No Lukaku or Onana? Unstoppable Inter look like Champions League finalists

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 20 Sep 2023 11:39 CDT
• 5 min read

Only three teams in Europe’s five major leagues have a 100 per cent record this season.

They are Manchester City, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Of these three sides, only Inter have enjoyed total dominance in each match they have won.

READ MORE: ‘Inter have no reason to be angry with Lukaku’ - Mourinho

It can certainly be argued that in this first month of the 2023-24 season, no one in Europe elite leagues have looked better than Inter.

This was hammered home by Pep Guardiola on Monday when he predicted that Inter could reach a second successive Champions League final come next May.

“I had the feeling it was an incredibly strong team,” Guardiola said, reflecting on the 1-0 Champions League final win over Inter in June.

“They prove it, a tight game. The coin came for us. The feeling before, how difficult Inter was, a candidate to be there again. I like to beat different teams, the final was competitive.”

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Inter showed how incredibly strong they were on Saturday as they humiliated city rivals AC Milan - who themselves had a 100 per cent record before kick-off - 5-1 in a one-sided Milan Derby.

This followed up dominant victories over Monza (2-0), Cagliari (2-0) and Fiorentina (4-0).

So far, Inter have four wins from four, scoring 13 goals and conceding 1. They have an xG average of 3 per game for, and xGA average of just 0.71 against.

Such a sensational start to the season could not have been expected after Inter lost some pillars of the team and squad in the summer.

Milan Skriniar, Marcelo Brozovic, Andre Onana and Romelu Lukaku were four huge figures who left, in addition to the likes of Edin Dzeko and the retiring Samir Handanovic.

In their place came Benjamin Pavard (yet to play), Davide Frattesi, Yann Sommer and Marcus Thuram, as well as Carlos Augusto, Juan Cuadrado, Emil Audero, Yann Bisseck, Davy Klaassen, Marko Arnautovic and the returning Alexis Sanchez.

Thuram has been a revelation in these early weeks of the season. Not only has Lukaku not been missed at all, but Thuram so far has been an upgrade.

He has two goals and two assists in four games, scoring an early contender for goal of the season against Milan with a rocket into the top corner.

The son of Juventus legend Lilian Thuram, Marcus is tireless attacker who presses, wins the ball back, runs the channels and links up wonderfully well with his teammates. His chemistry with strike-partner Lautaro Martinez already looks fantastic.

As for Sommer, well he has not put a foot wrong in goal. It was expected he would be a big downgrade on Onana, who was simply world class for Inter last season. The Cameroonian’s distribution in goal can’t be rivalled but Sommer is not bad in this department and has been safe and commanding of his box. Unlike Onana at Man Utd, he has saved what he has been expected to save. He has conceded just one goal.

Most of Inter’s other signings have already impressed, too, including Frattesi who scored Inter’s fifth goal in the Derby. There is impressive depth in every department and area of the pitch.

Elsewhere in the team, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is in the form of his career at the grand old age of 34 and was man of the match in the Milan Derby.

The defence looks as solid as it did in that run to the Champions League final, and Pavard has yet to even play a minute.

It is too soon to say if Inter can make another run to the final of the Champions League like Guardiola says, but the early signs are certainly good.