It's now or never for Inter: Simone Inzaghi's underappreciated side must shake off Serie A title collapse and earn Champions League glory before it's too late

Defeat in the 2023 Champions League final hit Inter hard. They had not been expected to win; truth be told, plenty of supposedly informed pundits predicted that they'd be swept aside by Pep Guardiola's mighty Manchester City side.

However, Inter's brilliant backline completely nullified the threat posed by Erling Haaland and, despite falling behind to a fortuitous goal from Rodri, who was the beneficiary of a deflected cross, they dominated the final quarter of the game.

Unfortunately, the Nerazzurri squandered a succession of gilt-edged opportunities to level the game, with Romelu Lukaku the main culprit. As a relieved Guardiola later quipped in an interview with MARCA, "I am a European champion because a player failed three metres from the goalie!"

Still, while the nature of the defeat frustrated Inzaghi and his players, it didn't deflate them. On the contrary, it served as a source of encouragement.

In Istanbul, they had gone toe to toe with one of the most expensively assembled sides in football history and, as Inzaghi pointed out, "deserved to at least go to extra-time". Consequently, the performance actually gave Inter even more "belief in our capabilities", and that confidence played a major role in them running away with last season's Serie A title race.

They should have retained the Scudetto this season, too, but they ran out of steam in the home straight and ended up finishing a point behind Antonio Conte's Napoli, who were unburdened by European football.

Inter had had the chance to reclaim top spot on the penultimate matchday, but they conceded a 90th-minute equaliser in their decisive 2-2 draw with Lazio on May 18, which left Napoli needing only to beat Cagliari at home in their final game to claim the Scudetto - which they did thanks in no small part to Scott McTominay.

The way in which the title was effectively decided riled Inter. Inzaghi was even sent off for his reaction to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) controversially awarding Lazio a penalty in the dying seconds of the game at San Siro for a handball by Yann Bisseck.

In truth, though, the real damage had been done during Inter's week from hell at the tail end of April, when they lost league games against both Bologna and Roma, either side of the humiliating Coppa Italia semi-final defeat to struggling city rivals AC Milan. The Nerazzurri looked spent, utterly devoid of energy in all three games, with Inzaghi left lamenting a lack of "sharpness" caused by a congested schedule.

And yet, in the midst of this mini-crisis, Inter somehow summoned up sufficient mental and physical strength to outlast a brilliant - and far younger - Barcelona side in the greatest tie in Champions League history.

The 3-3 draw in Barcelona was a wonderfully dramatic encounter of the highest quality. What unfolded in the return leg at San Siro was something else altogether, though, a game so thrilling that it nearly gave the great Ronaldo a heart attack, while David Frattesi said he nearly blacked out after scoring the winner.

"It's just incredible, I don't know what to say," the latter confessed in his post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia. "This is the beauty of football. And this has been my career, really. I wasn’t blessed with incredible talent, but I am the last to give up and the first to believe, so this is a reward for effort and dedication."

He may as well have been talking about Inter, too. As Alessandro Bastoni admitted after Inter's 2-1 win over Bayern Munich the previous round, "There are teams out there who have more individual talent at their disposal, but we can cause huge problems for anyone."

At this stage, there is simply no disputing Bastoni's claim. Inter may be underappreciated by the wider footballing world but, within their game, they're held in the highest esteem, with Guardiola calling them "the masters of defence and transitions" and Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique labelling them "a real team" ahead of Saturday's Champions League final at the Allianz Arena.

The only remaining question mark lies over whether Inter still have enough left in the tank after battling their way past Bayern and Barca to upset PSG too. Because this is not a young squad. In fact, it was the oldest to reach the knockout stage.

Their starting line-up in Munich is expected to contain four thirty-somethings (Francesco Acerbi, Yann Sommer, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglou), with Bastoni likely to be the 'baby' of the group at 26 years of age. Inzaghi insists that Inter's window of opportunity hasn't yet passed and their maturity should prove an advantage against a relatively inexperienced PSG line-up, rather than a disadvantage.

"I don't think being a little older is a problem," he told UEFA's official site. "If anything, it can help a great deal in certain moments of those really important matches. I have a group of great players, but above all of great men, who always work in the best way and try to stay clear-headed."

There's no denying, though, that time is running out for Inzaghi and this particular group of players. The coach himself has admitted that he is being once again courted by other clubs, and the word in Italy is that he's seriously considering an offer from Saudi Arabia that would make him the highest-paid manager in the world.

No decision has yet been made, and Inter CEO Beppe Marotta is desperate to hold onto "the primary architect of this extraordinary run of seasons". However, even if Inzaghi were to stay, it's obvious that Inter's squad is in dire need of rejuvenation, meaning there could be several comings and goings this summer.

As it stands, the Nerazzurri simply do not have sufficient strength in depth to compete on three fronts. They played 19 more games than Napoli and it caught up with them in the end. They've still got one left, though, and it's the one that will shape how this season, and indeed this team, will be remembered.

The treble may be gone but, in Munich on Saturday, Inter can lift the biggest trophy of all. It's an opportunity Inzaghi and his players simply have to take, as it's likely to be their last.