Inter Milan boss Cristian Chivu praised talented striker Francesco Pio Esposito after tonight’s 2-0 win against Ajax.
Speaking to Prime via FCInterNews, the Romanian coach also hailed Inter’s performance at the Johan Cruyff Stadium.
It was a dream Champions League debut for Cristian Chivu.
Indeed, in his first touchline appearance at Europe’s top table, he scooped up three points.
Marcus Thuram emerged as Inter’s hero in Amsterdam, scoring a match-winning double on his way to winning the MVP award.
Furthermore, Hakan Calhanoglu maintained his rich vein of form.
The Turk registered two assists, with his outstanding corner-kick deliveries leading to both goals.
Despite failing to find the net, Francesco Pio Esposito fared well in his maiden Champions League outing.
The 20-year-old took Lautaro Martinez’s place in attack, with El Toro forced to skip the match due to back pain.
Although he couldn’t score, Esposito fought valiantly for every possession and created havoc inside Ajax’s penalty area.
Reassuring Performance
“We showed maturity,” Chivu said after the match. “The team is there, they understand the moments.
“It’s always important to start well in the Champions League, given the new format.”
Asked what he found to be Inter’s standout strength tonight, he replied: “The maturity.
‘The way we played in their half for most of the game, while only conceding ball circulation between their centre-backs and goalkeeper. Plus, the courage to go man-to-man.
“We also neutralized their strengths; once we managed that, they never put us in trouble.
“his is Inter: a strong, characterful team that wants to bounce back from a difficult spell and does everything to show itself.
“Credit must go to the players, they’re exceptional.”
Inter Milan Boss Cristian Chivu Praises Francesco Pio Esposito After Ajax Win
“A real man,” Chivu said about Pio. “Given how he trains and how he’s adapted to this reality, he deserves our praise.
“Even tonight, in his Champions League debut at his age, he played a great game.
“I have four strikers who give everything to help the team.”
“Of course, I’m happy when they score because that makes them feel good. Pio deserves our praise because he played a great match, keeping the same intensity for 90 minutes, which isn’t easy.
“I’m also pleased with Ange Bonny, who gave us a hand; also with Marcus Thuram, who is showing he can score headers, even if that’s not usually his strength.”
Finally, Chivu admitted that age is just a number.
“ID cards don’t exist – not at 19, nor at 36.”
Glad to see that Inter reacted well from a terrible loss against Juve. Chivu really needs to consider using other formations. 4-3-1-2 should work well. Dimarco and Dumfries in full back, Bastoni and Akanji in center back, Barella-Sucic-Frattesi in midfield, Chalhanoglu in attacking MF, Lautaro and Thuram in attack. Happy to have a promising talents in our back up strikers: Pio Esposito and Bony. With 4-man defense, we will not concede many goals. Considering slowness and aging of our defense, better to play with 4 defenders. It’s time to move on from a 3-CB defense because De Vrij and Acerbi are too slow, Darmian is not good anymore, and Bisseck is not consistent.
honestly that wasn’t a good match. ajax didn’t show anything and there was no contest, but unnecessary mistake almost costed inter a goal leaving the ajax striker in 1 on 1 situation thank god he sucks. inter couldn’t even break ajax lousy defense. also, it’s funny to see thuram was set as target man in the first 30 mins of first half while there was pio who has physical advantage. it’s like watching lauti sets as target man when he’s paired with thuram. wasted
Why always negative? It was a good match from Inter!
because that’s the truth. it was like friendly game and inter found themselves hard to score. no real threats and we almost gave away easy goal for ajax. if chivu says this is inter, no it’s not. como play better than us. I hate to say this, but did you see how rube played against dortmund? that showed who they are supposed to be while we played like headless chicken who tried to pass the ball around and round and round without making any real chances to score. we were far stronger than ajax, we should dominate the game against a team with that quality. open your eyes! funny to see the last two game it’s hakan who really makes the difference. fans including our beloved amateur captain, who always acts tough, but can’t score for 6 months every season, wanted hakan to go early summer lol. this team has no chemistry and is so disconnected