Following on from Antonio Conte winning Inter Milan's first Scudetto for 11 years in 2021 promised to be no easy task for Simone Inzaghi.

On Saturday at Munich's Allianz Arena, the head coach will lead Inter out for a second UEFA Champions League final in three years when they take on Paris Saint-Germain.

In four years at the helm, Inzaghi has built upon the work Conte did, somewhat more harmoniously, and established himself as one of the leading coaches in world football.

Indeed, on the eve of the final, he was linked with a mega-money move to Saudi Pro League giants Al Hilal. Were he to depart, Inzaghi would be a notable loss to Inter, along with Italian and European soccer at large.

Here's everything you need to know about the Nerazzuri boss.

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Simone Inzaghi playing career

Inzaghi began his career with hometown club Piacenza, experiencing several stints on loan in Italy's lower divisions before returning for a breakout Serie A campaign in 1998/99.

A haul of 15 goals in 30 matches secured a move to Lazio, where the striker established himself as an important part of Sven-Goran Eriksson's talent-stacked squad. Lazio won the domestic double in 1999/00 and Inzaghi would twice more lift the Coppa Italia with the Roman club, as well as the UEFA Super Cup in 1999.

Simone Inzaghi playing career, Simone Inzaghi coaching career, Simone Inzaghi trophies won, Simone Inzaghi tactics

He won three full international caps for Italy, making his debut as a substitute in a friendly against Spain in March 2000, where he came on to partner his brother in attack. Filippo Inzaghi enjoyed the more accomplished playing career of the two siblings, winning Serie A three times across prolific stints with Juventus and AC Milan. With the Rossoneri, he claimed two Champions League titles and scored both of their goals in a 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the 2007 final.

After late career loan spells with Sampdoria and Atalanta, Simone Inzaghi retired from professional football in 2010, aged 34.

Simone Inzaghi coaching career

Having committed the bulk of his playing days to Lazio, Inzaghi began his coaching career working with the club's youth categories. He was elevated to the first team, initially on an interim basis, when Stefano Pioli was sacked in April 2016.

A brief spell in caretaker charge should have been the beginning and end of it but, when enigmatic Argentine Marcelo Bielsa was appointed and resigned in the space of a week that summer, Inzaghi was handed the reins. A fifth-placed finish and a defeat to Juventus - then the dominant force in Italy - in the Coppa Italia final were a superb return on that initial turbulence.

Lazio started 2017/18 with a Supercoppa Italiana win over Juventus - a feat Inzaghi would repeat with the Bianconeri in December 2019 in a season that finished with Champions League qualification after some near misses. The high point of Inzaghi's time at the helm at the Stadio Olimpico was in a competition with which he has become somewhat synonymous: late goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Angel Correa gave Lazio a 2-0 win over Atalanta on home turf in the 2019 Coppa Italia final.

After Conte decried Inter's lack of ambition on the back of their Scudetto win in 2020/21, leaving in a customary huff, they turned to Inzaghi on an initial two-year deal. He quickly added to his collection of honours, winning another Supercoppa and Coppa, each at Juve's expense.

The heartbreak of missing out on the Serie A title to AC Milan in 2021/22 was mitigated by dumping their city rivals out in a one-sided Champions League semifinal the following season. However, an unfortunate 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in Istanbul and a second consecutive second-place finish domestically, this time behind a swashbuckling Napoli, continued an unfortunate pattern of Inzaghi's Inter being the bridesmaids when it came to the biggest prizes.

All that ended when they romped to glory in 2023/24, finishing a mammoth 19 points ahead of Milan in Serie A. It made losing out in this season's knife-edge battle with Conte's Napoli easier to swallow, especially with the potential of sporting immortality around the corner in Munich.

Simone Inzaghi trophies won

Player

Lazio

Serie A: 1999/00
Coppa Italia: 1999/00, 2003/04, 2008/09
Supercoppa Italiana: 2000
UEFA Super Cup: 1999

Coach

Lazio

Coppa Italia: 2018/19
Supercoppa Italiana: 2017, 2019

Inter Milan

Serie A: 2023/24
Coppa Italia: 2021/22, 2022/23
Supercoppa Italiana: 2021, 2022, 2023

Simone Inzaghi Inter Milan 0427025

Simone Inzaghi tactics

Inzaghi is a strong proponent of a 3-5-2 system, although this is not typically a negative ploy as some lazy stereotypes around Italian football might suggest.

As they showed when under siege during their thrilling 2025 Champions League semifinal against Barcelona, an Inter defence marshalled by the fabulous Alessandro Bastoni and gnarled veteran Francesco Acerbi can dig in with the best of them. However, that tie finished 7-6 on aggregate. No one was especially concerned with parking the bus.

Inter's wing-backs Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco are potent attacking weapons, while a throwback front two of captain Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram is also served by a midfield packed full of fine passers. Hakan Calhanoglu, Nicolo Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all do their best work as creators, not destroyers.