Inter Milan v Southampton: Clubs once worlds apart, now Saints have nothing to fear

Greg Lea writes it would have been hard to predict these clubs crossing paths six years ago, but the Europa League contest between Inter Milan and Southampton underscores their dramatic turns in fortune.

Charlie Austin, of Southampton, left, and Mauro Icardi, of Inter Milan, right. Stefan Wermuth / Reuters and Luca Bruno / AP Photo

• Inter Milan v Southampton, Thursday, 9pm UAE, BeIN Sports 11HD

If a group of Inter Milan and Southampton supporters had been told at the start of the decade that their teams would meet in the Europa League in 2016, most would have been highly sceptical.

Back in 2010, fans of the Italian giants were contemplating a period of domestic domination. Inter had claimed each of the last five Serie A titles on offer, and given that both AS Roma and AC Milan had struggled to overhaul them under various different managers and Juventus had not yet awoken from the slumber brought about by their post-Calciopoli scandal relegation, the club's position at the top of the Italian game seemed reasonably secure.

Inter had also just won the Uefa Champions League under Jose Mourinho and would have been hoping to establish themselves as regular challengers for the continent’s premier prize despite the Portuguese’s exit to Real Madrid that summer.

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Southampton, meanwhile, were languishing in League One. An immediate return to the Championship following their ignominious demotion in 2009 was missed out on by some distance, with Alan Pardew’s charges failing to even make the play-offs in the club’s first season in the third tier of English football for half a century. At the time, there was a genuine fear that Southampton could become trapped in a malaise and find themselves stuck in the lower leagues for years to come.

In the six years since then, the two sides have been trending in opposite directions. While Inter have descended from the summit in Italy, regularly finishing closer to the middle of the table than the top, Southampton have climbed back up the divisions and are now very firmly a part of the cluster of clubs just outside the Premier League’s elite.

The latter have proven themselves to be a model outfit whose astute off-field operations have allowed them to consistently exceed expectations and overcome adversity, but the same cannot be said for the former.

The Inter side that won the treble under Mourinho in 2010 was not a young one, with the eleven players who took to the field in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich having an average age of 30 years and 92 days.

Adequate replacements were not secured when the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Lucio and Marco Materazzi departed in 2011 or 2012, and a failure to invest in younger players meant there was no one to step in as the influence of Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso and Wesley Sneijder waned in the years that followed.

Inter suffered from their lack of long-term planning, boardroom direction and sensible recruitment, areas in which Southampton have thrived.

Many other clubs would have struggled after losing managers such as Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman and concurrently being forced to overhaul their playing staff, but the Premier League side have continually managed to absorb wholesale changes and come back stronger.

As a result, Southampton have nothing to fear at San Siro on Thursday. Although their squad is not lacking in talent, Inter have continued to stagnate this term: Frank de Boer’s men are currently 11th in Serie A and have lost both of their two previous Europa League outings, with a dispute between supporters and club captain Mauro Icardi compounding their woes.

Southampton, conversely, have found their feet under Claude Puel, winning five and drawing two of their last seven encounters in all competitions. This week’s game against such illustrious opponents at such an iconic stadium is just reward for their recent achievements.

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