Inter

That patience runs through the club's own story. Forty-four members of Milan broke away in 1908 because they objected to a ban on signing foreign players, and named the new side Internazionale in protest. Under the fascist regime the name itself became a liability: from 1928 the club had to play as Ambrosiana, carrying a red cross on its shirts instead of black and blue, until 1945 restored both.

The identity that survived is Nerazzurri, and its high point has a name attached: Helenio Herrera, who built the Grande Inter side of the 1960s and won back-to-back European Cups in 1964 and 1965, then an Intercontinental Cup each of those same years. José Mourinho reached back for that standard in 2010, when Inter became the first Italian club to win Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League in the same season.

Ownership changed hands again in 2024, when the American fund Oaktree Capital Management took 99.6% of the club after Suning defaulted on its loans, with Giuseppe Marotta installed as president that June.

The stadium itself dates to 1926 and now holds 75,817, but still enough to make San Siro feel full on the nights Inter need it to be.