Inter Fail to Reach the Italian Super Cup Final

Inter Milan ended their 2025/26 Italian Super Cup campaign at the semifinal stage. The match against Bologna, held in Saudi Arabia, ended with a defeat for the Nerazzurri in a penalty shootout.

The game finished 1–1 after regular time. Inter took an early lead, with Marcus Thuram scoring in the 2nd minute. Bologna equalized in the 35th minute through a penalty converted by Riccardo Orsolini. Extra time failed to produce a winner, and in the penalty shootout Bologna proved more accurate, winning 3–2.

Despite the elimination, Inter delivered a strong performance and created numerous chances, especially in the second half, but poor finishing proved costly. After the match, Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan shared his thoughts.

“We should have finished the game earlier. When it comes to penalties, that’s a completely different story. The whole team played well, except for the shootout. In the second half we dominated and created many chances, but if you don’t score, football punishes you,” said Mkhitaryan.

The Armenian midfielder also emphasized the need to secure victories sooner:

“When you create so many chances, you have to take the lead earlier. We also need to believe in victory even when we concede goals or go through difficult phases of the game.”

Speaking about the opponents, Mkhitaryan praised Bologna:

“They deserve to be here after winning the Coppa Italia. We tried to win, but it didn’t work out — that’s football. There can be no excuses; we have a lot of work ahead.”

The Inter midfielder admitted that the defeat was a serious blow for the team:

“It hurts; it’s a big disappointment. But we understand what we need to improve and we’ll work even harder to achieve our goals. We have to forget this game, despite the disappointment, and focus on the next match against Atalanta. That’s a different competition, and we need points.”

In the match against Bologna, Henrikh Mkhitaryan played 71 minutes and received a rating of 6.4 from the analytics portal SofaScore.