Италийн аварга Интер баг улирлын нээлтийн тоглолтод Монцаг 4-1-ийн харьцаатай буулган авч, лигийн аянаа амжилттай эхлүүллээ.
Сери А-гийн хүрээнд болсон тус тоглолтод Жон Стоунз сэлгээгээр талбайд гарч, шинэ багийнхаа төлөөх анхны тоглолтоо хийлээ. Манчестер Ситигээс чөлөөт агентаар ирсэн 32 настай хамгаалагч нь ерөнхийлөгч Жузеппе Мароттагийн шинэ бүрэлдэхүүнийг бэхжүүлэх бодлогын гол хэсэг юм. Энэхүү тоглолтод Хакан Чалханоглу гоол оруулж, Интер багийн довтолгооны хүчийг харуулсан бол залуу тоглогч Пио Эспозитогийн тоглолт олны анхаарлыг татав.
Интер баг тоглолтын эхэнд бага зэргийн алдаа гаргаж, 29 дэх минутад Густаво Варелагийн гоолоор тэнцээ алдсан ч улмаар давуу байдлаа тогтоож чадлаа. Дасгалжуулагч Кристиан Кивугийн удирдлагад тоглож буй багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд Жон Стоунзоос гадна Жэд Спенс, Кёртис Жонс нар шинээр нэгдсэн нь багийн гүн болон Премьер лигийн эрч хүчийг нэмэгдүүлж байна.
Сүүлийн зургаан жилд анх удаа 100 сая еврогоос давсан хөрөнгө оруулалт хийсэн Интер багийн хувьд энэ улирлын гол зорилго нь лигийн аварга цолоо хамгаалахын зэрэгцээ Аваргуудын лигт өндөр амжилт үзүүлэх явдал юм. Жон Стоунз 6 дугаарын өмсгөлийг сонгосон нь түүний өмнө нь Манчестер Ситид хүртэж байсан лигийн аваргын тоотой ижил бөгөөд тэрээр Италид шинэ түүх бүтээх хүсэлтэй байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
John Stones ran from one of San Siro’s towers to another. A member of Inter’s coaching staff thumbed a stopwatch and timed him. It was 20 minutes after his Serie A debut as a second-half substitute. The ground was practically empty.
Stones was warming down with Luis Henrique and Aleksandar Stankovic. He dashed under the red girders until satisfied, loosening off his heart-rate monitor and handing it to whoever put him through his paces. Before sauntering down the stairwell to the dressing room, Stones stopped to sign autographs for fans in Inter’s pitchside hospitality suites. He had received a loud welcome upon replacing Manuel Akanji, who is helping Stones settle in, with the help of assistant manager Aleksandar Kolarov, another former Manchester City team-mate. This was Stones’ way of repaying the supporters and ingratiating himself with his new public.
Spirits were high. The champions began the season with a bang, beating Monza 4-1. Stones will learn this is nothing new. It was the fifth time in eight seasons that Inter scored four or more goals in their opener, a timeframe that neatly illustrates how a resurgence under Antonio Conte has consolidated into an almost dynastic dominance under Simone Inzaghi and, more recently, Cristian Chivu, who won the title and Coppa Italia in his first season.
“I have so many emotions,” Stones said in a club interview when he completed the move. “I’m really happy and proud, excited to start this new chapter and this new journey. I couldn’t imagine a better place to do it.”
He was the only member of Inter’s ‘Three Lions’, their new England internationals, to be in the squad to face Monza. Djed Spence appeared in a box, Oakley’s on, as cool as a slice of orange in a summertime spritz. Curtis Jones, the latest to arrive from Liverpool, cut a much less conspicuous figure. While it was amusing to joke that they needed time to get up to speed with the relentless tempo of Italian football, both had joined so recently that they hadn’t figured in Inter’s pre-season. Stones, however, was different, having come on and scored in their final warm-up game against Real Betis.
Djed Spence pictured during Inter’s game with Monza on Saturday (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Signed after his contract had expired at City, the move for 32-year-old Stones was trademark Giuseppe Marotta. Inter’s president has built a succession of title-winning teams around free transfers. This was the case at Juventus with Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Fernando Llorente, Dani Alves and Sami Khedira. It has continued at Inter with Stefan de Vrij, the player Stones replaces and whose number he takes, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Hakan Calhanoglu, Andre Onana, Marcus Thuram and Piotr Zielinski.
Not all of them have worked out. Many have forgotten Lucio’s brief spell in Turin. Far more expensive in terms of salary was Aaron Ramsey’s switch from Arsenal to Juventus (a deal sponsored by Marotta’s former deputy, Fabio Paratici). In Milan, on the other hand, Diego Godin did not match the standards set at Atletico Madrid. He was a shadow of the player who elbowed his way to greatness, as was Nemanja Vidic, who played under a different owner, way before Marotta’s appointment. These two are the touchstones if it goes wrong for Stones.
Marotta has got it more right than wrong throughout his career. If Stones can stay fit, he can be a game-changer for Inter. Memories of him stepping into midfield when City played Inter in the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul are still relatively fresh. As is the impression Inter made on Stones that night.
A final erroneously billed as the most one-sided in the competition’s recent history proved anything but. Inter made City sweat for the final part of their treble and would have taken the game to extra time were it not for chances missed by Romelu Lukaku and Federico Dimarco. Returning to the final in 2025 proved it was no fluke for this group of players. They want to make another one, after an unexpected defeat against Bodo/Glimt in the knockout play-off round last season. The regret became even more acute when it emerged that Sporting CP, a potentially favourable opponent, would have been next.
Head coach Cristian Chivu prepares John Stones to come on against Monza for his Inter debut (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
For Inter’s owners, becoming the first Italian team to retain the league title since 2020 would be nice, but the Champions League has the biggest financial effect on the club’s season.
“I have an immense hunger to win more,” Stones added in that interview with Inter’s website. Stones, Spence and Jones have been signed to prolong this team’s dominance, replacing De Vrij, Denzel Dumfries and, in time, Mkhitaryan. They bring not only freshness but also Premier League intensity.
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi was disappointed that Spence wanted to join Inter rather than stay and compete with Pedro Porro, Andy Robertson and Destiny Udogie. Surely De Zerbi should know Inter have a genuine chance to win things and are in the Champions League. “I’m happy he chose us,” Chivu said of Jones, knowing he could also have remained in England — if not at Liverpool, then another Premier League club.
Dumfries aside, Inter no longer lose their best players. They turned a profit in their last set of accounts and exited a settlement agreement with UEFA. Gone are the days when Achraf Hakimi, Romelu Lukaku and Onana needed to be sold to balance the books. This squad has tremendous depth relative to their Serie A rivals. Before the game, Marotta marked Lautaro Martinez’s 29th birthday by telling Barcelona that Inter’s captain isn’t going anywhere.
Hakan Calhanoglu celebrates after scoring Inter’s opening goal of the season (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Saturday’s win against Monza was not as one-sided as it looks. Calhanoglu scored a quintessential screamer. Yann Bisseck went on a marauding run. Pio Esposito encapsulated Inter’s display — defenders could not deal with the physicality, ripping not one but two of his jerseys. It testified to Inter’s ragged power on a balmy August evening.
Other than his muscular hold-up play, there are times when you wonder if Esposito is worth the hype. Then, all of a sudden, he scores a deft backheel, Roberto Bettega-style, making you doubt yourself rather than him. That’s Inter all over.
Familiar issues were raised in their performance: they were so superior at times that it led to the momentary and near-fatal underestimation of their opponents. Josep Martinez looked shaky as he steps up to be the first-choice goalkeeper. Akanji got rolled too easily by Gustavo Varela for Monza’s 29th-minute equaliser, and the visitors could have gone in at the break 2-1 up.
Then Inter turned it on, moving through gears Monza don’t possess, particularly when fielding a team full of kids and new signings amid injury-enforced absentees. More is to come from Inter. Chivu said he can’t wait for this “bastard” of a transfer window to end. It’s a distraction. A source of anxiety. But it’s also the first in which Inter have spent more than €100million (£86m; $117m) in six years.
Stones chose the No 6, as worn by Armando Picchi and Giacinto Facchetti, to say nothing of Youri Djorkaeff. It is also the number of league titles he won at City. He can add more at Inter.
