Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Tuesday, February 17, 2026 8:10 p.m. / Updated Tuesday, February 17, 2026 8:11 p.m.
Cristi Chivu (45 years old), Inter's coach, held the press conference prior to the Champions League play-off round, away to Bodo/Glimt. The Romanian technician praised his opponent, who defeated Atletico Madrid and Manchester City in the group stage, and then focused his attention on the statements of Luciano Spalletti, his counterpart on the Juventus bench, defeated by the “nerazzurri” with a score of 3-2, at the end of a scandalous match.
The Juventus coach jumped at the break of the match from “Giuseppe Meazza” to the “central” Federico La Penna, who had earlier given the second “yellow” to Pierre Kalulu. Spalletti was heard accusing the referee of “doing a piece of crap” and of “tainting the result”.
At the press conference ahead of the Champions League play-off match against Galatasaray, Spalletti said: “I am sorry that a good guy like Pierre Kalulu, after suffering two such colossal injustices, had to be called a fool even by Chivu!“.
Cristi Chivu replied to Spalletti: “Maybe some people are not satisfied with what we are doing”
“Norwegian football is growing. Bodo is a strong team, they beat Manchester City and Atletico Madrid. We know them well. They started a path and continue it, they have reached an excellent level,” Cristi Chivu said at the opening of the press conference, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Afterwards, the Romanian technician turned his attention to Luciano Spalletti's statementsthe Juventus coach, with whom he clashed following the scandal at the Serie A match when Inter beat Juventus 3-2.
“I don't respond to what others say, I express my opinion. Maybe there is frustration in another context and I am not able to handle it. We have to accept criticism, the leading team is the most challenged. Football has been like this for 100 years. We need to stop being moralists.
There has been such a case every Sunday since Maradona scored with his hand at the World Cup. No one said anything to him. And we, in Naples, were wronged, I'm saying it for the first time, but we didn't react like that. We want to be competitive and continue on this path. Maybe some are not happy with what we do…“.
Why is football so loved? Do we like it or not? Honestly, I can't answer. When we find the answer then we will no longer pretend to ignore so many things we see but pretend not to see. If important measures had been taken 50 years ago, perhaps what we see today would not happen again.
– Cristi Chivucoach Inter
Finally, Cristi Chivu spoke about the synthetic pitch that Inter will face Bodo/Glimt in Norway: “There is concern, I want my players to be healthy. Maybe they are not used to this type of pitch, but we are not unprepared.
Mentally, we will be ready. We know that this team is getting important results at home, they have nothing to lose and they start with the status of outsiders. They will give everything to cause us problems. We will be prepared to do the same. We will adapt to the field, the stadium and even the climate”.
