Zaccheroni was again called upon in the mid-season of 2003–04, this time to try to save Inter after the departure of coach Héctor Cúper from the club. Despite crashing out of the Champions League after a humiliating 5–1 loss to Arsenal at the San Siro, he managed to lift Inter to 4th place in Serie A, thus securing qualification to the Champions League for next season. However, Inter president Massimo Moratti was not convinced of Zaccheroni's abilities, and he was again replaced by Roberto Mancini.