Beijing time (CEST), at 00:00 on September 6, Internazionale will host Napoli in the 3rd round of Serie A. On the eve of the match, Internazionale manager Chivu attended a press conference, and this article is the second part of that press conference.

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Hello, Chris. In my opinion, in the matches against Monza and Cagliari, we saw a very fluid and agile Internazionale in attack. Apart from the missed goal-scoring opportunities, the team's ability to create chances and their overall tactical fluidity were excellent. However, in some situations, at certain critical moments, the defensive movement and retreat speed seemed slightly deficient. My question is: as we're about to face Napoli and Real Madrid consecutively, and considering the individual characteristics of these two teams' attackers, what are your expectations in this regard?

In football, preventive defensive positioning is crucial. I don't think we gave many opportunities to Monza and Cagliari; we know how to manage specific moments and how to assess the game situation. Obviously, we still have much to improve, especially in preventing opposing counter-attacks and cultivating this "preventive mentality". This mentality allows you to proactively block danger by "acting" anticipatorily, rather than "responding" passively and dealing with dangerous situations. We can definitely do better in this regard, without a doubt.

But we have excellent defenders who are capable of solving problems on their own and know when they've made a mistake. They understand that in a match, whether due to our own errors or the opponent's excellent performance, giving chances to the opponent can happen; that's football. And the beauty of football lies precisely in maintaining a positive, proactive, and offensive attitude. With this attitude, we want to establish dominance, control the game, and involve many players in possession-based play and high pressing.

Of course, we also know that sometimes our second-ball pressure or a certain aggressive approach can go wrong, thus exposing the defense to danger. People have exaggerated and overestimated the two or three counter-attacks we faced in two matches, which is unnecessary. But overall, on one hand, everyone demands and expects exciting scenes, beautiful goals, and continuous goal-scoring opportunities. This is football, this is how I see football, and fortunately, my players completely agree with this philosophy.

This is what we are: sometimes we take risks, sometimes we endure defensive pressure, but the most important thing is to have abundant energy and fearless courage when playing these specific matches, to keep smiling, to play relaxed, to seek to dominate the game, and also to be able to adapt to the constantly changing phases of a match that can last up to 100 minutes.

Hello, coach, now everyone is starting to discuss "direct confrontations" again, and tomorrow will be the first of this season...

I knew this would come up again (laughs), yes, it doesn't surprise me. But what exactly is a "direct confrontation"? Because I want to understand the definition of a "direct confrontation". Does it refer to playing against teams that will finish in the top four, or is it generally based on historical tradition and rivalry? Because I want to understand... Does it refer to playing against teams that have the strength to compete for the league title? If so, where were Milan and Juventus last season? Because they finished well behind in the end, so those weren't "direct confrontations"? I'm just asking, no, I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just asking because I need to understand.

Okay, so Napoli finished second last season, so this is a "direct confrontation", right? Yes, we agree on that, but given the importance of these matches, Juventus and Milan are also direct confrontations. If we're talking about tradition, then all matches count, even Como now could be a direct confrontation. And because their quality is really that, because my own vision is: every match is a direct confrontation, even if you're playing against the team at the bottom of the table. Because a season has 38 matches, and these matches are equally crucial, they have exactly the same importance.

Yes, that's precisely my question: for Internazionale, is this just a common match, or does winning send a strong signal for the season in terms of morale and spirit? Especially because this match comes before the start of the Champions League?

I learned my lesson last season. In the third round last season, we had already lost two matches, but despite that, we managed to lift the trophy in the end. So yes, this is a direct confrontation, but for us, every match is crucial. As I've reiterated now, even against the last-placed team, because we know clearly who we are and what we want to achieve, and we also know that sometimes we can lose – the key is how you react and recover.

We started with six points from two matches, and we hope to continue the excellent work we've been doing. This refers not only to these two matches, not only to last season, but also to the standards and system we've established over the last seven years. For us, every match is crucial. Tomorrow we'll face a strong opponent, a team that has proven its strength in recent years, winning two league titles in four years. We respect our opponent and know it won't be easy, but we're ready to face Napoli. After their loss last week, they will certainly be eager to prove tomorrow why they won two Serie A titles in the last four years.

Good afternoon, Cristian. Last season, Napoli went unbeaten against you, as did Milan. Conte's Napoli have never lost to Internazionale. In the last five meetings, Napoli remained unbeaten against Internazionale. How exactly did Napoli limit you and keep a clean sheet against you last season? And what should you try to avoid this season?

That's not quite accurate. Regarding last season – because I can only discuss last season – the away match against Napoli was probably the game that gave us the most motivation and stimulus to correct our own errors and weaknesses, especially regarding how we reacted to what felt like "unfairness" on the pitch. I say this because we played an incredibly brilliant first half, but then we got frustrated with some things we felt were unfair and stopped playing as we should in the second half.

But that helped us grow, because the most important thing about failure is learning from it, addressing problems face to face, and reacting positively. We did very well at this, even exceptionally well. Because, if I'm not mistaken, the Napoli match was our third loss, and after that we had a run of 7 or 8 matches without losing, then we lost the derby, and then we set a record of 14 or 15 consecutive unbeaten matches, and that's what matters most to me.

We all know that matches can't simply be compared, even if the opponent has the same manager. Because the season is different, the phase is different, the fighting spirit and ambitions of both sides are different; many things have changed. Especially for the early stages of the season, what we're seeking is to maintain a high level of competitiveness and prove to the outside world that our football philosophy is effective. We know that we can make mistakes, but we must never lose the cohesion of this group, the distinctive style of this team, and we must maintain the fearless courage to play a proactive style on the pitch, to take decisive action, and also be pragmatic in reading the different developments of the match.

Traduzido por IA.

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