Inter Milan coach Cristian Chivu has decided to start Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Luis Henrique against Liverpool. This evening’s Champions League Match Day 6 clash kicks off at 21:00 CEST at the San Siro.
Inter head into their sixth Champions League outing under Cristian Chivu off the back of a 4-0 rout of Como in Saturday’s Serie A clash.
As a result, the San Siro giants have extended their winning streak in all competitions to three matches.
Therefore, the Nerazzurri will take the field in high spirits, aiming to bounce back from a dismal loss at Atletico Madrid last time out.
However, Chivu faces multiple injury worries, with a few key first-team players currently sidelined.
The absence of the starting wingback Denzel Dumfries is perhaps the most significant.
Inter Milan vs Liverpool – Henrikh Mkhitaryan Returns to Starting Lineup
Firstly, the big team news ahead of the match is that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will make his long-awaited return to the starting XI.
The 36-year-old has regained full fitness after slumping to a thigh injury in October’s league loss at Napoli.
Therefore, he takes Piotr Zielinski’s place in the engine room, slotting alongside first-team stalwarts Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella.
As such, Petar Sucic and Zielinski start on the bench. The same applies to Davide Frattesi.
Meanwhile, Mkhitaryan has not played in the Champions League since the opening-day win over Ajax.
Cristian Chivu Puts Faith in Luis Henrique
Another couple of pre-match question marks surrounded the defense and the right-hand side.
Despite some injury concerns, Manuel Akanji starts in defense. Chivu has decided to start Francesco Acerbi k alongside Alessandro Bastoni.
As such, Yann Bisseck remains on the bench despite his significant improvement in recent matches.
Therefore, Stefan de Vrij starts on the bench again, with the Swiss star getting the nod at the heart of Inter’s backline.
Meanwhile, on the right side, with Dumfries injured, Luis Henrique returns to the starting lineup. Furthermore, Federico Dimarco starts on the left.
After registering his first Serie A assist against Como, Henrique has earned his maiden Champions League start in Inter colors.
As such, Carlos Augusto starts on the bench.
Inter Milan vs Liverpool – Official Starting Lineups
INTER (3-5-2): Sommer; Acerbi, Akanji, Bastoni; Luis Henrique, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro.
Bench: Martinez, Taho, Bisseck, De Vrij, Carlos Augusto, Sucic, Zielinski, Frattesi, Diouf, Bonny, Esposito.
Coach: Chivu.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable: Di Gennaro, Darmian, Palacios, Dumfries.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-1-2): Alisson; Gomez, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Jones; Isak, Ekitiké.
Bench: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Bradley, Lucky, Kerkez, Wirtz, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Coach: Slot.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable: Gakpo, Chiesa, Endo, Frimpong, Leoni, Bajcetic.
Referee: Zwayer.
Assistants: Kempter and Dietz.
Fourth official: Petersen.
Var: Storks.
Avar: Dingert.
This team is extremely weak against any big opponent. We haven’t got ANY points against a big team and it’s not only worrying but embarrassing.
I don’t expect anything this season but the bare minimum: ucl spot in the league. That’s it.
We spend 25M on mediocre players and we got a coach who’s not even experienced so what do you expect ?
The management pisses me off.
We had only 1 league title in last 4 years and jube zero but Napoli double, in a time when they only had 2 in their history and this season it’s between bilan and napoli since again we can’t get any points against big teams.
4th game in 10 days.
BS biased ref penalty in last few minutes. This decision only promotes further player diving like they have been hit by a bullet. disgraceful.
two players injured in first 30 mins.
We will still qualify but it still hurts to lose in the final moments.
Lost is lost, Toro needs to know when to trust the teammates. To be fair, I dont think this is a bad game, since a little bit unlucky with the injuries. You can tell after the penalty, guys kind of lost it. That is the moment we need someone to bring the team back on fighting instead of arguing with the ref and being bothered.
Akanji played great today. Unfortunate to lose Cala in the first half along with Acerbi. I stil believe Frattesi should be given a starting role. He should be playing with Cala and Barella. He makes the runs into the box that we need and you can tell we have zero movement off the ball into spaces
It was good inter lost Acerbi. This match was lost because of Chivu obsession with a draw. In big matches he doesn’t want to be the one to win the match like why keep Henrique and take out Dimarco. It’s a cause and effect luck was on Liverpool and a draw suited them more than Inter but Inter had a coach who was just too afraid to lose than Liverpool who were away from home
Frattesi has been invisible for weeks, there is not a singe reason for him to play, let alone start a game.
You would think after not beating any big teams prior that the players actually think to themselves they want to change something. But looking at the game today seeing how slow they were, the inaccurate passes, needless giveaways, and overthinking near the box… nothing will change. It’s just a constant issue in big games this year. Something needs to happen.
But was it really on the player’s tho there was Chivu watching all match how stupid flicks were being performed inside Liverpool box instead of shooting then the biggest mistake was keeping Henrique and taking out Dimarco who will attack at any chance he gets.
Dimarco had ZERO crosses completed all game and his delivery from corners was poor as well.
Bastoni had one good cross to Toro and Toro had one good cross across the goal that I can recall. Barella was over hitting all long balls today.
We simply don’t have a good striker who can score half+ chances. Martinez is only good for Pisa or Como when inter dominated. Thuram disappears or overdoes with unnecessary feints. I’m only expecting wins against lower ranked teams this season
So much negativity today. So we lost, ok! Could we be more aggressive? yes. Do we choke in key moments? yes. Could the subs be done earlier? Maybe.
I would not say that we played terrible today. We show effort, Bisseck and Zieli did a great job as subs. Martinez was a lion today. Thuram needs to show that he deserves the spot. Barella needs to step up. Enrique need to show more but also be set up in key 1v1 situations. Otherwise we create chances but do not score, and we loose because of a horrible ref decision. Remember we are still work in progress.
Nope what’s frustrating is Chivu approach in big matches he try to get a draw regardless of what’s happening in the match. Liverpool were poor and under so much pressure so why does an Inter coach help them by not trying to win. Players that win matches are Dimarco, Frattesi and even Diouf with his attack minded approach.
I don’t remember that we created a singe chance yesterday, not a single chance. The referee decision was not horrible, Bastoni’s decision to pull the shirt of the opponent in the penalty area was horrible.
We lost vs juve, napoli, milan and atl madrid
Well I guess I’m the only one who enjoyed the game. Judging by the comments Inter played like a mid table team lol. I applaud the courage it took this team to play against one of the best premier league sides. Whether Liverpool is a struggling team or not, they are still considered one of the best team in the world. I hate we conceded such a dubious penalty but the team gave their all and that’s what matters. Can’t be mad at anyone right now
12 shots at home from liverpool while the foundation of all italian teams is solid defense. Idk i feel dissapointed, not angry, knowing we could beat them, but instead we played like a small loser club mentality. Horrible. But ok, maybe with a win againts Dortmund we are top 8, and the losses against Atletico and today nobody will care about.
We crumble against good teams.
even against terrible teams now. Liverpool hasn’t been good all season.
I don’t know why Chivu started old players who could not run
this team does not need a coach! it needs a psychologist!! reminds me of spaletti era, when we were kings against small teams but just rolled and played dead against bigger teams.
This is spot on. This must be studied.
The coach tho does everything he can to make sure against big team inter lose by forgetting everything that makes his team dangerous or weak. One thing is for sure big teams don’t need repeated opportunities to punish you and unless you punish them first that’s exactly what will keep happening. In simple terms Chivu lacks the balls to win against a big team and tries to be someone he isn’t.
We should have killed the game off in 1st half. Players are clueless and doesn’t know how to score. We gifted Liverpool penalty they scored, even tho it’s not a penalty Imo. Anyway we move on and hope for the best. Forza inter
Truly poor performance from minute 1, never looked like scoring, no energy, creativity. Awful performance, hate to be harsh but this performance ranks amongst the worst of the season. Wake up guys we’re playing at home, not away, give the fans something to shout about this season.
one of the most corrupt games i have seen in a while. they spend ten min trying to give a goal to liverpool when it was a stonecold handball. bisseck shoots and van dyke denies a goal scoring oppurtunity with his arm and var doesnt review it? wirtz dives then var reviews it? uefa needs the premier teams in the knockout phase. inter was terrible this is known but so was liverpool. the difference was the refs just like last game against atletico.
both teams were bad today. They were just lucky with that penalty, and we were unlucky with that bastoni who couldn’t manage his hands.
the ONLY positive that comes from today is that no matter what we are still top 8. but that means we must win against arsenal and dortmund which looks impossible with how we play. I don’t understand keeping Henrique on and Dimarco off. This was a disaster. Liverpool were playing horribly, but we somehow played worse. Where was the team that was playing against Como?
Dimarco was gassed and LE didn’t play that bad as people are saying here. The entire team was terrible today.
No doubt the entire team was horrible. Especially barella i thought was poor. But Henrique couldn’t pass at all and kept giving the ball away.
Well he was giving the ball away when he decided to start passing forward in the second half. Other than that he Inter were playing with 10 men with no outlet on the right. But Chivu saw that decided that he should stay because somehow in a weird way he was gonna help inter their first draw
agree 100%
chivu never heard or what?? henrique is nothing!
Have to agree Henrique has got no balls. Not once did he take on his man, ALWAYS played it safe, whats the point? He hasn’t got the heart to play for this team.
Wow! Atalantra beat Chelsea. Even Atalanta can beat super Chelsea. Good for Italian football.
Atalanta might even make it to the Top 8. At least it’s looking more likely for Atalanta to make it than us (give the way Inter plays against Big Teams).
It seems that we will have to play in the play-offs.
chivu must be sacked tonight, 7 loss out of 7 games against big teams
then we should not deserve called as a big team
who next? alternatives? no. therefore he is the best option until we find someone better or inzaghi comes back after his middle eastern holidays lol
Yes even if that was called for us it would be a bullshit call, most of us are not hypocrites.
Dont worry guys the season still long, i expect at least 15 losses this year in all competition
Bastoni needs to repent. He is pulling shirts way too often in this VAR era, even the unnecessary ones like today. I have seen it many times.
Subs were too late. Inter were lack of creativity already since min 60 or so. Bonny Diouf or Frat should have come earlier.
I’m begining to lose hope on Susic he’s way too passive and way too negative going forward on positioning. Frattessi on the other hand would push right inside the box and try something. Same with Diouf but for some weird reason Chivu is the worse in big matches he doesn’t want the team to go for the kill against them because of fear but not against small teams. He did the same against Atl. Madrid and again today.
Agreed. Diouf and Frattesi would try to create something at least although they are not as good in defense
u know that inter had to make two subs in the first half? and we have only three sub slots?
yes, if we are leading and play comfortably we can delay the subs. We played like suck already after min 60, created no threatening chances, many miscoordination in the final third, then subs came on 82?
even that goes, at least partly, on Chivu. A decision to start a 37 year old in a key defensive position against a top PL team, who played a match 3 days ago, was nothing but suicidal.
Anybody who blames the ref is looking for the easy scapegoat here. Yes, it was the softest penalty, but Inter was terrible this game. Plain and simple.
The fact that Liverpool didn’t play well either is irrelevant, even though I said that they didn’t deserve to win either.
We should have killed the game off in 1st half. Players are clueless and doesn’t know how to score. We gifted Liverpool penalty they scored, even tho it’s not a penalty Imo. Anyway we move on and hope for the best. Forza inter
one of the most corrupt games i have seen in 20 years.they spend 10 min to try to give liverpol a goal for the most obvious handball but when bisseck shoots and it hits van dykes hand var doesnt review it? wirtz dives and they review it? what the fuck is this? inter was dogshit this was obvious but so was liverpool. the difference was uefa needs the premier league teams in the knockout phase.
The penalty was a farce, but we got what we deserved for a thoroughly terrible performance…. Way too passive, poor team selection- worst performance of the season by far!! Only Zielinski can hold his head up tonight…. Chivu didn’t play the Chivu way tonight, and it’s cost him…..
Yes.., Indeed. I never blamed Chivu since he was selected as our coach for any of our losses, but this one is all on him entirely. Beside Turo, Bisseck and lil bit of Barella no one was interested to play tonight, but still he chose the line up and he is to blame for what happened. Hope he learns and do better next game.
He’s far too fearful against big teams just chickens out at the thought of a big match and he ends up losing anyways. Like try to win the match you have the players to do so but in the first half Thuram was just toying around with flicks and let all the responsibility to shoot to Lautaro. Bailed out by the first VAR so the second one wasn’t going to work. Bastoni has that clumsy decision making in him he has that since he joined Inter and Inzaghi had a tendency to take him out both him and Dimarco especially when you want to hold onto a result until Chivu get that lesson in his head Inter will drop points in all big matches this season. If you want to defend for draw or hold onto a win in final matches Bastoni and Dimarco are not your guys when you’re getting attacked it’s just facts.
For all praise Chivu has been given praise he must be criticised. He was way too passive Henrique offered nothing going forward and the brave decision was to use Diouf when it was clear Henrique was just too comfortable not creating anything meaningful.
chivu is a failure of a manager in big games
that goal was pure on bastoni. chivu is not to blame for that. basto must have managed his hands
Not really if you toy with opponents who are weaker than you then you end up paying the price. He was playing at home and he knows his side can play better but literally choose to be negative trying to get a draw. The right side was dead and yet he played with Henrique for the entire match like at least Augusto gives it a bit energy going forward yet Chivu decided to go with the safe option and hope for a draw. Any other match the Bastoni challenge isn’t a penalty but if Inter were ahead then its a draw
Agusto never went forward against Atelti.
Exactly but Henrique was 100% not going to do anything in this match. In fact if Inter were actually playing with 10 men with Henrique out then they would have a chance. Players were passing on the right side only because they had no other choice because Henrique was just so bad
Blame the management not chivu. They brought him these players.
we’ve been gаrbаge so far recently. deserved loss.
Expected loss. Always we lose against strong sides, no matter they are in crisis. Sorry. We expect 2 more losses against Arsenal and Dortmund.
You always expect the worst possible scenario tbh.
Yeah, but I had little hope against this in crisis Liverpool. But, still Liverpool wins just because it’s big name.
We can’t even beat this washed liverpool side missing half their team. This is a crisis i don’t care what people think. We have no mentality against big teams even when they are doing horribly. This game was so unwatchable and pathetic it’s insane. No one can pass and they over complicate on the final third. Henrique has been horrid with his passing. That wasn’t a pen, absolutely pathetic call. How can people take Inter seriously if they only get results from small teams? No grit… ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No chance creation at ALL. We need dumfries back
some of the players seem to hesitant and no confidence.
First half Thuram was just toying around then in the second half it was clear Inter were not interested in winning and just like Atl. Madrid you lose in the end.
look! they are pathetic team that difficult to win in aost recent games, and now we give them a win. Inter are more pathetic!
they better play diof rather than that npc Henrique. he offers nothing.
After a good game vs Venezia the media started to call him a good buy for Inter. lol haha
They preferred not to hire a coach….
Another boring game another dumb ref decision. However, this team doesn’t know how to attack against strong opposition and it’s on Chivu. Henrique is a non factor in attack and Dumfries is badly needed.
How is it dumb ref decision?!? We’d want that if it was the other way around.. blame bastoni there’s no need to even do it
That is never a penalty what are you on about. The day it’s a penalty football is a different game. This sport overall has regressed so much from the early 2000s.
No we would not, Only a snake would want that called for them. When have we ever applauded a player diving. Maybe you would but most inter fans do not.
Pulling of the shirt doesn’t constitute to a penalty especially in this case. Also Inter had a clear VAR review in the first half for Bisseck shot but VAR wasn’t even considered when a hand ball clearly deflected the path of the ball towards goal. The player clearly dives well after the shirt pull and if the ref can’t the difference for it means more player will just starting going down inside the box when touched because they know VAR will slow motion the movement and gives them a penalty.
Chivu doesn’t know how to beat big clubs. He is very good at winning the 3 points vs weak teams (mid- and bottom-table), but vs big teams, nah. We might end up with 4 straight losses in the UCL. Arsenal and Dortmund are not easier than this Liverpool.