For eight months Inter Milan’s season was dominated by one word – Triplete. Fifteen years since Jose Mourinho’s side became the first Italian team to win the Scudetto, Champions League and Coppa Italia in the same campaign, Simone Inzaghi’s team had built a convincing case they could repeat the feat.

As Inzaghi himself noted in a press conference, Inter were looking to win four titles in one season, including the Club World Cup this summer.

But as they approach their second Champions League final in three seasons, another of Mourinho’s most famous lines hangs heavily over them.

“Zero tituli” – zero titles – the Portuguese remarked after Luciano Spalletti complained of a penalty awarded to Inter in a 3-3 draw against Roma in 2009.

Mourinho’s riposte was intended to shift the attention from a controversial refereeing decision to what he perceived to be Roma’s lack of success despite a star-studded squad.

The barb could still come to define Inter’s season, should they lose to Paris Saint-Germain at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Saturday.

The Treble dream was shattered by one of the worst AC Milan sides of the decade in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, while their hopes of a second Scudetto in a row evaporated in the face of Antonio Conte’s relentless Napoli.

Defeat in Germany would leave Inter empty-handed after a season that had promised so much. The Champions League final may come to define Inzaghi’s reign at the San Siro. 

Will he be remembered as the manager who turned Inter back into a domestic juggernaut and won Serie A’s first Champions League in 15 years, or as the man who lost two European finals in three seasons? 

A degree of nuance, as ever, is required. Inzaghi has emerged as one of the outstanding managers in Europe since succeeding Conte at the helm of the Beneamata, winning six trophies.

Over the past four seasons Inter have never finished lower than third in Serie A and have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League for four consecutive campaigns.

If those seem the minimum requirements for a club of Inter’s stature, in reality they are anything but. In three years under Conte, the Nerazzurri never made it out of the group in the Champions League. 

Before that, they missed out on the competition altogether between 2012 and 2018 when they never finished higher than fourth in Serie A. Domestic and continental success, in short, was not guaranteed. And neither is recognition. To the casual viewer, Inter lack the star power of some of their rivals, and of their vintage iterations.

Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez are two of the finest strikers in Europe, but they do not command the same attention as Kylian Mbappe or Lamine Yamal or even Mohamed Salah.

Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella have been two of the best players in the Champions League this season, but they remain largely under the radar beyond Serie A borders.

At the same time, the days of Massimo Moratti bankrolling a frontline of Ronaldo, Christian Vieri and Roberto Baggio are long gone.

The financial playing field has shifted dramatically and Serie A clubs no longer shop on the high street. Since Inzaghi replaced Conte, Inter have not spent more than £26million on a player, with Benjamin Pavard and Davide Frattesi arriving from Bayern Munich and Sassuolo for the same fee.

In total, Inter have spent just under £230m since Inzaghi took over, while selling players for over £310m. 

In Serie A, only Atalanta and Sassuolo managed larger net profits over the same period, while none of their European rivals have come close.

In that respect, it is telling that both of Inter’s Champions League finals over the past three seasons have come against clubs backed by nation states.

If Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are the nouveau riches of European football, the Nerazzurri represent one the game’s true aristocrats and Saturday will be the seventh European Cup/Champions League final in their history.

Just as it was when Mourinho won it all, Inter’s biggest star may be in the dugout. 

Inzaghi’s team have been brilliant to watch this season, attacking with intent while being resolutely hard to break down, flexible and fluid. Players are clear about what is asked of them and when – midfielders switch out wide, the forwards drop deep, and so on.

When it comes off, Inzaghi’s brand of football is brilliantly efficient and so easy on the eye.

Dismissing his side as a traditional risk-averse Italian team ignores the fact Inter put seven past Barcelona in what will surely go down as the greatest Champions League semi-final in history. Heading to Germany, they have scored 114 goals in all competitions this season.

But Munich also feels very much like the end of a cycle for this version of the Nerazzurri, who have the oldest squad in Serie A with an average age of 29.

With 11 players – Francesco Acerbi, Marko Arnautovic, Yann Sommer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Matteo Darmian, Stefan De Vrij, Mehdi Taremi, Raffaele Di Gennaro, Hakan Calhanoglu, Piotr Zielinski and Joaquin Correa – over 30 in their squad, Inter also have the oldest in the Champions League.

Whether Inzaghi will be in charge of the rebuilding process remains to be seen.

“There are offers from Italy, abroad, and from Saudi Arabia,” he said on Monday as he addressed speculations over his future. “But at this moment, it would be crazy to even think about them. I have a contract with Inter, and I’m very happy here. 

“We’ll talk the day after the Champions League final. If all the conditions are right, we’ll continue.”

Inter and Inzaghi’s future, for now, can wait. There’s a legacy to cement first.