Chivu: ‘Inter defeat hurts with many regrets’ against Atletico Madrid

Cristian Chivu admits Inter’s last-gasp defeat to Atletico Madrid ‘hurts for everyone, because there are many regrets’ and not just about that late header on a corner.

The Nerazzurri were still smarting from a tough 1-0 Serie A defeat to rivals AC Milan, and were hoping to maintain their 100 per cent Champions League record.

There was early controversy when Julian Alvarez’s goal was allowed to stand despite an apparent Alex Baena handling offence in the build-up, which was cancelled out by Piotr Zielinski.

Just as it seemed to be heading for a 1-1 draw, Jose Maria Gimenez was allowed a powerful header on a corner at the 93rd minute to seal the 2-1 result.

“It hurts for everyone, because there are many regrets. We came here fired up to do so much, more than going home empty-handed,” Chivu told Sky Sport Italia.

“We had started quite well, then conceded the goal, had the strength and courage to react, showing quality and intensity. We sat a little deeper after a while, partly because the opponents deserve credit for pushing us back.

“There were a few counter-attacks that unfortunately we were unable to make the most of. Then at the last minute this corner came out of nowhere. We had our best men in the box for set plays, for height and ability in the air, but we still conceded a goal.”

Inter have a clear problem this season, which is most of their defeats have been in the big games against quality opponents, failing to step up to the next level.

They created numerous scoring opportunities in all these matches, but got it wrong on the details that make the difference.

“This team must know how to react, be aware that it is strong. It must understand the moments of the match, be more concrete, more clinical, not focus so much on pretty football,” noted Chivu.

“That is what we tried to do tonight. We were prepared for their high press and had even said we wouldn’t mark so closely, in case we got turned, but that’s how the first goal happened anyway.

“We reacted with determination and quality to get the equaliser, but were unable to defend the result to the end, nor make those counter-attacks count to win it.”

The other major issue for the Nerazzurri is their weakness when defending from counter-attacks, which was already evident in the defeat to AC Milan at the weekend.

“I thought the reaction in the second half showed patience and we attacked the space, wanted the ball in those areas. Sometimes if you wait for the ball to come to you, then you give the opponents time to get back into shape and reorganise. If we do this, we won’t lose the ball centrally so easily and be vulnerable to the counter,” explained Chivu.

“We have to work better in front of goal too, as I know it was the second consecutive defeat where we had good performances, but emerged empty-handed. We must be aware of what we need to do, roll our sleeves up, get grittier and do the dirty work when needed.”

Atletico Madrid made the difference this evening with their substitutes, whereas it was put to Chivu that the Inter players did not come off the bench with the same determination.

“We expected Atleti to respond with fresh legs and we tried to tamp that down. We were coming off a derby, so there wasn’t a lot of energy left, but we tried to give all that we had,” replied Chivu.

“Everyone tried to give their all, I cannot reproach them. Of course, we could’ve done better, putting in the fresh energy that was starting to drain at that moment, especially when holding up the ball and slowing the tempo.

“We will analyse the game and try to learn from these errors.”