Chivu: What Matters More to Me Is the Attitude and Fighting Spirit Players Show When They Step onto the Pitch

After leading the team to a 1-2 away defeat against Real Madrid in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League league phase, Inter Milan head coach Cristian Chivu accepted an interview with the club's official television channel.

Coach, after this dramatic and eventful match, what can we ultimately take away and bring home from it? Perhaps the most encouraging and inspiring thing was our strong response after the team fell 0-2 behind? In such a passive and difficult situation, we could have completely collapsed and surrendered, but instead we kept fighting and stayed in contention, and even in the final moments of the match we were just one step away from equalizing. How do you view the resilience shown by the players on the pitch?

Personally, I am not simply focused on how the team reacts when we fall behind. What I care about more, and value more, is the attitude and fighting spirit with which our players initially step onto the pitch. It is about our overall approach at the start of the match, the qualities we show on the field, our fearless spirit and courage, as well as the specific tactical requirements and expectations we gave everyone before the game.

Today on the pitch, our team really kept trying to maintain our original tactical style and team identity. As you mentioned, we did not look for shortcuts or take any chances, but consistently followed our own approach. I believe that during certain periods of the match, our players executed these requirements very well.

Our next match will be away against Udinese, and then before the international break we will face Roma in another important clash. After going through such a physically demanding match today, what is the team's current condition physically and mentally ahead of these two key battles? How should we prepare to face these challenges?

As you just said, for us the most important match is always the next one — the upcoming game against Udinese on Monday. Facing future challenges, we must remain focused, take every step in front of us, and put all our current energy into the tough match next Monday.