As Inter Celebrate the Scudetto, Mourinho Makes Ibrahimovic Pay for his Partying

The race for the Serie A crown ended with a whimper last weekend, as Inter Milan won the title by default after AC Milan fell to Udinese on Saturday night.

From the Nerazzurri’s point of view, it appeared to matter little that Inter won the title while nowhere near a football pitch. The squad gathered together at their Pinetina training complex to collectively watch the Rossoneri lose to the Zebretta, and the TV cameras were also invited to record the scenes of celebration.

With almost everyone on their feet as the final seconds ticked down, the noise volumes of the Inter squad grew rapidly louder in anticipation of the final whistle. And when the whistle finally arrived the squad immediately huddled together to celebrate their yet another back-to-back championship.

Video footage of Inter’s title celebrations can be seen here.

“I was against going into Milan to celebrate. Then the lads came to me and said, ‘We have worked 10 months for this: we need to go out and you have to come too.’ In that moment a manager loses his power.” - Jose Mourinho.

After the title was won, Inter’s players, against the Special One’s wishes, decided to his the streets of Milan to continue the celebrations until the wee hours of Sunday morning. According to reports, many of the squad were out partying until after two a.m. and, when it came to their match against Seina on Sunday night, the after-effects of a heavy night out on the town were clearly evident on the pitch.

Suffering more than most was star-striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who, visibly worse for wear, asked to be taken off early in the second half as the Swede struggled to keep up with the pace of the match. But in a classic Mourinho twist aimed at reasserting his standing as the boss, the manager point-blank refused to give-in to his forward’s wishes as Mourinho responded by using all three of his substitutions on other players.

Footage of Ibrahimovic throwing a strop on the pitch after not getting subbed can be seen here.