Inter’s first home night of this Champions League campaign arrives with Cristián Chivu asking his squad to treat ambition as a daily obligation rather than a promise. Club Brugge visit San Siro on Tuesday 13 October at 21:00, in the second round of the league phase, with the Nerazzurri entering a run of matches that will demand contribution from the whole group.
Chivu made clear that Inter cannot build their route through the competition on home results alone. “With only the matches at home, you do not get to 16 points,” he said, insisting that the side must give everything in each fixture to maximise its chances of progressing. Brugge, he warned, arrive with a recognisable identity, an attacking outlook and players of quality. Champions League evenings, he said, do not permit easy assumptions.
The coach’s selection will be shaped by a calendar that brings a game every three days. Chivu did not disclose his approach in advance, despite expectations around Saturday’s match, but stressed that energy and preparation are essential and that Inter possess a squad rich in individual quality. Hakan Calhanoglu’s standing, he added, is not in question; the matter is how best to manage the resources available because every player will be needed.
Dreams must be matched by work
Chivu accepted that a club of Inter’s stature must pursue every available objective, including a deep European run. Yet he drew a line between having a dream and assuming it will be fulfilled. Winning the Champions League, in his view, requires that ambition to become responsibility: improvement in training, effort over the course of the season and the determination to give oneself a real chance.
“There is no magic formula,” Chivu said. “There is only everyday work. Money does not buy a trophy of this importance.” The only certainty, he continued, is to work while retaining the courage to dream, without losing sight of the demanding path required to reach the final stages.
There was positive news on Calhanoglu, who Chivu said came through his recent outing fit and without any physical issue. The coach also spoke warmly about Alessandro Bastoni, referring to the unfairness the defender has had to face without reopening the episode itself. Bastoni’s personality and ability are assets for both Inter and Italy, Chivu said, and his goals in the past two matches were not required to validate a player who had nothing to prove.
Chivu argued that players representing Italy’s national game must sometimes be protected, describing Bastoni as an important heritage for club and country. More broadly, he believes Inter have developed a mentality that brings responsibility and the right attitude onto the pitch, though he sees room to sharpen that further.
The competition inside the squad has raised standards, just as Inter intended. Chivu sees further scope for growth in the team’s ideas and ambitions, and also in squad planning, while making clear that this was not criticism of the club. Against Brugge, that long-term work meets the immediate requirement: start San Siro’s European campaign with the seriousness demanded by a side that wants to remain in the tournament for as long as possible.
