Ashley Young was Inter's inspiration with a goal and an assist as Antonio Conte's men concluded their 2019-20 Serie A campaign by beating Atalanta 2-0 on the road, in turn securing a second-place finish.
Any one of Inter, their hosts and Lazio could have clinched the runner-up spot behind champions Juventus on Saturday, but the Nerazzurri – who were second going into the final round of fixtures – produced a professional and clinical display away to an Atalanta side that were nowhere near their exhilarating best.
Just 50 seconds had elapsed before Danilo D'Ambrosio gave Inter the lead from a pinpoint Young delivery, before the former Manchester United captain scored a gorgeous goal to put Inter in complete control.
Atalanta – reportedly missing star man Josip Ilicic for personal reasons – rarely looked capable of clawing their way back into the contest, but nevertheless finished third for a second season running despite Inter coasting to a straightforward win.
Conte's side enjoyed an emphatic start as they took the lead inside the first minute – D'Ambrosio heading in Young's cross after Pierluigi Gollini came for the delivery and missed it.
Atalanta hardly registered a response and their task doubled in size in the 20th minute, Young this time doing it all alone as he cut in off the left flank and curled a sumptuous 25-yard effort into the bottom-right corner.
The curiously subdued hosts finally crafted an opening just before half-time, but once again Young was in the right place for Inter, this time blocking Mario Pasalic's volley after missing Alejandro Gomez's initial cross.
Excitement was even rarer in a generally monotonous second half, though Gomez did at least force Samir Handanovic into a necessary save in the 54th minute.
Atalanta enjoyed a little pressure in the latter stages, but Duvan Zapata's woeful poked effort was blazed high, before Ruslan Malinovskiy drilled a couple of efforts wide from distance.
