Two years ago, when Inter Milan lost the Champions League final to Manchester City, Pep Guardiola predicted the Nerazzurri would compete for European football’s biggest prize again soon enough.

Simone Inzaghi, said the Catalan, was too good a manager not to deliver on club football’s grandest stage.

His words proved prescient as Inter returned to the final this season.

And while Inzaghi at last exacted revenge on City, Guardiola’s prediction didn’t quite pan out as he had imagined.

Inter were thrashed 5-0 in the Champions League final by Paris Saint-Germain, their quest for a historic Treble ultimately coming up short on all fronts.  

Psychologically drained, Inzaghi left a week later, the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia proving irresistible after four seasons at the San Siro.

On Monday night, the former Inter manager looked back to his livewire best as his Al-Hilal side beat City 4-3 in extra-time to progress to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.

It was hitherto the biggest shock of the tournament and the biggest since Fluminense had knocked Inzaghi’s former club out just hours earlier.

An early goal from German Cano put the Brazilians ahead, before Hercules added a second deep into injury-time.

In the sweltering heat in Charlotte, this was a frustrating day for Inter, who did everything but score in the second half.

Lautaro Martinez hit the post and Sebastiano Esposito forced a brilliant save from Fabio as Fluminense became the first Brazilian club to beat a European rival in a competitive fixture in two decades.

And while they rallied after the break, Inter were not up to standard throughout the first half.

Their inability to defend crosses into the box reared its head again, a month after their deficiency in the area had been exposed by PSG.

In his first four games in charge after replacing Inzaghi before the Club World Cup, Cristian Chivu has resisted the temptation of a radical tactical overhaul.

The 3-5-2 formation that was the bedrock of Inzaghi’s four seasons at the San Siro, remains in situ for now.

The personnel remains largely the same too. Eight of the players who started the 5-0 shellacking in Munich were named in the starting XI on Monday night.

But the defensive solidity the system once guaranteed has long gone, evaporated into the heavy, humid air that has beset the Club World Cup.

Chivu acknowledged as much, noting that Fluminense had scored twice from their three shots on goal.

Not that Inter’s defensive frailties should be blamed on the Romanian. The issue predates Chivu, with the Beneamata keeping just three clean sheets in their last nine outings in all competitions.

Beyond any tactical flaws, Inter’s biggest problem is exhaustion. The defeat by Fluminense was their 63rd match of a season that started 11 months ago.

Watching Inter is like watching a cyclist that has run out of steam on a steep climb.

Shoulders sagging, head swaying side to side, every stroke of the pedal that came so natural until not long ago now requires a herculean effort.

There is a wider conversation to have over the wisdom of crowbarring in a month-long tournament played in extreme heat in at the end of an already gruelling season, but the reality is Inter have been dead on their feet since April.

“They’ve scraped the bottom of the barrel,” Chivu said after the defeat by Fluminense. “I prefer to focus on the positives, because dwelling on the negatives only gives me a headache.”

Chivu may want to avoid a headache, but Martinez’s comments might be the source of a searing migraine for Inter.

The Argentine pulled no punches on Monday night. “I gave everything on the pitch, in every training session, and I’m really sorry,” he said.

“I don’t want to lose, and I feel bad for the team. But I want to say one thing: you have to want to stay at Inter. We’re fighting for important goals, and whoever wants to stay here needs to show it.

“Whoever doesn’t, should leave. We’re here to do everything we can for Inter, and I’ve seen a lot of things that, as captain, I didn’t like. 

“I want to fight for our objectives because we’re part of a great club, and I want to keep competing at the top.”

Inter president Giuseppe Marotta admitted Martinez’s verbal salvo was aimed at Hakan Calhanoglu, who left the Club World Cup with what was officially described as a calf injury.

Calhanoglu, however, was subsequently seen in Istanbul, amid interest from Galatasaray.  

“Lautaro’s reaction in the heat of the moment was emotional and significant in his role as captain,” Marotta said. “When a player expresses a desire to leave, he will find the door wide open. I am referring to Calhanoglu when I say this.”

Chivu, who claimed his players had been “arrogant” against Fluminense, sang from the same hymn sheet.

“His comments also reflect what I said,” he stated. “Right from the start we needed to be all in the same boat and pull in same direction.”

After Inter beat Feyenoord 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the beginning of March, Inzaghi held up four fingers.

The Nerazzurri, as he suggested, were going for all four trophies.

Four months later, the cupboard is bare. Inzaghi has had his own revenge against City, but Inter will have to wait for theirs a while longer.