The nature of all-conquering seasons is such that an element of recency bias affects the way we analyse them.
Think of Manchester United’s Treble season.
Aside from the extraordinary turnaround in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, the wins against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final replay and Juventus in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final always dominate the narrative.
The FA Cup third-round victory over Liverpool was equally dramatic, but it is often – at least by neutral observers – not granted the same spotlight.
That is largely because it happened in January, at a time when the prospect of United winning the Treble seemed still fanciful.
Wins over Arsenal and Juventus in April, meanwhile, put Sir Alex Ferguson’s troops on the verge of triumph.
And yet, the win over Liverpool was as crucial a juncture in United’s quest for glory as the other two results.
The same applies to Inter’s Triplete.
The second-leg of the semi-final against Barcelona has gone down in folklore as arguably the sliding doors moment of the season.
But the sight of Jose Mourinho storming onto the pitch at the Camp Nou may have never come to pass had Inter not scored twice in the final four minutes against Dynamo Kyiv in the group stages to keep their hopes of qualification alive.
Similarly, Diego Milito’s winner against Siena on the final day of the season that secured the Scudetto just 11 days after beating Roma in the Coppa Italia final is etched into Nerazzurri’s folklore.
“The Champions League was our dream and winning the Scudetto was a must,” Mourinho recalled to La Gazzetta dello Sport four years ago.
“Lifting the Coppa Italia felt like saying ‘One trophy in the bag, now let’s go for the next’.”
But while the win in Tuscany secured the second third of the Treble it may not even have been the most consequential victory over Siena that season.
Four months earlier, Inter’s first meeting against the Bianconeri provided arguably one of the great sliding doors moments of their season.
Exactly 15 years ago today, Mourinho’s Inter welcomed Siena to San Siro to wrap up the first half of the season.
Serie A winners in the Special One’s first campaign in Italy, the Beneamata were well poised to defend their title as they began the New Year with a five-point gap over AC Milan and a nine-point advantage over Juventus.
With the Rossoneri travelling to Turin the following day, Siena’s visit seemed the perfect opportunity to widen the margin even further.
Alberto Malesani’s men had begun the year with a 5-1 thumping at home at the hands of Fiorentina – their 12th defeat in 18 matches – that had left them rock bottom of Serie A, five points adrift of safety.
The table may have made for ominous reading, but the visitors seemed far from fazed from the occasion.
With 18 minutes on the clock, Simone Vergassola seized on a loose ball in midfield and released Massimo Maccarone.
With Inter defenders backpedalling, the former Middlesbrough striker advanced unchallenged before unleashing a left-footed piledriver from 25 yards out that zipped past Julio Cesar and into the top corner.
Seven minutes later Inter were level. Wesley Sneijder sped up the Nerazurri’s counter-attack with a trademark cross-field pass that found Diego Milito in the left channel.
The Argentine brought the ball under control, checked inside past Emilson Cribari before finding the bottom corner with a typically smart finish.
It was Milito’s 11th goal of an extraordinary debut season for Inter, during which he established himself as arguably one of the best strikers in world football.
El Principe scored 22 goals in 35 Serie A matches and 30 in 52 appearances in all competitions.
The numbers, however, don’t tell the whole tale.
Milito scored the winner in the Coppa Italia final against Roma and away at Siena as Inter secured the Scudetto on the final day of the season.
He was on the scoresheet for Inter’s 3-1 win over Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final and scored both goals as the Nerazzurri beat Bayern Munich to lift the trophy.
Signed from Genoa for €28m, Milito’s impact was as important as that of fellow summer arrival Sneijder, who joined from Real Madrid for €15m.
“We needed a player to provide tactical flexibility,” Mourinho said of Sneijder.
“Someone who could connect our midfield to our two exceptionally mobile strikers, and he was the perfect fit.”
Like the Argentine, the Dutchman too was on the scoresheet against Siena, planting a free-kick past Gianluca Curci with 36 minutes played.
The prospect of Inter strolling to a routine win against the side bottom of the table lasted all of 60 seconds, before Reginaldo set up Albin Ekdal’s equaliser.
As torrential rain continued to pound Milan turning the San Siro turf into a quagmire, Mourinho opted to reshuffle his pack at half-time.
Out came Dejan Stankovic and Ricardo Quaresma, in went Marko Arnautovic and Walter Samuel, who was deployed in the unfamiliar role of left-back, with Javier Zanetti moving into midfield.
The move backfired soon enough as Reginaldo’s pace proved too much for Samuel to handle.
The Siena forward easily beat the Argentine, before squaring the ball back for Maccarone, who bagged his second of the game with a calm finish past Julio Cesar.
With 30 minutes left and Inter looked to be heading for a second defeat in five matches, Mourinho turned to his bench.
The proverbial cupboard, however, was alarmingly bare.
Samuel Eto’o was away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Mario Balotelli, Esteban Cambiasso, Christian Chivu, Marco Materazzi and Sulley Muntari were all either injured or suspended.
Alongside Francesco Toldo, the bench featured a quartet of academy players – Giulio Donati, Lorenzo Crisetig, Denis Alibec and Alen Stevanovic.
Mourinho summoned the latter for his senior debut, with the Serbian midfielder coming on for his first and only Inter appearance in place of Thiago Motta.
The Portuguese had rolled the dice, but with the change failing to spark the Nerazzurri into life and Siena comfortably weathering the storm, it was time to go for broke.
And Mourinho did, instructing Samuel to move up front as an emergency forward.
The Argentine had grown up wanting to be a striker, before a youth team coach converted him into a defender at the age of 12. Ever since then, ‘The Wall’ had earned his living preventing goals, rather than scoring them.
Yet here he was, partnering Milito, Arnautovic and Goran Pandev as Inter frantically searched for an equaliser.
With 90 minutes on the clock, Samuel won a free-kick that Sneijder furiously thumped past Gianluca Pegolo – who had replaced the injured Curci at half-time – to rescue a point for the league leaders.
Four minutes later, Samuel was still up front when Lucio hoisted a hopeful long ball towards the box, which Arnautovic headed towards Milito.
El Principe laid the ball off to Pandev, who found Samuel in space. As he admitted himself, the Argentine was arguably the last man Inter would have wanted in that situation.
“At 3-3, I was thinking about dropping back, but he [Mourinho] told me to stay up front,” he recalled.
“To be honest, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that decision, but I was lucky enough to be there and score.
“I think he saw something that I didn’t. The credit goes to him for leaving me there. It was a lucky break.”
Lucky break or not, Samuel rifled the ball into the top corner sparking delirious scenes. This was Inter living up to their Pazza Inter (Crazy Inter) nickname.
Milan beat Juventus 3-0 in Turin the following day, but neither would ultimately threaten Inter in the second half of the season finishing 12 and 27 points adrift of the Scudetto winners respectively.
It was Roma who almost negated Inter’s Treble as they mounted one of the great comebacks in Serie A history.
Thirteen points behind the Beneamata at the halfway point of the season, the Giallorossi were top of Serie A with four games to play and were on course to reclaim first place at half-time on the final day.
But Milito’s goal against Siena meant they ultimately came up short in the league and the Argentine’s winner in the Coppa Italia final condemned them to “Zero tituli” (no titles), as Mourinho had predicted two months earlier.
It’s difficult to judge just how crucial Inter’s thrilling comeback against Siena was, but in a title race decided by just two points every win counted.
In a season with more sliding doors moments than a Netflix series, a last-minute winner against Siena may have been as crucial to the Treble as the Nerazzurri’s heroics against Barcelona.
