Inter's season, which once promised so much, now hangs in the balance as Simone Inzaghi's experienced team prepare to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

At one stage this term, it looked as though Inter were primed to win a treble.

Yet they have fallen short in both the Coppa Italia and Serie A, giving Saturday's clash with PSG – who are chasing a treble of their own – in Munich a last chance saloon feel.

Inzaghi, whose side fell short in the Champions League final against Manchester City two years ago, now has the difficult task of getting his team back on their feet after the players were on their knees only last Friday when the Serie A Scudetto went to Napoli on the final day of the season.

"The championship just concluded left us with something to remember," Inzaghi told reporters on Monday.

"There is a lot of suffering in myself and in the players, it's pointless denying it."

Their bid to repeat the treble feat of Jose Mourinho's Inter side of 2010 ended with a 3-0 loss to neighbours AC Milan in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie, and league defeats either side of that gave control back to Napoli in the title race. Despite their domestic failings, Inter can remain optimistic after a European campaign that has been on another level. They ended the league phase fourth in the standings having conceded just one goal in eight games. Their strong defence last season, conceding 22 goals in 38 league games, saw Inter easily secure the Serie A title, and they have brought that same spirit into Europe this campaign, at least until the knockout phase. Inter's last four Champions League matches brought a lot more goals and no shortage of drama, culminating in a thrilling semi-final tie with Barcelona. A 7-6 aggregate victory came thanks to defender Francesco Acerbi netting an added-time equaliser and substitute Davide Frattesi coming up trumps with an extra-time winner. Acerbi is one of the many Inter players still stung by the Champions League final defeat of 2023 and the 37-year-old picked the perfect moment to score his first European goal and keep his side in the competition. Inter, unlike the youthful PSG, have experience on their side with Yann Sommer, Matteo Darmian, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Stefan de Vrij, Hakan Calhanoglu, Piotr Zielinski, Marko Arnautovic, Mehdi Taremi all on the 'wrong' side of 30. That experience has got them this far.

Only Atletico Madrid (43.5%) have handed a higher share of minutes to players aged 30+ in the Champions League this season than Inter (43.3%), whose 6,151 minutes by players aged 30+ is the most by a team since Juventus in 2016-17 (6,186).

Inter have trailed for just 1.2% of their Champions League matches this season, falling behind in three games but never for more than 370 seconds in any of them – 285 seconds against Bayer Leverkusen in December, 370 against Bayern in April and 343 against Barca in May. They have also spent the highest percentage of their time winning (50.8%).

Inzaghi, who has been linked with a move to Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal, will now hope to banish the ghosts of Istanbul and get his hands on the ultimate prize.