Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Saturday, December 20, 2025, 08:38 / Updated Saturday, December 20, 2025 08:40
With Inter defeated by Bologna in the shootout, 2-3 after 1-1 in regulation time, Cristi Chivu was asked why he didn't send two of his best performers, Calhanoglu and Pio Esposito, on the field.
In Riyadh, in the semi-finals of the Italian Super Cup, Inter opened the scoring after only 73 seconds, but equalized in the 35th minute, from a penalty converted by Orsolini.
Cristi Chivu's side forced victory in the second half, which they completely controlled, but could not score the goal that avoided the penalty shootout.
There, Chivu was “betrayed” by his players, with Barella, Bastoni and Bonny missing out. The first sent over the goal, the other two were guessed by Ravaglia.
Cristi Chivu, asked head-on: “Why didn't Esposito and Calhanoglu come in for penalties?”
At the press conference, the Romanian coach was asked why he didn't throw Francesco Pio Esposito and Hakan Calhanoglu into the fight, so that they could take penalties.
About Esposito, Chivu explained: “I didn't want to risk sending a player to the field to take a penalty without warming up. He showed himself willing to go in, but the responsibility is mine“.
“And Calhau[noglu] he's just back from an adductor injury and I didn't want to send him on the field and take a penalty unheated. But it's easy to talk from the outside.
I have to protect my players, we have a difficult month ahead of us. The decision is mine, as well as that of resting some players,” Chivu added, as quoted by fcinter1908.it.
If I'm not mistaken, in the second half we were alone on the field. That's how I saw it: we dominated the game. Unfortunately, we made a few mistakes in front of goal and their defense did a good job defending in those phases.
– Cristi Chivu, Inter coach
Bologna – Inter, video summary:
