Inter Milan manager Cristian Chivu delivered his verdict on tonight’s frustrating 2-1 home defeat to Bodo/Glimt.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia via FCInterNews, the 45-year-old reflected on Inter’s surprising exit from the Champions League.
Despite a strong pre-match favoritism, Inter suffered their third consecutive home loss in the Champions League.
After being beaten by Arsenal and Liverpool toward the end of the league phase, the Nerazzurri lost to Bodo/Glimt.
In doing so, Kjetil Knutsen’s charges became the first Norwegian side to progress from a Champions League knockout tie since 1987.
Meanwhile, the San Siro giants will not compete in the Round of 16 for the first time since the 2020/21 season.
Though Cristian Chivu is on course to win the Scudetto in his first season at the club, he has fallen short of expectations in Europe.
Indeed, Inter had reached the Champions League final twice in Simone Inzaghi’s last three seasons in charge.
However, they couldn’t overcome the first knockout hurdle this time and will likely have to settle for domestic glory.
In addition to running away with the Serie A title, Chivu’s men will face Como in a two-legged Coppa Italia semi-final tie.
Cristian Chivu Delivers His Verdict on Inter Milan 1-2 Bodo/Glimt Loss
“We tried every possible way against a team that was well-organized in a low block, with ten players behind the ball,” Chivu said. “We couldn’t break them down, and they found a mental comfort zone.
“I have nothing to reproach the players for – they gave everything with the energy they had, though the opponents had more, especially in the second half. We did our best, trying to open the game in the first half.
“In the second, they managed to create opportunities and scored two goals. There’s a lot of disappointment because we tried to advance, but unfortunately, they had more energy.
“Bodo is an organized team that came here to do what they had to do with determination. We must congratulate them; they deserved to progress.”
Then, Chivu assessed Inter’s overall Champions League campaign.
“Our goal is to be competitive, and we’ve always stated that,” he added. “We didn’t want to focus on things beyond our control, things too far away. Unfortunately, in the Champions League, we weren’t competitive.
“We started well, winning four games in a row, but then we dropped some points despite good performances. The Champions League has a very high level, and if you can’t be precise, opponents punish you for the first mistake.”
Inter Milan Boss Cristian Chivu Discusses Tactical Decisions During Bodo/Glimt Upset
Chivu also discussed his tactical choices and in-game management.
“We tried forcing plays when we gained space, and at halftime, I asked for more patience to destabilize Bodo’s dense and organized 4-4-2. We attempted some shots.
“There were key moments in the box, but we didn’t find the right openings. We had many corners, I think 16. With more composure, we could have opened the game in the first half.
“We tried everything within our limits and strengths. It’s a pity because maybe if we had scored first, we could have put more pressure on them.”
Finally, he praised his side for making a valiant attempt to claw their way back into this tie.
“It’s hard to find energy when you play every three days. We probably could have attacked the area more effectively. But I have nothing to reproach the players for -maybe we should have scored early.
“It’s always tough to attack a team with ten men behind the ball. There’s disappointment because we wanted to progress.
“We had that goal in mind, knowing it wasn’t easy against a Bodo team with more energy and a two-goal advantage from the first leg.
“Now we move on and turn the page. That’s the Champions League, and we have to give credit to the opponent.”
I think this was some insider agreement between Chivu and the leading players to sacrifice CL, and to win the scudetto so that they can annoy Oaktree that they need to clearly see they need big investments into the squad for summer. It was obviuous they didnt sign anyone he wanted, not even a proper RWB ffs which he asked for. Thats why he played with mixed roster in the first game.
I agree with you Chivu and the players have done so well Oaktree won’t get enough money to pocket.
Let’s be real. Akanji is bad, thuram has been bad this entire season, bissek is bad, henrique is bad and the managment tried to keep this policy of buying bargains and flopped hard this year.
And on top of this we have a bunch of players that are too old like fratesi.
And i like chivu as a person but he’s not up to the task for a job like Inter.
Too old like acerbi not frattesi.
you are quite really good on your comment.we need to first of all bring in a good manager and after change players,btw you forgot to mention barella, he’s very bad player.
That we could not ask for more than the last 16 is acceptable, but failing to reach even that is quite disappointing. Playing Darmian and Augusto at the same time was a setup for failure, among other issues.
Losing is not horrible, turnover is not end of the world. But the attitude is!!!!! I understand to protect the players, but I really can’t stand the post actions after the turnover by Akanji. We have 3 guys including himself are the last defenders, but no one is even trying to hustle back to help Sommer, the only one hustled back is Zielinsky. This is the mentality attitude issue. Most of the players are just too easy to give up. This is not acceptable. As a coach, manager, you really need to hold the line of the attitude. When we down 2 goals, amazingly you are the first one to give up, sitting on the bench, no emotion, not even try to bring your last energy to fight back. This is unacceptable.
i agree, no one running back was shocking and points to attitude, Chivu’s subs were awful today and too late, also in my opinion, Thuram should never had started both him and Lautaro have not performed to their best levels for a long while and should be the reserves for the current moment. The main issues as we all know, we play mainly from the wings and lack any players who can control a game or beat a man in the middle or wings, we desperately need a ball controlling midfielder who can change the tempo (Kone) and more creativity and speed in middle and we need a quick and agile cb. Henrique is way too safe and this was his game to prove everyone wrong and he did the same again, if we play 3-5-2 we need a rwb who is fast and can cross and beat a player. Sommer needs to be replaced as well. Everyone knows the issues but management keep giving out contracts to the oldies and we need to sell/let go first (Sommer, Acerbi,De vrij, Darmian, Frattesi, Mkhitaryan Henrique, Aslani, Thuram, Barella if we can get top money) sign only game changing players and promote some youth from under 23 to fill squad and test them if we can finish the league early. The tempo we play at is fine for serie A but for champions league we need to rebuild. Lets win the league and cup now. Good luck to Chivu, what a fantastic start if he could win something!
losing to Bodo that many have barely heard of before this season is indeed a very, very bad thing. We did not just lose the away game but lost on our turf as well, having conceded 5 goals and scored 2. It’s catastrophic for a club that aspires to be on top both domestically and internationally.
Losing costed us how many tens of millions ? UCL money is what we lost
estimates are around 20 million, but this has also been a psychological blow..in any case, the ownership now has an excuse not to spend in the summer..
Bro don’t worry yourself Chivu and the players intentionally lost the game to annoy Oaktree for not buying players Chivu asked for.
He looks like a beaten puppy on the sidelines every time things don’t go as planned. No energy out there.
Someone please explain to me why you would take off Zielinski and Frattesi in the second half when they were the only players creating any type of chances. As usual, Barella did nothing. He becomes invisible in every big game. Thuram has become ineffective. Bony should have started in his place. We lost both games due to poor player choices made by Chivu. I want him to stay on as coach but he cost us the Champions League
I think due to lack of player cover. When the result was beyond any reach protecting key players because the main priority. The tie was lost in the first leg when Chivu decided to play a very weak 11 that had no desire in winning the match. For that Chivu deserve to be criticism but this second leg he did everything to overturn it but after the Akanji gift the best he could do was to take out key players because the league still have important matches coming along especially the derby
I agree that the tie was lost in the first game and this time it was all on Chivu, not so much on individual players..