Cristi Chivu, asked before Dortmund

Inter had made a great start to the season, 4 wins out of 4, but lost their next 3 games, against Atletico Madrid (1-2), Liverpool (0-1) and Arsenal (1-3), thus dropping below 8th place.

In this last stage, a win is mandatory to hope to return to the TOP 8, but a favorable contest of the other results is also needed.

The Romanian coach anticipates a complicated match in Dortmund.

“It's not easy in this stadium, given the energy [spectatorii] I pass it on to the team. When they play at home they have energy, they have individual quality, they have an identity that Kovac has given them: they play more dominantly, they are good in transitions, they have good mobility in attack.

It won't be easy. They also have problems, like all teams, but they are working on them,” he said at the press conference.

Cristi Chivu, asked before Dortmund – Inter: “Champions League and Serie A, is it possible to win both?”

Chivu was delighted with Inter's progress under his command:

“The team has the ambition to be competitive. Since I came, everyone has been working to raise the level, to come with something extra. And they are doing well. It is true that there have been ups and downs, but I have always had the right reactions. I have come with new ideas and everyone has accepted them. That is part of the process.”

Asked later if he sees a historic double possibleto win both the championship and the Champions League, Chivu defended:

“We are 14th in the Champions League, when our target was to finish in the top 8. The match against Dortmund is important; we face a healthy team that rarely loses at home and is often helped by the fans.

We have to be mentally and physically prepared, we will talk about the championship later. Lot is important. They all feel included, they showed it.”

He also explained the context in which he feels the recent defeats came:

“We've lost games where we deserved more but maybe we deserve what we got. We conceded a late goal in Madrid and against Liverpool we had a late penalty against us.

We also did well against Arsenal, playing with determination and courage against a tough opponent: the 1-3 result was decided towards the end when we had 3 strikers on the pitch and were looking to equalise.

The team has grown both mentally and in attitude over the past two months, but they can still make mistakes. Perfect seasons and performances do not exist; you have to constantly improve.”

Other statements by Cristi Chivu, about…

… the absence of Nicolo Barella: “Nicolo pulled a muscle so I didn't call him in. He's going to investigate, but hopefully it's just fatigue.”

… Lautaro Martinez, if he considered resting him: “Lautaro never wants to rest and we don't want to be without our players. Everyone is always ready to contribute.”

… Piotr Zielinski: “Piotr should be happy with the way he is playing; we are. We are talking about a fantastic player with extremely high technical quality. He also plays in a different position than usual, he gives his best to help us. He will continue to improve and help us in the next matches.”