Chivu updates on Lautaro’s fitness ahead of Arsenal showdown

Cristian Chivu clarifies that Lautaro Martinez completed a full training session with the team on Monday despite skipping the first part, while Marcus Thuram is ‘important’ even when starting from the bench.

Inter coach Chivu previewed Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Arsenal at a press conference on Monday.

The Nerazzurri boss said the Gunners are among the best two teams in Europe, but urged his players to return to winning ways after suffering two consecutive defeats in the Champions League.

“We are aware of the importance of tomorrow’s match; we want to finish among the top eight and go straight to the next round,” Chivu told reporters via FcInter1908.

“We are also working to break what is said outside to be taboo, fully aware that it won’t be easy. We have to do our best.”

Inter are the Serie A table leaders but have not beaten Napoli, Juventus or Milan domestically in their last 14 encounters and lost to Liverpool and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League this term.

Chivu insisted that to get a result against Arsenal, his team would need to “be competitive, confident, courageous and focused.

“The game is decided by details; mistakes cannot be made,” he added.

“You have to know how to read the moments.”

Lautaro Martinez was not seen on the field during this morning’s training session, with the first 15 minutes open to the media. Chivu, however, said the Argentine joined his teammates behind closed doors and regularly trained with the team.

“He completed the entire training session; he only skipped the rondo as a precaution,” said the Inter coach.

“Dumfries is still out. Those who were in Udine are available today too, including Darmian. Calhanoglu is still out, Pepo Martinez is back, and Palacios has done something with the group.”

Marcus Thuram was an unused substitute in Saturday’s away win at Udinese.

“He is one of our four and one of the strongest around. He has always proven it,” insisted Chivu.

“I don’t see any problem. It can happen to go on the bench once, you’ve just finished with Lautaro, now you start with Thuram…

“Marcus is a smart guy; we are more than happy with his contribution. You shouldn’t make a fuss over a benching. Even if he ends up on the bench tomorrow, he’d still be important. All the strikers have given us a big hand. He still has room for improvement, despite the impressive numbers he has put up so far.”

Chivu also replied to a question about Arsenal’s threat on set pieces.

“Our way of defending on set pieces, especially corner kicks, aligns with the best approach to face Arsenal,” he said.

“If you mark man-to-man, you run into trouble. We need individual responsibility in carrying out certain tasks, but this doesn’t only apply to Arsenal, but to all teams. Opponents also deserve credit in certain situations, for their physical structure and how well they execute trajectories. They score a lot from set pieces, but so do we. And they should be worried about that too.”