Inter Milan 2005

Coach: Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan side from the mid-2000s is remembered less for silverware and more for one of the most infamous nights in Italian football history: the abandoned 2004-05 Champions League quarter-final second leg against city rivals Milan. With Inter trailing 3-0 on aggregate at San Siro, and tempers fraying after a series of contentious refereeing decisions, Inter supporters began throwing flares and fireworks onto the pitch, one of which struck Milan goalkeeper Dida on the shoulder; the match was eventually abandoned by the referee and the result awarded to Milan. The incident led to UEFA sanctions against Inter, including a partial stadium closure, and remains a low point frequently cited in discussions of crowd trouble in Italian football during this period. On the pitch, this Inter squad — featuring Adriano and Julio Cesar as core attacking and goalkeeping figures — was still some years away from the club's later Serie A dominance, but Mancini's rebuilding work during this era laid important groundwork for the run of Scudetto titles Inter would go on to win through the second half of the 2000s under his successors.