11-point lead by February, Inter stumbled and then almost crashed before pulling out their third straight title yesterday with a 2-0 win over Parma in the last game of the season.

And, by all accounts, this 'scudetto', the 16th in Inter's 100-year existence, is the one that counts the most.

Inter won the 2005-06 title when Juventus and AC Milan, both of which finished higher in the standings, were disqualified for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal. Inter won again last year, although Milan started the season with an eight-point handicap and Juventus were in Serie B after being relegated for their part in the scandal.

"This year was more of a struggle. The merit goes to the entire team, which believed until the end," Inter captain Javier Zanetti said. "Inter showed a lot of maturity."

After wrapping up the league title five games early last year, Inter needed two goals by second-half substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the last game to clinch it this time. Inter had two previous chances to claim the title, but that was dashed first with a loss against Milan in the city derby and then last week with a draw against Siena.

"It was tough, but we're the best because we've led the standings for two years," midfielder Dejan Stankovic said. "It's better to win it like this, in the final round."

Three straight

Inter won back-to-back titles once in the 1950s and then again in the following decade, but the team had never won three straight until now. Only Juventus with 27 and Milan with 17 have more titles.

Unbeatable through February, Inter occasionally looked shaky as the spring wore on and AS Roma went on a winning streak that cut into the Nerazzurri's once seemingly unassailable lead.

An early elimination from the Champions League by Liverpool in the second round marred Inter's dominance in Serie A and showed domestic rivals the team could be beat.

Immediately following the loss to Liverpool, Inter coach Roberto Mancini announced that he would resign at the end of the season, then changed his mind after meeting with team owner Massimo Moratti a few days later.

A difficult period followed as Roma, buoyed after eliminating Real Madrid in the Champions League, cut away at Inter's lead.

Though Mancini's motivation for the surprise announcement about his resignation and then the step back were never made entirely clear, he may have been reacting to a reported meeting between Moratti and Jose Mourinho, who coached Chelsea to two Premier League titles. Unconfirmed news reports said Mancini would be replaced by Mourinho at the end of the season.

When Inter look to defend their title next year, the Nerazzurri will be able to count on rising teenage star Mario Balotelli, who scored several key goals late in the season.

Balotelli got more playing time when an injury forced Ibrahimovic to miss a series of games down the stretch. But the Sweden striker, who scored 17 goals this season, still carried the team for several months.