La Liga giants Barcelona went through a barren run at the start of the century, but gradually turned around their fortunes before Pep Guardiola oversaw one of the greatest periods of success in the club's history - capped by a treble winning 2008-09 season.
Inter achieved a treble of their own as recently as 2010 under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho, but the past two campaigns have seen the club finish ninth and fifth in Serie A.
The Milan outfit are still undergoing a transitional phase under head coach Mazzarri, with the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Yann M'Vila and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo joining during the close-season.
Mazzarri is confident Inter can return to past glories and pointed to his success at helping Napoli reach the UEFA Champions League as proof he is the man to deliver.
"Ours is a project that goes forward in time," he said at an event at the University of Milan. "A new cycle has started and no one has pointed out that we're playing with four young players.
"Just like it happened at Barcelona, we will return to winning. At Napoli I demonstrated my ability to carry out a project. My hope is to reach the Champions League right away."
While Inter reshaped their squad heavily during the transfer window, Mazzarri insists that signing star names is not the only key to success and that the whole team must work hard to deliver trophies.
He added: "You have to find the quality through work. Big signings are not the only way to create a big team."
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