Chivu and the criticism of Inter after Madrid in the Champions League

He released tension for half an hour, after the final whistle, by taking time for himself: “I smoked three cigarettes in a row,” said Cristian Chivu, who after Gimenez’s fatal 2-1 turned his back on the pitch and sat on the bench. Disconsolate and upset. For him it was a real blow to lose in the 93rd minute a match played well, on par if not better than Atletico, not so much for the Champions League standings but for the group’s self-esteem. The fifth defeat of the season, the first in Europe and the second in a row after the derby, inevitably affects the general assessments of Inter, who are certainly not experiencing a happy period. “Sooner or later the wheel will turn – says Chivu in a burst of optimism – in football as in life luck comes and goes. At the moment we are not lucky.”

The analysis

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But there is also more to his considerations. Asked live on Sky by Fabio Capello, who was his coach at Roma, Chivu admitted that in fact “whoever took over should have done better”. No specific accusation, of course. However, it is indisputable that the substitutions did not refresh the team when they were gaining their first draw in 17 matches. The exit of Bonny, who had often shattered Simeone’s defense and had provided the assist for Zielinski, appeared difficult to understand. “I wanted to take advantage of the freshness of Thuram and Pio, in attack I have many solutions” explained the coach, who instead had to remove Zielinski due to injury (muscle problem to be evaluated for Pisa). But nothing went well in the finale. Sucic disappointed, Frattesi and Luis Henrique were unable in the few minutes played to encourage the counterattacks that Chivu wanted after the 1-1: “We conceded a goal from a corner despite having all the highest jumpers in the area but the mistake was conceding it, the corner. We shouldn’t have lost the ball coming out.” The recipient of the message was Pio Esposito, who missed a banal pass to Frattesi in midfield, granting Atletico the decisive opportunity.

The plan

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Basically, Chivu would have expected a less beautiful and more evil Inter. It is not the first time that his team falls asleep without warning, during the toughest phases of the matches. The first goal, by Alvarez, seems like a photocopy of Pulisic’s goal in the derby, complete with the ball being uprooted from Calhanoglu’s ankles. “We are growing but it’s still not enough” claims the coach, who on the eve of the Metropolitano match had spoken of a “glass three-quarters full” and who has now realized that the water level has dropped. On Sunday, Pisa is a crossroads with no choices: winning is mandatory to stay on the Scudetto train and above all to avoid associating the word “crisis” with Inter’s path.