Inter midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu has secured a second piece of silverware this season after Cristian Chivu's Inter defeated Lazio 2-0 in the Coppa Italia Final on Wednesday, completing the Double and denying Lazio a trophy on their own patch.
The result draws a line under a Serie A campaign that had already delivered the Scudetto — Inter finishing first with 85 points from 36 matches, boasting a record of 27 wins, four draws, and five defeats — and adds a cup triumph that club president Beppe Marotta had identified as the target for a tenth Coppa Italia in the club's history. That particular ambition has now been emphatically met.
For Çalhanoğlu, the timing of the win carries particular weight. The 32-year-old has navigated a season of interruptions, featuring in just 22 of Inter's league fixtures rather than the full complement, yet still racking up nine goals and four assists at an impressive average match rating of 7.50. Those numbers describe a player who contributed at a consistently high level whenever available — rather than a peripheral figure merely managing minutes, he was a pivotal one expertly managing challenging circumstances. The discrepancy between his 22 appearances and Inter's 36-game league campaign is the unsung narrative behind their trophy haul.
Strikers Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram started together in attack for the final, and the 2-0 scoreline confirmed Inter's dominance on the night. The Coppa Italia win also carries a structural consequence for Serie A: with Inter clinching both the Scudetto and the cup, the European qualification threshold expands to include the top seven in the table, a detail that significantly reconfigures the landscape for clubs still vying for continental qualification.
Çalhanoğlu's individual AI rating of 83 out of 100 reflects a player still operating comfortably within the demands of elite calcio, even if the potential ceiling the metric assigns him sits lower — a recognition, perhaps, that at 32, his trajectory is one of sustained quality rather than further development. His ability to maintain such a high standard across a Double-winning season speaks volumes for his enduring class.
Inter's season is complete. The Turkish midfielder's contribution to it is concrete: goals, assists, a Scudetto, and now a Coppa Italia. The pertinent question now for Chivu and the club is whether they can keep this formidable squad intact long enough to defend both titles.