Chivu: ‘Inter forced into Milan changes, but still had wrong attitude for a derby’

ITALY - OCTOBER 31: Cristian Chivu, Manager of FC Internazionale, 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 reveals he was ‘forced’ to make his unusual choices by a flu bug sweeping through the Inter squad, but crumbling so early with Milan showed ‘the wrong approach.’

The former defender has a truly negative record in the Derby della Madonnina, losing all three of his attempts as coach against the Rossoneri.

Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Milan 3-1 Inter

At least his team managed to score this time with Alessandro Bastoni on a Hakan Calhanoglu corner, but they were 2-0 down within 10 minutes to Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot goals.

Diego Moreira had already provided two assists when he curled a free kick over the wall and the 3-1 result stayed intact after half-time, despite Inter having largely futile possession.

Chivu reveals Inter problems

“It hurts, it hurts to lose a derby where both we and everyone else had different expectations, for what the game represents and what we need to defend,” Chivu told Sky Sport Italia.

“Today we had to improvise considering the situations we had to deal with, which emerged in the last couple of days. We tried to get someone who was ready to grit their teeth, but it was tough.

“We had the wrong approach, then it wasn’t all a waste, because we scored for 2-1 and had the opportunity to draw level at 2-2 if not for that Maignan save. Then we gifted another goal just before half-time.

“It’s disappointing, we expected to do more than we did, we need to improve our approach and determination, which at times is lacking, and we need to turn the page because there’s another important game coming in in three days.”

Inevitably, the first questions were about Chivu’s choices, because he pulled 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 Marcus Thuram.

Even in the absence of injured captain Lautaro Martinez, he stuck to this one-striker system and didn’t make significant changes until the final minutes of the match.

“We were forced to change, because Pio Esposito has not been well, Bonny had a fever until 4.30pm and was vomiting all night, so we had to improvise,” revealed Chivu.

The flu bug was sweeping through the squad, as goalkeeper Ivan Provedel wasn’t even on the bench after coming down with symptoms too.

“We were also convinced it was the right choice, because two players between the lines with two attacking wingers and Andy Diouf attacking the space, we thought it was the best solution at our disposal.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t go well, but we also had some good things, we caused Milan a lot of problems once we stepped up a gear. We too have to take the blame for the initial attitude, for our sluggishness when defending, we’ve got to rediscover the determination we had last season.”

This is the eighth time in the last 11 competitive matches that Inter have gone behind, but the last two games with Fiorentina and Venezia were far from impressive performances, secured with late goals and two own goals.

“It’s not easy to play every three days with the same hunger once you won the previous season. We must do things with more intensity, determination and that starts with the right initial approach,” confessed Chivu.

“We are well aware that at times we reflect on past glories and what we built, so we need to rediscover that hunger and determination, especially when taking some things for granted. We’ve got to raise the level of concentration, then after that find consistency in everything that we do.”

This was the first Serie A defeat of the season for Inter, who now risk being left behind Lazio, who host Cagliari on Sunday.