From Nou Camp’s "Water Guns" to San Siro’s "Soundtrack": Inter Witnesses New Classics

A colleague from La Gazzetta dello Sport once asked me why so many people in China are fans of Inter Milan, even before the Chinese investment came in. My answer was simple: it’s the colors. Blue symbolizes romance, while black represents reality. After being beaten by harsh reality, Inter fans still dare to believe in and hope for romance. Blue represents dreams, black represents resistance. Facing difficulties, they choose to resist and fight back with the power of dreams. This spirit resonates deeply with many Chinese people.

Almost every time Inter achieves a great feat, a familiar scenario plays out: at the moment of victory for the Nerazzurri, their opponents immediately use “tactics” to suppress and trouble Inter. But they soon find that the more obstacles they throw at the fiery Nerazzurri, the more jubilant they become, turning the joy of victory into a celebration of resistance. This was true during the treble-winning season, and it has happened again after winning the derby title, creating new classics.

During Inter’s treble-winning season, one of the most epic moments was eliminating the self-proclaimed invincible "Cosmos Team" Barcelona at Nou Camp. After Inter advanced, the entire team went wild with joy, with José Mourinho even running onto the pitch in a frenzy. It was one of the highlights of the Special One’s career. However, Barcelona’s immediate reaction was to turn on the sprinklers, soaking the Inter players. In other competitions, Barcelona wouldn’t turn on the sprinklers while the opposing players were still on the field. This unusual action by Barça staff was due to their meltdown after seeing Inter celebrate. This incident sparked huge controversy at the time.

Inter’s response was clear: the harder they were sprayed, the harder they celebrated. In the face of a victory earned through hard work, such "water soldiers" were nothing to them.

Fast forward 14 years, Inter secured their second star by defeating AC Milan in a championship race at San Siro. Although the match was held at San Siro, it was technically an AC Milan “home game,” so the DJ and other staff were AC Milan employees. Immediately after the match ended and Inter were crowned champions, Simone Inzaghi, Beppe Marotta, and others rushed onto the field to celebrate, with Piero Ausilio even getting injured in the process. Many players and fans screamed in ecstatic joy.

But AC Milan staff had a trick up their sleeve. They turned the stadium music up to full volume, creating an absurdly loud noise to drown out the cheers of Inter fans and the celebration of the team, as if muting these sounds would erase AC Milan’s six consecutive defeats or make Inter something other than champions.

Fourteen years ago, it was water at Nou Camp; fourteen years later, it was deafening noise at San Siro. Though unrelated, the essence is the same. Inter’s response remained consistent: the louder the music, the harder they celebrated. The celebration was so wild this time that they even used airships. Critics on Tieba couldn’t stand Inter’s happiness, scoffing, “What’s the point of winning the league? If you’re not talking about the Champions League with Atlético a hundred times, you don’t understand football.”

Is it really meaningless? If so, why did AC Milan meltdown so dramatically? From a certain perspective, AC Milan’s meltdown only underscores the historical significance of Inter’s title win. After the match, Henrikh Mkhitaryan posted on social media, encapsulating Inter’s fighting spirit: “The louder your music, the harder we celebrate.” The comment section quickly became a battleground for Inter and Milan fans worldwide.

Inter’s defiant celebrations once again reminded everyone that any momentous event in Nerazzurri history inevitably features an element of resistance, an inherent part of their spirit. This resistance extends from the team to the fans. Three years ago, when AC Milan won the title, their players held banners insulting Inter, saying, “Shove your Coppa Italia trophy up your ass.” Three years later, after Inter’s triumph, their players refrained from attacking their city rivals. But the fans didn’t hold back. The more polite ones like Marco Materazzi photoshopped an AC Milan banner reading, “We don’t want to play derbies anymore.” The more aggressive Inter fans held banners saying, “You don’t even have a Coppa Italia trophy to shove up your ass.”

The AC Milan camp began to criticize Inter, using terms like “sportsmanship” and “class.” They failed to see the irony: when they won, they could insult freely, but when Inter won, they had to show class. Isn’t that a double standard? Fighting against such double standards is something Inter has always done.

The more external forces try to suppress Inter, the more defiant the Nerazzurri become. The sprinkler incident 14 years ago and the deafening music now are just minor interludes. But these small stories highlight a larger narrative, helping people gain a clearer and deeper understanding of Inter’s core spirit.