Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Thursday, January 15, 2026, 00:58 / Updated Thursday, January 15, 2026 01:01
On a night in which Napoli had struggled, 0-0 at home to Parma, Inter needed to win their game to distance themselves from the reigning champions and arguably their main challengers for the title this season.
Cristi Chivu experienced the game against Lecce with emotions, the only goal coming late, in the 78th minute. It was scored by Pio Esposito, who entered during the second half. after the goal Chivu ran to hug him, and at the end of the match he explained the meaning of this gesture.
Cristi Chivu, after Pio Esposito brought him victory with Lecce: “We grew up together”
“I remember the 7-year-old boy… Basically, we grew up together. I know him inside out, I know his family, his ambition, the work he's done since the Academy. He was my captain at Inter Primavera and I'm happy for him, like I'm happy for the whole team, because it was a really complicated game.
I expected it to be difficult, because when you put in as much effort as we did against Napoli on Sunday and you don't get the result you want, it weighs heavily. I remember as a player when there was another game 72 hours away, it seemed like one of the most complicated things.
But despite the difficulties to find the way to the goal and the clarity to make the right choices, the team had the right attitude, believed until the end and had the soul to get the victory”, said the Romanian, quoted by Football Italia.
Chivu: “Maybe Italian football is not used to the way they do some things”
Questioned also on the decision to give the players a day off before this gamewhen asked if this was a possible explanation for the underperformance, Chivu replied:
“Or maybe we can look at things the other way around, say we won precisely because we gave them that day off we won.
But these are relative things, I don't have to justify my decisions. I make these decisions based on my experience, based on what I observe in training, what I see in the eyes of these players. Maybe Italian football is not used to the way they do some things, maybe they seem strange.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but that's not what I'm interested in, it's the next 5 months of this season. I trust these guys, there's no guarantee you're going to win going into training camp. Considering how many training camps I had as a player, I should have won all the trophies. I trust the maturity of my players.
Inter, winter champion. Cristi Chivu: “It matters where we will be in May”
Inter has 46 points after 20 stages. If Milan mess up in Como on Thursday, Chivu will finish the round 5 or 6 points ahead of their local rivals.
About the unofficial “winter champion” status, Chivu said that “I've won this semi-winter champion title before in my career, but it's not worth anything. What matters is where you're going to be in May. Sure, it means you're competitive, but like I said before, it's going to be a fight to the end, for every point.”
