ITALY – OCTOBER 31: FC Internazionale manager Cristian Chivu gestures during the Serie A match between AC Milan and FC Internazionale at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 31, 2026 in Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Cristian Chivu has been “forced” to make unusual selections by the flu virus sweeping Inter’s squad, but falling out with AC Milan so early showed the “wrong approach”.
The former defender has a truly negative record in the Derby della Madonnina, losing all three of his attempts as a coach against the Rossoneri.
See Football Italia Player Ratings for Milan 3-1 Inter
At least his side managed to score this time through Alessandro Bastoni from Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner, but they were 2-0 down with goals from Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot within 10 minutes.
Diego Moreira had already provided two assists when he curled a free-kick over the wall and despite Inter having the ball to spare, it remained 3-1 at the break.
Chivu reveals the problems of “Inter”.
“It hurts, it hurts to lose a derby where both we and everyone have different expectations, what the game represents and what we have to defend,” Chivu told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had to improvise today given the situations that have arisen in the last few days. We tried to get someone who was willing to bite the bullet, but it was difficult.
“Our approach was wrong, then it wasn’t for nothing as we scored to make it 2-1 and had the opportunity to equalize at 2-2 if not for Maignan’s saves.
“It’s disappointing, we expected to do more than we expected, we need to improve our approach and determination, which is sometimes lacking, and we need to turn the page because there’s another important game in three days.”
Inevitably, the first questions were about Chivu’s selections as he pulled off some big surprises with his starting XI.
It was a 3-4-2-1 formation with Petar Sucic and Andy Diouf in new more advanced roles behind lone centre-forward Markus Thuram.
Even in the absence of injured captain Lautaro Martinez, he stuck to this lone striker system and didn’t make any major changes until the final minutes of the match.
“We had to change because Pio Esposito wasn’t well, Bonnie had a fever by 4.30pm and was vomiting all night so we had to improvise,” Chivu said.
The flu bug was sweeping the team as goalkeeper Ivan Provedel was also absent from the bench after going down with symptoms.
“We were also convinced that it was the right choice because with two attacking wingers and two players between the lines and Andy Diouf attacking space, we thought it was the best solution at our disposal.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go well, but we also had good things, we caused Milan a lot of problems after we picked up the pace. We also have to take the blame for the initial attitude, our defensive sloppiness, rediscover the determination we had last season.”
It was the eighth time in their last 11 competitive matches that Inter have gone behind, but the last two games against Fiorentina and Venezia were far from impressive performances with late goals and two own goals.
“After winning the previous season, it is not easy to play with the same hunger every three days. We have to do things more intensively, more decisively and it has to start with the right initial approach,” admitted Chivu.
“We know that sometimes we dwell on past glories and what we’ve built, so we need to rediscover that hunger and determination, especially when we take some things for granted. We need to raise the level of concentration, find consistency in everything we do from now on.”
It was their first Serie A defeat of the season for Inter, who are in danger of being overtaken by Lazio, who host Cagliari on Sunday.