Friday, October 12, 2012

the 2006–07 Serie A season.

On 1 July 2004, Inter announced on their official website that they had appointed former Lazio boss Roberto Mancini as new head coach. In his first season Inter and Mancini collected 72 points from 18 win, 18 draw and only 2 loses. On 15 June 2005, Inter won the Coppa Italia, defeating Roma in the two-legged final 3–0 on aggregate (1–0 win in Milan and 2–0 win in Rome) and followed that up on 20 August 2005, by winning the Supercoppa Italiana after an extra-time 1–0 victory against original 2004–05 Serie A champions Juventus (before being stripped of this title). This Super Cup win was Inter's first since 1989, coincidentally the same year since Inter last won the Scudetto before 2006. On 11 May 2006, Inter retained their Coppa Italia trophy by once again, defeating Roma with a 4–1 aggregate victory (a 1–1 scoreline in Rome and a 3–1 win at the Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro).
Inter were awarded the 2005–06 Serie A championship as they were the highest placed side in the season's final league table after points were stripped from Juventus and Milan—both sides involved in the match fixing scandal that year. On 14 July 2006, The Italian Federal Appeal Commission found Serie A clubs Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina, Reggina and Milan guilty of match-fixing and charged the 5 clubs with their respective punishments, (although all charges were later reduced in some capacity). So with the confirmed relegation of Juventus to Serie B (for the first ever time in their history) and the eight-point deduction for city rivals Milan, Inter became favorites to retain their Serie A title for the 2006–07 Serie A season.
During the season, Inter went on a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories in Serie A, starting on 25 September 2006 with a 4–1 home victory over Livorno, and ending on 28 February 2007, after a 1–1 draw at home to Udinese. The 5–2 away win at Catania on 25 February 2007 broke the original record of 15 matches held by both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid from the "Big 5" (the top flight leagues in Italy, England, Spain, France and Germany). The run lasted for almost five months and stands among the best in European league football, with just Benfica (29 wins), Celtic (25 wins) and PSV Eindhoven (22 wins) bettering the run. Inter's form dipped a little as they scored 0–0 and 2–2 draws against relegation-battlers Reggina and slumping Palermo (respectively), the latter game featuring a second-half comeback after Palermo went up 2–0 at half-time. They could not keep their invincible form near the end of the season as well, as they lost their first game of the domestic season to Roma in the San Siro 3–1 thanks to two late Roma goals. Inter had enjoyed an unbeaten Serie A run for just under a year.

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On 22 April 2007 Inter won their second consecutive scudetto—and first on the field since 1989—when they defeated Siena 2–1 at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Italian World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi scored both goals in the 18th and 60th minute, with the latter being a penalty.

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