THE VITALS:

Team: Internazionale

Brand: Nike

Era: 2020-21 (Used for 2020-21 Serie A season)

Name/Number: Eriksen #24

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This article is still in excellent condition with all aspects of the shirt displaying very little sign of wear.

DIMENSIONS:

Size: XL Boys

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18.0 inches

Shirt Length: 24.0 inches 

Made by Nike in their ‘Dri-Fit’ range of shirts which they introduced in 2020; this shirt is most certainly for kids and not to be confused as a make-weight extra small adults shirt like previous seasons.

DESCRIPTION:

After the mythical grey and black horizontal striped shirts Internazionale used in 1997-98 and then between 2004-06; Nike would unearth the third iteration of this design in the pantheon ahead of the 2020-21 season and it was well worth its place in this unique chapter of Internazionale Milano’s history! This shirt drew a hybrid of inspiration from both shirts with blue also being used as a tertiary colour as part of the accents on the collar and sleeves as it was in the original shirt that Umbro released in 1997, while the collar itself was hoop shaped rather than a polo fold-over. All three shirts however share the use of yellow for the Pirelli sponsor and kit-supplier and the central position of the crest and the kit supplier on the right breast. The eagerly anticipated shirt debuted in the 1-1 draw with Lazio on 4^th October and was also worn in the 1-0 win at San Siro over Napoli on 16^th December. The shirt would again be seen in the away game against Sampdoria on 6^th January. The 2020-21 season would end Inter’s eleven year wait to be crowned as Scudetto winners as they won their nineteenth league title! A season of dominance would yield wins over: Napoli, Juventus, Lazio, Milan and Roma en route to securing 28 wins and 91 points – their second best return in the 38 game season. This however, would be the last season with Antonio Conte at the helm, and would prove to be Achraf Hakimi’s only season with the club, while Ashley Young, Christian Eriksen and Romelu Lukaku would all move back to England after a brilliant pair of seasons at the club.

THE SEASON:

Internazionale’s story of the Covid-19 2019-20 season would be a tale of near misses as Antonio Conte’s first season at the helm saw Inter miss out on the Scudetto by just a point and were narrowly beaten 3-2 in the Final of the Europa League having navigated the ‘Club 2020’ one legged tournament phase to reach the final in Cologne in August 2020.

After an excellent summer 2019 and winter 2020 transfer window that saw: Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Nicolo Barella Ashely Young and Christian Eriksen all become integral parts of the first team – Achraf Hakimi, Arturo Vidal, Aleksandar Kolarov and Matteo Darmian were added to the squad in the abridged summer break as European football began the first full season in the ‘Covid-Era’.

Inter would enjoy a fantastic period after the restart in June 2020 where they won eight out of their thirteen games and would come into 2020-21 season on an eight match unbeaten streak having won each of their last three games.

Inter began the season at home to Fiorentina on 26^th September where they won a 4-3 classic at San Siro before they beat Benevento 5-2 just four days later. Inter would fail to beat Lazio before losing the first Milan Derby of the season on 17^th October. Their patchy form continued with just one win in their next three games; however, after the goalless draw with Atalanta on 8^th November 2020; Inter embarked on an 8 match winning streak! The scalps of: Torino, Sassuolo, Bologna, Cagliari, Napoli, Spezia and Verona were taken to end the 2020 portion of the season in 2^nd place and just a point behind AC Milan.

After beating Crotone 6-2 on 3^rd January; Inter would be stunned 2-1 against Sampdoria and would drop more points in draws with Roma and Udinese, with a win over Juventus sandwiched in the middle (incidentally, this was their first win in the league over Juve since September 2016). Milan wouldn’t take advantage of Inter’s stuttering New Year form and the 4-0 win over Benevento on 30^th January would be the first of an eleven match winning streak! The run would feature wins over the likes of: Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan and Atalanta and after the eleventh win of the streak that came against Cagliari on 11^th April – Inter would lead the way by 11 points with eight games to spare. Napoli and Spezia would hold Inter to back-to-back 1-1 draws, however, the soon to be champions returned to winning ways and their Scudetto victory was official after the 2-0 win over Crotone on 1^st May! The 3-2 defeat to Juventus was their sole blemish in their final six games as Inter went on to acquire 91 games and 28 wins!

Inter’s quest to become Coppa Italia winners for the first time since 2011 would once again end at the semi-final stage. Fiorentina were beaten in extra time in the Round of 16 clash that took place on 13^th January, before Milan were beaten 2-1 in a close derby on 26^th January. Juventus would be their opponents in the semi-final in a repeat of their meeting at this stage in 2016 and the 2-1 win for Juventus in the 1^st Leg on 2^nd February would be enough to win the tie 2-1 and eliminate Inter.

The hugest disappointment for Antonio Conte’s side in 2020-21 was no doubt their poor showing in the UEFA Champions League that ended with them finishing in 4^th place and eliminated entirely from European competition before 2021. Inter would be drawn in Group B with Borussia Monchengladbach, their semi-final opponents in the Europa League in 2020 – Shakhtar Donetsk and a first meeting since 1998 against Real Madrid! A disastrous Group Stage would see Inter go winless in each of their first four games including a pair of defeats to Real Madrid. Not even the 3-2 win away against Monchengladbach on Match-Day 5 could salvage qualification to the Last 16 unless they lost by a gargantuan score against Real Madrid, however, Inter would fail to beat Shakhtar at home to seal their fate in 4^th place.

The notable players that season were:

Andrea Pinamonti, Lautaro Martinez, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Christian Eriksen, Ivan Perisic, Arturo Vidal, Radja Nainggolan, Marcelo Brozovic, Nicolo Barela, Stefano Sensi, Matias Vecino, Roberto Gagliardini, Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar, Matteo Darmian, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Ashley Young, Andrea Ranocchia, Aleksandar Kolarov, Stefan de Vrij, Achraf Hakimi, Samir Handanovic