Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 6:42 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 6:46 p.m.
crystal Chivu (45 years old) will be on Saturday with Inter for the first time in his coaching career as an opponent of Luciano Spalletti (66 years old). The current Juventus coach had him as a player at AS Roma the Romanian defender, using him in most games, and he almost always defended him.
Saturday evening, from 21:45 (live text on GSP.ro, directly on Digi Sport 2 and Prima Sport 1)the headliner of the 25th round of Serie A will be the match between Inter and Juventus. On “Giuseppe Meazza”, Chivu and Spalletti face each other, technicians from different generations, who lead teams in three places and 12 points difference in favor of the Romanian.
37of matches Cristi Chivu has as a coach in Serie A, compared to Luciano Spalleti's 574. The Italian has won a scuddetto, two Cups and an Italian Supercup plus four trophies in Russia, while the Romanian has none.
Of all the great coaches that Chivu had, Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello, Rafa Benitez, Ronald Koeman and Luciano Spalletti, the last one gave him the most appearances of all, regardless of the championship.
“From the lessons of Trigoria to the whistles of the fans at the Olimpico and “You are a shame for the whole of Romania!””
The former champion with Napoli and Italian coach has not forgotten Cristi, nor has he faced him yet, Inter's defeat in the round (3-4) having Igor Tudor on the technical bench of Juventus.
Luciano Spalletti, caught between a rock and a hard place after signing with Juventus // PHOTO: Getty Images
Gazzetta dello Sport has today dedicated a large space to them in the printed edition, in which Il Derby d'Italia can be prefaced as “Chivu's Pupil against Master Spalletti”, the pink daily revealing the behind the scenes of their relationship, close or distant: “From the lessons of Trigoria to the whistles of the Olimpico”.
“Of all the insults he had heard on a football field, the one uttered in his native language, under the burning sun of Rome, really took him by surprise: “You are a shame for the whole of Romania!”, a compatriot told him in front of his coach at the time, Luciano Spalletti. It was open training on July 20, 2007, at the Flaminio stadium, the official start of the season for the Giallorossi.
Chivu was packed for Real Madrid, but made his €18m transfer fall through to keep his word to Inter. In short, he was already a Nerazzurri player at heart, while his coach watched closely. She supported him, as she had done in the previous months, which were far from easy.
“The master never wanted to lose his protégé Cristian”
That day, Chivu had refused to run with headphones because, amid the deafening whistles, he wanted to be a man. To show his face. Walk with your head up. And so with rhetoric. In the end, all these were Spalletti's concepts, assimilated in two happy years spent with the Tuscan master, who never wanted to lose his protégé, Cristian.
Daniele de Rossi and Cristi Chivu were colleagues at AS Roma
During that long summer transfer window, Spalletti had tried to protect the defender from the real risk of public lynching, but he had scolded him when needed: “He didn't call me, he must be busy…” he testified in June, at the beginning of the telenovela. It was just a role-playing game, in a complex situation for everyone,” writes the quoted newspaper.
The Romanian, now coach of Inter, challenges Pope Luciano, who was called to rebuild Juventus from scratch: a first meeting unexpected in terms of space and time, but welcome for both. Spalletti blessed Chivu's new career from the start, having already seen him at Parma: “I trained him, I know him very well, he will become a great coach”
– La Gazzetta dello SportItalian daily
The pink daily pointed out that “even the Romanian understood, with time, how brilliant the coach who filled his days at Trigoria was: “He was meticulously attentive to details. As a player, I often did not understand, but now everything is clearer to me…”, Chivu himself reiterated later.
These sessions were innovative at the time, long and intense, as well those that he is now reconstructing constructively at Appiano Gentile. Roma's centre-backs were avant-garde in their ball play 20 years ago.
“There was always dialogue and mutual support, Spalletti trying to heal a little the wound that Cristian had to endure”
It may be a coincidence, but of all the coaches the Romanian had in Italy, Spalletti was the one to whom he gave the most games: 78 appearances (under Mourinho “only” 62), in two years culminating in the Coppa Italia victory”.
There was always dialogue and mutual support between the student and the coach, trying to heal at least a little the wound that Cristian had to endure. In November 2005, Luciano had been his coach for several months, and the Romanian innocently answered a question from Sky, without thinking about the emotional drama in the Capital: “To work with Fabio Capello again? It would be a pleasure…”.
The problem was that Don Fabio was the very hated coach of Juventus, and those words forever changed the relationship between the Romanian and the Giallorossa family. Olimpico never forgave him.
“Faced with the flood of insults, Chivu vomited from stress after the match, being saved only by sessions with a psychologist. But on the field, he remained the same reliable player for Luciano until the last day they spent together, despite the unpleasant atmosphere around him.
Besides, Spalletti had always warned him that it's best to be careful with your words. And today, Cristian follows him exactly at Appiano Gentile”, La Gazzetta dello Sport concluded its story.
