Inter on home soil

Inter kicked off their season on home turf in seventh heaven by dispatching Sassuolo 7-0 at the San Siro back in September, a game which saw Mauro Icardi hit a hat-trick and ex-Bianconero Pablo Daniel Osvaldo bag a brace.

Atalanta were next to feel the force of the Milan-based side's attacking prowess, losing 2-0, before Cagliari became the first team to come away with all three points by running riot in a 4-1 success at the end of the month.

As Autumn began to blossom, Inter battled back to draw 2-2 courtesy of a late rally against Napoli in October, before later triumphing 1-0 over Sampdoria in the subsequent home meeting, decided by Icardi’s stoppage-time strike.

The Argentine forward was at it again during the sole action of November, hitting a double in a 2-2 stalemate versus plucky Hellas Verona.

Icardi’s scoring streak continued into December, but his goal proved a mere consolation as former boss Andrea Stramaccioni came back to haunt the Nerazzurri with Udinese who registered a hard-fought 2-1 win.

A 2-2 draw up against Lazio rounded off 2014 on a somewhat dour note, with Inter then beginning the new year on home turf in earnest, recording a comfortable 3-1 victory over Genoa.

They were soon brought straight back down to earth, however, after Juventus’ arch rivals Torino stole all the points at the culmination of January, Emiliano Moretti bagging an injury-time winner for a 1-0 scoreline.

A routine 3-0 triumph over Palermo followed, only for Inter to once again slip up in their next home encounter as Fiorentina won 1-0 at the San Siro.

Emilia-Romagna-based duo Cesena and Parma were next to take points off of the Nerazzurri during 1-1 draws in March and April respectively, before Inter played out a drab 0-0 Derby della Madonnina stalemate against neighbours AC Milan.

Roberto Mancini’s men were soon back on the victory trail when Hernanes and Icardi struck in a 2-1 victory over Roma, only for inconsistency to rear its head once more in a 0-0 draw with struggling Chievo at the start of this month.

Inter have not beaten the Bianconeri in front of their own faithful since the 2009/10 campaign, and in order to shatter their hoodoo in style and take a giant step towards the Europa League, a perfect performance is needed to overcome the newly-crowned Serie A champions on Saturday evening.