Inter manager Cristian Chivu believes there were significant expectations placed on his squad for the 2025-26 season. He noted that the players had insufficient time to prepare for Serie A due to the Club World Cup, highlighting this as a factor. Chivu also expressed confidence that captain Lautaro Martinez will continue to break club records for years to come.
Chivu Reflects on Inter’s 2025-26 Season and Lautaro’s Future
In an interview with Bleacher Report, the Nerazzurri tactician, who achieved a domestic double in his first full season as head coach in 2025-26, provided a concise review of his team’s Scudetto and Coppa Italia-winning campaign. Chivu is now among an elite group to have won the Serie A title with Inter as both a player and a coach.
“As a player and a coach now, it’s a lot of responsibility knowing what the club means in history, what it means for the supporters,” Chivu stated. “It’s nice on both sides of this situation as a player and as a coach.”
Despite initial concerns about Inter facing difficulties after a significant defeat in the Champions League final the previous season and the subsequent departure of Simone Inzaghi, Inter largely dominated the Serie A title race this term. Nevertheless, Chivu felt that his players faced excessive external pressure.
“The expectation was high. Don’t forget that we didn’t have time to do a proper preparation (because of) the Club World Cup, we only had three weeks of holiday and yeah, you could see that.”
Ultimately, Chivu attributes the team’s 2025-26 titles to hard work. He emphasized the contributions of dedicated individuals, their ambitions, accountability throughout the season, and their diligent efforts. “Everything becomes easier. Easier in terms of trying to be competitive, trying to be the best version of whatever we had at that moment. Step by step we built something that allowed us to celebrate at the end of the season.”
Chivu also shared his thoughts on his captain, Lautaro Martinez. “The history of this club has always had great strikers who gave their best for the club; they write the history of this club.
“Lautaro is something special because he’s still playing for us and he can still raise his numbers. If I look at the top scorers in the history of Inter, he’s no.3 and he’s still here and he’s still part of this team, part of this club, and I think he’s going to write more pages in the history of this club.”
