Rome: Inter Milan wants to pick up right where it left off in Saturday's Italian Super Cup against AS Roma — even without Jose Mourinho.
Last season, Inter became the first Italian side to win a treble with the Serie A, Italian Cup and Champions League titles. It could have been four titles if Inter hadn't lost last year's Super Cup to Lazio.
The traditional curtain-raiser for the Italian season at Milan's San Siro stadium will mark Inter's first official match since Mourinho bid a teary farewell at the Champions League final in May before taking charge of Real Madrid.
"We realise we can stay at the same level of last season, but it's going to require the right mentality, a little luck and the warmth of our fans," said new coach Rafa Benitez, who ended a six-year run at Liverpool to take over Inter.
While it may be new to Benitez, Roma is the most familiar opponent Inter could face.
The two sides have met 23 times over the last six seasons between Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Italian Super Cup, with Inter winning 11, Roma six and six draws. The last time they met in the Super Cup, in 2008, Inter won 6-5 on penalties.
"There's no argument that we have dominated in Italy the last few years," Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso said.
Cambiasso is raring to get the season started after being left out of Argentina's World Cup squad. Many other Inter players did make it to South Africa and have only recently started training again after their post-World Cup vacations.
"Compared to last year, the problem is that the entire team didn't start training together at the same time," Cambiasso said. "But we're still motivated and sufficiently prepared to go for the win."
Diego Milito scored nearly all the key goals for Inter last season — including both strikes in Inter's 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, just a few weeks after scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Roma in the Italian Cup final.
Milito appears slightly behind schedule in his preparations after the World Cup, despite starting only once for Argentina. With Mario Balotelli recently transferred to Manchester City, that could put more pressure on Samuel Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder.
Sneijder led the Netherlands to the World Cup final, then took a break for his wedding but appears ready to go again, as evidenced by his goal that helped Inter win the preseason TIM tournament last week.
"To tell the truth, with three weeks of vacation, there's really not enough time to lose your form," Sneijder said.
The Super Cup usually pits the previous season's Serie A winner against the Italian Cup champion, but since Inter won both last season, Roma was selected as the opponent since it was runner-up in both competitions.
With Luca Toni having left to Genoa, Roma was excited about acquiring former Inter forward Adriano from Flamengo to join captain Francesco Totti and Mirko Vucinic in attack. But the excitement has waned somewhat following a 5-1 loss to Olympiakos in a preseason friendly last weekend.
"We've got to rediscover the real Roma, with determination and humility, like last season," coach Claudio Ranieri said. "I want to see what we can do in a real game. It's not going to be a friendly with Inter."
Still trying to get back to his ideal playing weight, Adriano will likely start on the bench in what could be his first game in Italy since he left Inter in 2008.
Inter's new 18-year-old Brazilian midfielder Coutinho should also start on the bench.
Inter next faces Atletico Madrid in the European Super Cup on August 27, then is scheduled to open its Serie A campaign three days later against Bologna. Roma faces Cesena in its first Serie A game on August 28.
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