Napoli, Udinese, Roma, Bologna and Fiorentina: against the Nerazzurri it’s not even enough to go forward or be there beyond the 90th minute: here is the golden series of Chivu’s team.
If it’s not a trademark, we’re close. Sooner or later the moment will come when the turnaround is not successful, but for now Cristian Chivu’s Inter is a very powerful comeback machine. Not all the same, not all caused by wrong approaches or defensive gifts, but all (or almost all) ended the same way: winning. There is a striking statistic in the opening phase of the Nerazzurri’s championship: 13 points out of a possible 15 won by starting from behind, sometimes even double or entering beyond the 90th minute with scores still to be settled.
Four wins and a draw, an impressive score in Italy where it almost seems that Chivu has invented a sort of “nerazzurri tremendism”, that electroshock that changes the course and fate of matches when they seem to be heading towards the worst. In Europe it went differently, but this is another matter that Inter will have to learn to manage in order not to further compromise the race towards the round of 16 which represents the minimum objective in the Champions League that the club has given the team.
The series of crazy and fruitful comebacks began at San Siro on the third matchday against Napoli: 0-2 at the start of the second half with shots from Politano and Hojlund and then the comeback with Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, a decisive goal at the end of regulation time. Ten days later the turnaround was imposed on Udinese who had extended the double lead without, however, even managing to take it to half-time, shaken by Carlos Augusto and Barella and then collapsed by Thuram, Esposito and Bonny in the second half for the final 5-3.
Another round, another (half) gift. In the Scudetto match at the Olimpico, against Gasperini’s ferocious Roma, Inter was able to come back from the double disadvantage signed by Konè with goals from captain Lautaro Martinez and some recriminations for the wasted chances at the end. Only draw set in a series of comeback victories that continued in Bologna on the 7th matchday.
Wrong start, Pobega’s goal and great defensive suffering canceled out by the usual Thuram and transformed into success by Carlos Augusto and Bonny. It is said that during the interval Chivu made himself heard by his team a lot, convinced that if you always take risks sooner or later you get burned. It will happen, but it wasn’t even the following week at San Siro against Fiorentina even if here the disadvantage (Jimenez’s masterpiece) was almost accidental. Hero of the day Thuram: a goal, a penalty (there were two) provoked and then converted by Zielinski for a back to back created from the 91st minute onwards. Inter stuff, in short. Once just crazy, now also a winner.
The other side of the coin is the Champions League where Real Madrid and Bruges gave the Nerazzurri no chance, capitalizing as best they could on their initial advantage. A construction defect that Chivu must address because, as he likes to say, sooner or later the castle will end up on the ground and the magical series will be interrupted.
