Serie A champion Inter aiming for the double in Italian Cup final, Lazio eyeing Europe

MILAN (AP) — Just four days after facing off against each other in the league, Lazio and Inter Milan meet again at the Stadio Olimpico. This time with a title at stake.

And both teams know that winning Wednesday’s Italian Cup final would mean much more than lifting the trophy.

For newly-crowned Serie A champion Inter Milan it is a chance to cement its domination of Italian soccer this season after the disappointment of last year. For Lazio, it is a path back into Europe.

Not since José Mourinho led Inter to a treble in 2010 — including the Champions League trophy — has Inter won the league and cup in the same season.

Inter coach Christian Chivu, who is quickly making a name for himself in the managerial ranks after helping Parma avoid relegation last season, played on the 2010 team.

“There’s no need to compare different eras or different teams,” Chivu said. “Times change, soccer changes.

“Both the 2010 team and this 2026 side have brought happiness to the fans, and that’s what matters most.”

Chivu is in his first season at Inter after replacing Simone Inzaghi. Doing the double would assuage the disappointment of last campaign, which promised so much but ultimately left Inter empty-handed.

With just over a month to go to the end of last season, Inter was on course for a treble of trophies but finished one point below Serie A champion Napoli, lost in the Italian Cup semifinals and was routed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the most lopsided Champions League final in history.

There is no chance of a treble this year as Inter was eliminated by Norwegian upstart Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League.

The Nerazzurri have bounced back from that disappointment and, after clinching the Serie A title with three rounds to spare, show little sign of letting up.

Indeed Inter crushed Lazio 3-0 on Saturday in Serie A, in a dress rehearsal for Wednesday’s cup final in the same stadium in Rome.

Inter was utterly dominant in the first half but Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri placed the blame on his players’ approach.

“Inter is stronger, but with this attitude we would concede two goals against any team,” Sarri said after the match. “We shouldn’t be scared, that attitude is our fault and not down to the merits of Inter.

“(The final) will be a different match and it’s clear that we don’t want to have this approach, it’s also clear that Inter is technically superior.”

For Lazio, it is the only chance to play European soccer next season as the winner of the Italian Cup qualifies for the Europa League.

If Inter — which will play in the Champions League next season — wins, then the Europa League place will be given to the team which finishes sixth in the league, with the seventh-place finisher going into the European Conference League.

Lazio is ninth, seven points below seventh-place Atalanta, with only two league matches remaining.

“There’s no need to change our heads, today’s approach is the result of the fact that today’s match didn’t count for anything unlike Wednesday,” Sarri said. “But it is a mistake to think like that, there was some chance of reaching seventh place and these matches can create fear, which stops you.

“It’s not ideal, but I hope the boys are willing to show that this isn’t them because there’s a trophy up for grabs.”

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Inter Milan's head coach Cristian Chivu celebrates their victory at the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Parma, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Lazio's Gustav Isaksen, left, and Inter Milan's Luis Henrique vie for the ball during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Inter Milan, in Rome, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

Inter Milan's Petar Sucic celebrates after scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Inter Milan, in Rome, Italy, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, left, controls the ball from Lazio's Adam Marušić during a Serie A soccer match, in Rome, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

Inter Milan's head coach Cristian Chivu celebrates their victory at the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Parma, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group called on the government Tuesday to withdraw from direct talks with Israel, calling them a concession and urging “indirect negotiations.”

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold two days of talks in Washington starting Thursday in an attempt to end the latest fighting that broke out two months ago, following the Iran war, and discuss the future of relations between the two sides that have been at war since Israel was created in 1948.

Naim Kassem said in a letter directed to the group’s officials that direct negotiations benefit Israel and that they are “concessions by Lebanese authorities.” He said Lebanon’s government should instead resort to indirect negotiations with Israel, as in previous years, such as when a ceasefire was reached in November 2024.

Indirect talks are usually done through a third party.

Kassem also said the dispute over Hezbollah’s possession of weapons was an internal affair and shouldn't be part of the talks with Israel. The Lebanese government has sought the disarmament of the militant group after the latest round of fighting broke out in early March, calling all military activities by the group illegal.

Lebanese authorities have also demanded cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, deployment of Lebanese troops south of the Litani river, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel and the return of displaced people to their homes.

Kassem said Tuesday his group is ready to cooperate to help achieve the five points demanded by the country's government.

Despite the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which went into effect on April 17, Israel and Hezbollah have continued carrying out daily attacks.

Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine told reporters Tuesday that since the ceasefire went into effect, 380 people have been killed and 1,122 wounded.

He added that since the latest war started on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, the death toll in Lebanon has reached 2,882 dead and 8,786 wounded.

Since the early hours of Tuesday, Israel’s air force carried out strikes in different parts of southern Lebanon as well as the village of Sohmor in the eastern Bekaa Valley, state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said airstrikes on the village of Jibchit killed three and wounded four on Tuesday.

The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation warning to the residents of Sohmor and four villages in southern Lebanon.

The National News Agency reported that an Israeli force entered parts of the southern village of Deir Mimas on the Litani River and blew up a water pumping station that uses solar energy and supplies the village with fresh water. The agency said that the blast at the station at around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) caused wide damage.

The Israeli military posted photos of troops along the Litani River, without providing exact location details.

Hezbollah issued a statement saying that its fighters struck Israeli troops Tuesday morning near the Litani River in the village of Deir Seryan with rockets. It gave no further details.

Also Tuesday, Hezbollah confirmed that one of its military commanders was killed in an airstrike near Beirut last week. The group released a photo of Ahmed Ghaleb Balout describing him as a commander who spent much of his life on the battlefield.

Balout was killed May 6 in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut.

It was the first airstrike near Beirut since the ceasefire went into effect.

The Israeli military said Thursday it had killed Balout, who it identified as a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, along with two other militants.

Women grieve as they carry the body of 6-month-old Mariam Fahos during a funeral procession for people killed a day earlier in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Saksakieh, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)