What Cristi Chivu answered when he was asked why Inter does not win derbies with rivals in Serie A

Chivu's side failed to beat Napoli despite leading them twice. The Neapolitans came back each time after just a few minutes, and the Romanian missed the chance to beat Antonio Conte for the first time in his coaching career.

Cristi Chivu, right after Inter – Napoli: “It's a shame that we didn't manage to maintain the advantage”

Asked if Inter had a problem since they didn't win any of their meetings with Milan, Napoli and Juventus, Chivu replied: “Head-to-head? I mean the game: two strong teams did everything they could to win.

It's a shame we couldn't hold on to the two-goal lead and keep our composure until the end, but we have to give credit to our opponents, who are a quality side and, like us, tried to win. I will stick with the attitude, the desire to always move forward, perhaps overdoing it at times, given that I was behind at one point.

We tried in every way to stay in the game and create chances, aware that we were facing an equally strong team. In the first 20 minutes, they really made it difficult for us with longer passes. It's a shame, but they were two strong teams that raised the bar for modern football and Serie A.

We are moving forward and trying to fulfill our ambitions for this championship, which is contested point by point between four or five teams. We are aware of this struggle.

We expected a game like this, we were slow to press. They played well with short passes between McTominay and Lobotka to find Elmas or Politano. I made mistakes there, but I appreciate the attitude of the players in applying that determined, sometimes even exaggerated pressure, knowing that it could all be in vain.

We managed to adjust things and in the end the match ended in a fair draw, given what we saw on the pitch,” said Chivu, according to gazzetta.it.