Inter Milan coach Cristian Chivu has decided to start Matteo Darmian and Francesco Acerbi against Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of the 2025/2026 Champions League knockout playoff tie.
The official lineups for tonight’s Champions League match, which kicks off at 21.00 CET in Bodo, have been published.
Despite winning their opening four Champions League games under Cristian Chivu, Inter Milan failed to secure a top-eight finish in the league phase.
Therefore, the Nerazzurri continue their continental journey in the playoff round against surprise package Bodo/Glimt.
Furthermore, Cristian Chivu lost star midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu to injury following Saturday’s derby win over Juventus.
Therefore, the 45-year-old had to change his starting lineup tonight.
Inter Milan vs Bodo/Glimt – Francesco Acerbi Returns To Starting XI
Although he came under heavy scrutiny in the aftermath of the Derby d’Italia, Alessandro Bastoni has a guaranteed starting berth.
However, that doesn’t apply to Yann Bisseck, who surrenders his place to veteran star Francesco Acerbi.
Meanwhile, Manuel Akanji starts on the right side of Chivu’s traditional back three.
Indeed, the Italian veteran makes his third consecutive start in the Champions League. Acerbi started against Arsenal as well as against Borussia Dortmund.
Therefore, Stefan de Vrij starts from the bench again.
Inter Milan Vs Bodo/Glimt – Chivu Trusts Carlos Augusto
The main talking point comes on the left flank, where Carlos Augusto gets the nod ahead of in-form Federico Dimarco.
Despite his scintillating form, the Italian wingback desperately needs some rest amid a brutal fixture schedule.
Meanwhile, Matteo Darmian starts on the right wing at the expense of Luis Henrique.
As such, the Brazilian star returns to the starting lineup for the first time since late January.
Elsewhere, Petar Sucic returns to the engine room alongside Nicolo Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Therefore, the Italian superstar takes Calhanoglu’s role as a deep-lying playmaker.
Finally, Lautaro Martinez and Francesco Pio Esposito lead the line, with Marcus Thuram dropping to the bench.
Inter Milan vs Bodo/Glimt – Official Starting Lineups: Augusto & Darmian Start
BODØ/GLIMT (4-3-3): Haikin; Sjøvold, Gundersen, Bjørtuft, Bjørkan; Fet, Berg, Evjen; Blomberg, Høgh (C), Hauge.
Bench: Lund, Sjong, Nielsen, Aleesami, Klynge, Auklend, Riisnæs, Saltnes, Mikkelsen, Bassi, Määttä, Helmersen.
Coach: Knutsen.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable: Bro Hansen.
INTER (3-5-2): Sommer; Akanji, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Sucic, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Carlos Augusto; Esposito, Lautaro (C).
Bench: Martinez, Di Gennaro, De Vrij, Bisseck, Luis Henrique, Dimarco, Bovo, Zielinski, Diouf, Bonny, Thuram.
Coach: Chivu.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable: Dumfries, Frattesi, Calhanoglu.
Referee: Siebert.
Assistants: Seidel and Foltyn.
Fourth official: Schlager.
VAR: Dingert.
Assistant VAR: Brisard.
3-1 is a lopsided score. Without this pitch and the cold weather, they aren’t that great. But now it’s difficult to reverse. Chivu greatly underestimated their opponent. That wasn’t necessary.
The midfield overhaul was a risk. He treated the match like a coppa italia match. Barella needed to have a perfect match for it to work out because neither of Susic or Mikhi are going to do or offer anything. Hopefully tho Inter get the points in serie a and then try to reverse the 2 goals. Chivu can very well rotate again in the second leg but at some point he should stop using Acerbi in important matches
I don’t want to see Acerbi at pitch ever again. Retire him tonight.
He’s not the problem, we don’t have a single CB who can actually be depended upon now, the only one who played ok this year was de vrij so he gets dropped….. perfect logic.
100% disagree Acerbi is the problem and if Chivu is stupid enough to use him in the second leg the match is already lost. He offers nothing upfront and a liability during counters which they will be depending upon
Are you serious? Maybe after Luis and Sommer the worst player this season. Hell, with his play this season, he would be starter only for bottom teams who battle the relegation. For the teams who battle for Europe he wouldn’t be even a substitute, but somehow he get a starting place with us.
Acerbi, Mikhy, Darmian, and Sommer need to leave urgently.
I don’t know why we decide to get all cutesy wutesy with this one touch flicks for every foray forward.. thuram, barella especially guilty. sometimes boring is better, and beautiful.
Susic will do that inside the box in opposition and his own. He doesn’t understands the concept of shooting unless its 100% perfect. The midfield was doomed to fail from the start because they are all just below the required levels
they are very fast in transition and effective in converting chances. Partially because they only play UCL and so have better physicality.
We as usual is inefficient in final third.
Expected loss in tough turf and environment. The positive for this night is Milan dropped points again, now we are 7 points clear at table on Serie A. Thank you, Nico Paz Martinez. Now focus on Serie A and Coppa. Both we have very good chancesë to win them. Forza Inter.
deserved. we were too easy prey for these physical and fast guys. hope to beat them big in milan
8366238373fouls not given early on set the stage
u missed 2! it’s 8366238375.
to be fair to the referee, I feel he was lenient toward both sides though. its our own fault that we were slow to adapt and still looking for fouls whenever there is contact
Get Sommer out. All season goal has not felt secure. Completely at fault for the third goal, how are u beaten there. This team has disappointed all this entire season. It’s a miracle we are at the top of the league. We should not be playing like this. Mkhi…. absolutely horrid today. Sommer same with you. Entire defense… abysmal. Sucic… abysmal first half but second half actually showed up. Pio only shining light all game. We can come back in Milan i don’t doubt it, but what’s the point in staying in the champions league if we are losing to a team scraping the barrel of qualification
we definitely need a better and faster cb. Playing acerbi against this fast in transition team would be a suicide. Maybe de vrij or bisseck would be a better option for the return leg. Sommer seems to be hopeless also.
The point is the money. It is ALWAYS for the money!
Cant understand the mentality by the players, down 2 goals and still didnt go for the goal, instead, just pass to each other and then mistake lose possession. Clearly I think Oak Tree prefer Champion league news really pissed Chivu off, so he decide to give Oak Tree a presentation I guess.
They’re not good enough mate…. They just don’t have the ability to.
Dimarco wasn’t there. I hope Chivu rests him again and push the players to win the Lecce match. But at this point it’s clear Bony and Thuram are just wasteful and useless to use them together.
Absolutely embarrassing for us to lose to a small Norwegian team and conceding 3 goals smh
They will blame it on the pitch and the cold but I don’t buy it. They just underestimated them and played a bad game.
On the other hand, I rather focus on the league since it would be devastating to lose it this season, the other teams are dropping points and now Napoli, Milan and most likely jube have no Europe to focus on so they can rest and prepare for one game a week.
Well you have to admin that Man City also lost 1-3 here. So not that bad.
I’m pretty pissed but its not over. Those platic boys will get the pazza beating. Mark my word. Come play on a normal stadium clooowns.
Sucic was a bit off…but those plastic stadiums should be banned
Doesnt change a thing.
Forza Inter
When I say in the near future, other leagues will overtake serie a, some people here think I’m being naughty or pessimistic… One thing I will keep saying is FACTS AND RESULTS DON’T LIE and these do not care about opinion or fanfare… I want a strong serie a and I have been an avid supporter of inter and Italy, and it is a tragedy to see serie a in this state… It’s sad.
You are aware Inter played in 2 of the last 3 CL finals right? One night is just ONE night. This tie is not done.
You are aware that no serie a teams has won the UCL in 16 years right? The only FACT in your statement is that the tie is not over…
you said that the Erevidisie and the Belgium League would overtake the Italian League. If you said the French league or the Portuguese league, we could entertain that statement even though it’s still clueless. But the Dutch league and the Belgium Super League… C’mon, now. Let’s be serious.
Well, you misquoted me… I take note of all my statement.. I used the term could, or I alluded “could” which is definitely not false.. But yes, FRENCH league is better than serie a now… Facts don’t lie..
French league only has one team that can win it all. The others are miles away from PSG, let’s be real. Even with PSG winning the CL, the French league only has 3 guaranteed spots. There is a reason for that. The reason is the coefficient. That is the fact that doesn’t lie. For some reason, you like to omit that from your commentary every time.
Good point regarding coefficient. But if serie a teams keep messing up in UCL and PSG (alone in French league) manages to win again before a serie a team does, the “inevitable” may still occur. When serie a teams begin to get sense, I will be one of the first to say so…
We need more players willing to get the ball turn and move with it. All these guys cant or are terrified to do it.
LOL… Beginning to face the indisputable fact eeh?
they are too old for runs.
But this empty possession based football is so fun to watch… I hate this type of football.
chivu is simply a limited coach and the team is simply too old to play quality football anymore.
Ok. Now come to milano arctic boy. Fok u and your mthfkn momma. Forza Inter. We’ll eliminate these clooooowns
If we play our best starting XI we can thrash them. Naive rotation and the cold environment stalled us this time.
I hate that we lost…but we’ll wreck those cheaters…there is a reason their league is suspended right now. But fok that. Uefa shite. Henry and cara can both go down on mez such a bunch of cloooowns. Henry…your team hasnt been a champ for 2 decades now…cara…we do not this slip…
I hate this haters.
You gotta excuse me. I’m watchin cbs
But back on subject…not our best game…sandro had too much to do. And pete was no good today. And why no dimaXxxx
Anyway
Forza Inter
We’ll wreck them next week.
Night brothers
bro you always crack me up. This defeat is not a good look, but your attitude is the right one. We have an uphill battle now, but we can definitely win against Bodo.
1 minute left. Please score now
Milan – Como 1-1…
this has been barellas worst season in an inter jersey so far.. barrela and mhiki completely killed our midfield, and sucic added nothing. I think we need to start Martinez in goal, sommer does not inspire confidence any more. that said, this was a tough away game in tough conditions.
Barella has been in decline for 2 seasons now.
I don’t think anyone can actually say Barella have been playing decent this season. It was a rotation and it was necessary Inter can overturn a two goal advantage if they want to. But I feel CHivu will again field a rotated squad and I won’t blame him
no I don’t blame him for the rotation as well. I can see his pov where preventing injuries on a hostile pitch in the ice cold weather takes precedence. no inter supporter (no matter how staunch) believes we are going to win the UCL. we learnt our lesson last year, serie a is what we want. and go as far as possible in the UCL. We lost today as we didn’t play out game, we were too busy playing cute football, on this plastic pitch. I think we will get them packing in the san siro.
only thing u can say is that we’ll have dimarco, warmer temperature, better pitch, an san siro next week. I get that man city lost here but come on. they made so many mistakes and we couldn’t capitalize which is the story of this season and others
Do u guys think we can comeback at home
No
Yes, if we play our best starting XI. The rotation IMO ruined us tonight.
Chivu Masterclass, putting half of the team of subs at this difficult away match in the Cl means he really thinks he can walk through the CL without someone beat up our ass. Buddy this aint Parma and you aint Mourinho
Since he wanted to rotate the team, he should have put Diouf or Kamate there. Darmian and L. Henrique are completely useless.
Given your insights I find it hard to believe that Marotta did not hire you in June when Inter were seeking a new Coach. Astonishing really.
I think he should have hired you instead. And at zero cost, like he likes to do, haha. Since he thinks he’s such a football expert.
Unlike you I do not think I know the team more than Chivu does.
Chivu knows Inter as a player, not as a coach. Just a reminder for you. Inter is not Parma.
Kamate is not in the squad and diouf is a defensive liability there
And L. Henrique and Darmian don’t have it?
Abysmal
Pls no injuries
The team needed a goal and he puts L. Henrique in, haha. But how he likes that player!
Kamate should be used more often.. I mean come on, he’s 21… I guess he is still too young in the coach’s eyes… But Chivu is still “less bad” when compared with Conte and Inzaghi when it comes to using younger players though…
Diouf would’ve been even Darmian staying on Lol
Yet another embarrassing outing by serie a sides in Europe. And some here say the teams are not daft… Ooh well… The facts are there for all to see whether we like it or not.
Playing at the same time Augusto and Darmian, who had played little during the season until now, in such a difficult environment was a bad, naive idea.
Enrique is garbage
We need a coach like Klopp… That’s all I can say… Someone I know is ot DAFT…
Chivu only wanted to play for a draw, and he’s paying for it. I think he thinks he’s still coaching Parma, haha.
He does have Parma mentality and the sad part is he transferred his loser mentality onto a team that played 2 champions league finals in three years.
Luis henquire is gonna help yeah fuck sakes
Seems like only Dimarco understands what an early cross is. Idiots on the wing today
At least with Darmian Inter had a chance when Henrique came on all hope was lost
Oh yeah luis henquire somehow fucking helps
If we get at least 1 somehow we can def comeback in our home
WE DO NOT GIVE UP
FORZA INTER
But I dont know what Chivu thinks. For me we need some changes on the field to turn around the situation.
I hope we get knocked out for good so we can focus solely on the league
Mikhi Acerbi and Darmian in 2026 is an absolute joke
GET MKHI OUT FOR GODS SAKE
Nah.. His experience is invaluable to the side… LOL..
ya we are planning to renew his contract too. I think three more years sound reasonable.
Critical to not concede again or we are finished. We can score another and feel ok but cannot concede!!
If we still want to get advanced back in home game, we need Demarco, Zielinsky, Henrique Bissek to give it a shot.
I complained that Chivu shouldn’t have fielded a mixed team in such an important game, and some people disagreed. There you have it. They underestimated their opponent and are paying for it. As if Serie A wasn’t already decided. It’s not the mindset of a big club like Inter to be content with just the national title.
How slow can they move the ball?
guys try to look at the bright side
we leave this useless competition only
focus on the serie A and coppa Italia just like qc milan and comfortably win the 21st league title
OK now focus on Milan match, hope for good result there.
Serie a teams need to learn to focus on ALL GAMES, and not just serie a games… That’s a mediocre mindset…
guys try to look at the bright side
we leave this useless competition only
focus on the serie A and coppa Italia just like that prehistoric club and comfortably win the 21st league title
Somehow Chivu still doesnt want to make a change@@…..lol maybe I am missing something.
In Champions League he is a puppy.
Chivu only wins against weak teams in Serie A. If Juventus hadn’t had a player sent off, they probably wouldn’t have won that game. And Juventus isn’t a strong team, but it’s a classic match.
There’s nothing to add nor subtract in this statement… Some fans here are delusional… They know themselves…
Huge gap between midfield and defense, Acerbi far too slow to clear the ball on time or close player.
guys try to look at the bright side
we leave this useless competition only
focus on the serie A and coppa Italia just like that washed up prehistoric satanic club and comfortably win the 21st league title
Zero concentration in the game. ADHD team if I’ve ever seen one.
Inter, go Benfica all over their asses!
January is coming we can buy a CB all ours are trash…..
Board – “um naaaaahhhh”
How pathetic is this lmao. Get some people on that have energy
Well, at least this game shows that how many positions we need to make the change~~
Defense in shambles
Champions league is NOT SERIE A… Facts don’t lie…
There he is
Hi Bruno… 3-1 BODO GLIMT
Acerbi is a HUGE liability, always running away instead of stepping up to defend
He’s been doing it a lot this season and will continue to do it and he will continue to put the team at risk. He’s just not suited to play anymore yet here we are
sommer should trying to save that
Augusto, why the wild pass?????
Why the slow passes backwards, and no movement to be open… so easy to read.
Good lord we are awful defensively
Our midfield looks pathetic tonight. We need big change over summer, Mhiki isn’t on the level at which can help us anymore, Frattesi unreliable and Hakan always has injury problems, oftentimes they are long-term. Diouf and Sucic look a little inconsistent, but with more minutes confidence will come, talent is there. Piotr and Barella as starter options, bring back Stankovic and give him space to play. Akinsanmiro as 6th choice or some strong defensive midfielder, with more minutes at less important games for U23 youngsters.
so frustasing watching miki play
can mkhi not control his strength when he kicks a ball?
Important not to lose. Also, Milan would be nice to lose points. For now Paz winning.
Not bad for the first half. Some of under par performance but I think they are still adjusting to the Artificial field. Anyway, good luck on the second half!
Pio already has more goals than lautaro or Icardi in their first season with the club.
Pio playing on a better team than those two had when they began.
Sucic and Mikhi have been abysmal
If fit and we actually want to win, then zielinksi and Dimarco need to come on.
Susic makes a lot of mistakes in his passes. He’s a very inconsistent player. Mikhy is no longer at the level to play for Inter.
Pete needs to play on the left. I like the kid so much, but today he is not good. Entre – diouf. Dima should come in though. We need to teach these norges a lesson about making us play in the arctic. Final result buda(as per cbs comentary) 1, Inter 5
Forza Inter
WTF is Pio doing? No need for that foul and yellow.
what was that, Pio?
Pio….that was dumb
He’s cold. Wanna be subbed. Smart move. Entre – bonny
Sucic again with misplaced pass..
I like Sucic, but he’s been a little off today :/
Same here brother. You’re not crazy. The kid has an off day. Sub.
Lautaro wide open in the box and no cross, i miss dimarco
Chivu shouldn’t have fielded a mixed team in such an important game. Especially since the calcium is well on track. With the exception of L. Henrique, all the starters should have been playing.
Every game cant be a big game, he had to choose between last game and this one. Last game was more important. This is a two leg tie. Its not that importAnt
nah, why would you waste so much energy on this game? Even though the team looks sloppy, we are managing just fine. Even if we don’t win this one, we have the return leg at home. It’s better if we keep racking up wins in Serie A, and then we’ll see if we can make a push in Europe.
Hahaha… Typical serie a mentality.. That’s why they keep failing in Europe… Ooh well… When they are ready, they will wake up.. Till then, their daftness will keep been exposed in Europe…
Well he can’t play all the starters considering there’s a match coming on over the weekend. This match is just like a first half and Inter need to get a good result and win the second leg. An injury to those key players here would be a disaster more than a loss
Yeah, when Chivu follows your suggestions because you think you’re so smart and forces him to use all the starting players, but then he doesn’t get the expected result, you call him an idiot. Later on in Serie A, when all the starters are tired and we drop points, you blame him again. Typical human behavior.
Sucic needs to learn from his mistakes. Don’t play fire in the dangerous area.
barella so sloppy and underperform
Where’s the guy always saying Sebastian is better than Pio?
He only shows up when we lose. Don’t mind him
Haha you know he was going to be commenting 2nd half for sure if pio didn’t score
Glad to see you on the right track Bruno. Cheers to you brother. Now lets win this
Here I am… HI!!!
sigh…
don’t tell me ur mad we got the goal….
It stands. Let’s fucking go!!
Stands!!! Wow!!!!
Right come on boys
it will be a handball
Var no goal
VAR GOAL!
don’t pessimistic we got it 🙂
VAR
Goal,Pio!
Pio again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PIO!!!!
PIO!!!!!! hope there’s no handball in it tho
What has happened to Barellas shooting?
Nothing, He has never been a consistent shooter
But He used to have power, now he has absolutely none. He used to blast shots
Blast them to the upper terrace. He has hit some incredible shots but more often than not his shots are harmless
Ugh good movement from barella but that finish… I feel we have a goal in us tho…
Barella must do better in that situation
Defensive lapse. The team loses a lot offensively without Dimarco. If they fall at this stage, against this tiny team, it will be shameful. The Champions League is not the weak level of Italian football.
Obvious!!!
They have a purpose when they get the ball, they try to attack, we are a nightmare – constantly sideways backwards playing into trouble!!
We all knew it would be this way, we knew tha my not having any attacking wingbacks would mean we are toothless….
Really poor from chivu to not foresee this
As soon as i celebrate Milan going down we also go down.
Sommer is so short, WHY IS HE STARTING LOW WHEN THE SHOT IS HIGH?!?!?!
they have outsmarted our defense, what could have he done?
like i said, he’s so short. i want a tall and young goalkeeper. I get he has to decide if the shot will go high or low, but if he was taller he would’ve gotten a hand to it. Honestly not his fault but just frustrating
Based on the officiating so far Inter will not be getting any favorable calls.
too many wrong moves by Sucic
Good chance but mkhi was on the end of it… come on
We should win i’m not too scared but the turf and conditions could be a defining factor. Glad some players are rested and glad Darmian is in over someone else on the team.
We need to go 3 down and do a Benfica – hoping to to reinvent the CL spark!
we always crush any team playing 433, I have nothing to worry about this match
Damn, this is super crazy cold weather game. Looks like the old men is higher injury hazard. But still, good luck!
Not really though. Few weeks ago we had -17. -10 but with wind chills down to -17. -3 in bodø down to -8 is doable. Not cool, but doable. There is a reason the norwegian league is having a break till march. But lets play as far north as possible, huh. I hope we teach them a lesson for pulling that number. They could have at least play it down at oslo. Maybe next time they will suggest tromsø. Anything to favour the already used to the climate. I’m with tank top and unbuttoned casual shirt at +5, but i’m used to the climate in my country. Not cool for our latinos in inter. Good thing we have two swiss knifes. Good or bad – we have to win today. Simple as that. And if the conditions do not allow for much – score a set piece and do the nasty bus. I really dont care. I woke up at -10. My fingers were freezing for the 3.2 seconds before i put the gloves on.
Forza Inter brothers
No stress, winterfootball in Norway is fun. The artificial pitch however… that is my biggest worry. Our jersey is like a sexy dress for females, they go out wearing even less – and never freeze because they feel hot in the dress.
Man this is scary why don’t we field our strong lineup and rest players after we beat them in their own backyard
The focus is on Serie A, my guy.
Yeah.. As usual.. Little wonder serie a teams have not been able to win UCL in almost 2 decades..
Nice. Dimarco and Zielinski rested. Would be even nice if Akanji or Bastoni were rested too. More important for me Lecce at weekend. We hope no injuries in this field.
No Dimarco,
A very slow, defensive side.
I am expecting a long night of Mikhi giving the ball away.