Inter Milan's treble-winning pomp didn't last as long as many would have anticipated.
It felt as though the Nerazzurri's dizzying success on the European stage, in particular, essentially came and went with the arrival and departure of Jose Mourinho.
While Inter might have been hoovering up Serie A titles before the arrival of the 'Special One', it wasn't until the Portuguese arrived at the San Siro that they truly built on their domestic success.
Inter Milan's post-Mourinho journey
However, just as soon as Mourinho had lifted the Champions League trophy with Inter, the iconic coach departed in order to manage at the very club who played in that stadium: Real Madrid.
And although Inter somewhat kept up the success across the following season by winning the FIFA Club World Cup, Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia, it was clear that something was lacking.
In the end, it was their Milan rivals who conquered Serie A by a margin of six points and Mourinho's replacement, Rafael Benitez, was given his marching orders just four months into the campaign.
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Inter Milan vs Schalke
However, perhaps the most humiliating detail of Inter's 2010/11 campaign actually came in the Champions League as they exited the competition with a surprise defeat to Schalke.
Despite having produced an astonishing comeback against Bayern Munich in the round of 16, the Italian giants were on the receiving end of a humiliating 7-3 aggregate drubbing in the final eight.
And what makes that fact all the more remarkable is that Inter had actually started their quarter-final clash against the Germans in perfect style: taking the lead within the opening minute of the first leg.
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Stankovic's unreal volley
Not only that, but it happened to come in such dramatic fashion that we're still talking about it more than a decade later. Yes, that's right, we're referring to Dejan Stanković's unbelievable volley.
If you were to tell someone out of context that Manuel Neuer once conceded a halfway-line volley in the Champions League then they'd think you were joking, but that's exactly what Stankovic achieved.
And if you either haven't seen the goal in years or have never laid your eyes upon Stankovic's worldie, then we couldn't recommend watching it any more, so be sure to check it out down below:
Just imagine having the skill to pull that off. The technique is absolutely outrageous.
It wasn't the first time...
While, yes, it's easy to point the finger at Neuer for leaving his goal exposed with a diving-header clearance, you can't expect a goalkeeper to think that he would concede so soon afterwards.
However, saying that, what makes the situation even crazier is that Stankovic had actually scored yet another halfway-line volley the previous season against Genoa, which you can watch here:
So, who knows, perhaps Neuer should have seen it coming because it looks as though Stankovic is the proud owner of one of the most outrageous talents in football history - and we absolutely love it.
