The 2002–03 season was Football Club Internazionale Milano's 94th in existence and 87th consecutive season in the top flight of Italian football.

The start of the season was marked by the departure of Ronaldo and the arrival of Hernán Crespo after club had already acquired Fabio Cannavaro, Matías Almeyda and Domenico Morfeo. Crespo, along with Christian Vieri, built an attacking duo. Crespo was essential in the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League while Vieri usually scored in the domestic matches. Their partnership worked until Crespo sustained an injury, which sidelined him for several weeks. Without him, despite replaced by Gabriel Batistuta, Inter lost some key matches. One of these was against Juventus who, could finally aim for the title.

Inter managed to reach the Champions League quarter-finals after passing in second in the group phase. Inter's opponent was Valencia, winning 1–0 at home. A 2–1 defeat in Spain had no effect on qualification, due to the away goals rule. As Crespo came back from injury, Vieri got injured, but he managed to retain the title of the league's top scorer, with 24 goals. In the semi-finals, Inter lost to Milan due to Andriy Shevchenko's away goal in the second leg, equalized by Obafemi Martins, for a 1–1 aggregate that sent Milan to the final on away goals. Focused on the European competition, Inter collected two draws in the league that stuck them behind Juventus, who won their second-straight title.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

...
Wikipedia