Inter Milan 2009

Coach: José Mourinho

José Mourinho's first season in charge of Inter Milan, 2008-09, delivered the Serie A title in relatively comfortable fashion, continuing the club's run of consecutive Scudetti that had begun under his predecessors, though the Champions League campaign ended at the round of 16 stage against Manchester United. The squad Mourinho inherited already contained several key figures who would go on to be central to the club's historic 2010 treble the following year, including captain Javier Zanetti and a young core being gradually reshaped by Mourinho's demanding, tactically detailed coaching approach. Mourinho, fresh off his own Champions League triumph with Porto in 2004 and a hugely successful spell at Chelsea, brought immediate credibility and a win-at-all-costs mentality to a club that had dominated Serie A domestically for several years without matching that form in Europe. This transitional first season is best understood in hindsight as the foundation-laying campaign before Mourinho's more radical squad rebuild — including the signings of Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito — delivered the unprecedented treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League just twelve months later.