The presenter and showman, a huge Inter fan, has just returned to Canale 5: “Conte is a windbreak. What else does he want? We’re catching up, but keep an eye on Juve and Milan too.”

On Saturday evening, while his Inter team was winning in Cagliari, Paolo Bonolis made his debut on the jury of Tú si que vales, a hugely popular prime-time show on Canale 5. He divided his time between the two “shows,” waiting for tomorrow, when the 15th edition of Avanti un altro! will start.

Do you mind if we start with Inter?

“Of course not! Things went very well against Cagliari. Chivu is trying to make up for some of what was lost in those two disastrous days at San Siro against Udinese and in Turin against Juventus, managing not to lose further ground to teams that are marching faster.”

Lautaro and Thuram are no longer the only ones in attack.

“Those two remain starters. We’re talking about a very strong pair, but they can’t play every game for 90 minutes. Fortunately, this year there are people on the bench who can give them a breather. Last year, we had a nightmare with the three reserves. As soon as they came on, we lost points. Without any rotation up front, we lost points that ultimately cost us the Scudetto. Now, with Bonnie and Pio Esposito, things look like they could be better. What I like most about the young Pio is his character. When he said he was aware that he still had to improve in every area, he showed a great sense of professional responsibility that is not so easy to find in a 20-year-old.”

Shall we talk about Chivu?

“I know him, and I know he’s a responsible person and, above all, a very cheerful one. Clearly, he feels the weight of having to perform well. At the same time, he has a seriousness that leads him to think in a way that is very useful for a coach: he tries to avoid doing damage, so he treads carefully, maintaining the structure that was in place before he took over, while slowly trying to add his own flavor to his vision of soccer. Like greater pressure and a higher center of gravity.“

Is Napoli still the team to beat?

”They are very strong, as are Juventus and Milan. That said, in a good way and totally without offense, I think Conte is a great windbreak: he systematically announces that he doesn’t have enough at his disposal, so that if he achieves what needs to be achieved, the credit would basically be all his, and if not, it would be the fault of the lack of human capital he claimed at the beginning. This year, De Bruyne has also arrived, I don’t know what else he could ask for.”

Has thinking about the Champions League become painful?

“We’ve played in two finals, I think it’s much more painful never to have got there. Then it’s true that we lost one by a whisker and the other was a deadly crash, but we got there, enjoying important triumphs. For fans, soccer is basically about joy. It’s true that people generally tend to remember only what went wrong, but that’s a mistake. That disappointment can’t compromise all the joys that came before it.”

What was the greatest joy Inter gave you?

“The 4-3 win over Sampdoria after being 3-0 down was a huge joy, then of course the Treble… I have a strange memory because on the day of the final in Madrid, I was in the United States for my daughter’s graduation, and I watched it in a bar in Vermont surrounded by Germans. And last year’s game against Barça? Acerbi’s goal drove me crazy, I screamed as if I were being slaughtered.”

Do you believe in Gattuso’s national team?

“For fans, believing is essential, otherwise you deprive yourself of the joy of hope, so of course I believe. Gattuso seems to me to be able to do his job, just as Luciano Spalletti, whom I know very well, was doing. He’s moving forward with what he has available, there’s little to invent, it’s more a question of spirit than of choices. Of course, the situation is very complicated, and will probably lead to a playoff. Missing out on a third consecutive World Cup would be a huge disappointment, not so much for me, but for the kids who have never seen one or don’t remember it. Like my son.”

Who is a real soccer player.

“Davide played in Serie C, he played for Monza’s Primavera team, then Triestina, Renate, and now we’ll see what he does: at the moment, he’s recovering from minor knee surgery. What is Bonolis like as the father of a player? I’m happy, I go to see him when I can, but I’m not the type of parent who gets agitated in the stands. I try to give him some advice, but kids have their own wonderful stubbornness. Is he an Inter fan too? Of course, if he wanted to eat…“

Why did he choose Inter as a Roman from Rome?

”For my dad, who was born in Milan. I used to watch the games with him. Idols? Ronaldo the Phenomenon, Esteban Cambiasso, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge…”.

Do you still play soccer?

“Much less, I have a leg that’s a war memorial. The last time I played was in a charity match at Benito Stirpe with Totti, Chierico, Giannini, and I felt like I was in one of those Japanese cartoons where you run and run and the perspective in front of you never changes.”

How are we doing with tennis?

“I switched to padel because of an elbow problem, but I follow it, Sinner and others. I watch pretty much everything related to sports, and I think the greatest show there is—apart from Avanti un altro! and Tú si que vales (laughs, ed.), of course—is the Olympics: a marvel, where Italy showcases its beautiful, healthy, and multi-ethnic youth.”

Who would you say “Tú si que vales” to today?

“To Nadia Battocletti and Mattia Furlani, two real phenomena.”