Chivu told DAZN Italia.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got players who know how to attack the space, but above all an extraordinary left foot from Fede, who knows how to put the ball in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who had the better crossing foot, Chivu, Dimarco or Inter assistant Aleksandar Kolarov?<\/p>\n
\u201cHis foot is much better than mine ever was. I can\u2019t talk for Kolarov, he might be offended\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"LECCE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Federico-Dimarco.jpg\")
LECCE, ITALY \u2013 FEBRUARY 21: Lassana Coulibaly of US Lecce competes for the ball with Federico Dimarco of FC Internazionale during the Serie A match between US Lecce and FC Internazionale at Stadio Via del Mare on February 21, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Inter needed a response today, as it was their first match since the midweek Champions League play-off defeat to Bodo\/Glimt.<\/p>\n
The second leg is coming up on Tuesday, but they will be without top scorer and captain Lautaro Martinez, who is out for circa a month with a soleus strain suffered on the synthetic pitch in Norway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware of the difficulties, that we have to earn everything on the pitch and can take nothing for granted,\u201d added Chivu.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have the second leg at home on Tuesday, we must be the best version of ourselves, because the qualification is still wide open. Nothing is decided yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"LECCE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alessandro-Bastoni.jpg\")
LECCE, ITALY \u2013 FEBRUARY 21: Alessandro Bastoni of FC Internazionale during the Serie A match between US Lecce and FC Internazionale at Stadio Via del Mare on February 21, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Bastoni was jeered loudly at every touch by the crowd in Lecce this evening, as the blowback continues from the incident where he got Pierre Kalulu of Juventus sent off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s over as far as I am concerned. I appreciate the professionalism of this defender and man, who understood his error, apologised for what happened, and is well aware that the team comes first. It\u2019s done and dusted for me,\u201d assured Chivu.<\/p>\n
It was put to the coach that Marcus Thuram was struggling a little to be impactful today, in the absence of injured Lautaro Martinez.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have 24 marvellous players who all try to give their contribution. I liked Marcus today, he ran a lot, played with his back to goal, holding up the ball well. Davide Frattesi also had a great game, they are all involved, focused, keeping our feet on the ground and giving our contribution to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"LECCE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Manuel-Akanji-celebrate.jpg\")
LECCE, ITALY \u2013 FEBRUARY 21: Manuel Akanji of Inter celebrates his team\u2019s second goal during the Serie A match between US Lecce and FC Internazionale at Stadio Via del Mare on February 21, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicol\u00f2 Barella were suspended today, but the good news from the treatment table is for Denzel Dumfries, who had ankle surgery in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cDenzel has done some things with us in recent weeks for training, not this week because we were travelling for most of it. Denzel will officially be with the rest of the team from Monday, and I think Hakan Calhanoglu will be too.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LECCE, ITALY – FEBRUARY 21: Head coach of FC Internazionale Cristian Chivu celebrates after the Serie A match…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-483028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"LECCE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Cristian-Chivu-group.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"LECCE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Cristian-Chivu-speak.jpg\")
LECCE, ITALY \u2013 FEBRUARY 21: Head coach of Inter Cristian Chivu celebrates after the Serie A match between US Lecce and FC Internazionale at Stadio Via del Mare on February 21, 2026 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n