The old guard saved face in the Cup tournament – Napoli perhaps outdid itself by reaching the final. Inter did better – they won it. It was not easy, but Inter prevailed at the final in Rome 2-1.
For Inter, it was great… kind of. Great, because they were starting to forget the taste of victory in the 1970s. On the other hand, to be constantly left behind and empty-handed was more than painful – winning the Cup was good, but not quite satisfying. As for why Inter was unfit for anything bigger and perhaps must have been incredibly happy with a trophy, any trophy, in their hands, the team pretty much says it all: it was incomparable to Juventus. Rather disjointed and hardly promising better future. Facchetti was at his last legs – may be one, two at best, seasons. Retirement was his future. Anastasi was also nearing the end… well, certainly past his peak. Bordon, Oriali, Altobelli were the players to shape the future, but they were not leaders yet and even did not look like possible superstar of the caliber of Facchetti and Anastasi. The rest… the rest looked like journeymen. Certainly not a team of mighty winners. Rather, a team on the brink of starting rebuilding – uncertain, making faulty choices, searching for talent. There was no skeleton of new successful team – sadly, it looked like the moment Facchetti retired Inter was going to collapse. At least they won the Cup – which may be was best for Facchetti: stepping out in style, as a winner.