The Nerazzurri coach after the hard-fought victory over Kairat Almaty: “It was my idea to play Toro. The Kazakhs made things difficult for us.”

Cristian Chivu’s recipe is simple: smile. He said it in the press room before the Kairat game and reiterated it after the hard-fought victory at San Siro: “This was a lesson for us. We should have done better than that.“ When asked by his former teammate Maicon, who won the Treble with him, Chivu confessed that he had rewatched Inter’s 2-0 win over Rubin Kazan in the 2009-10 season: ”Yes, we weren’t able to close it out earlier. They stayed in the game and gave us a hard time. We often tried a 3-man build-up with the goalkeeper, but we struggled to express what we had prepared. I’ll take responsibility for that, they know that because they are mature and intelligent guys.”

Playing with a smile—  Chivu continues: “Now I’m the coach and the responsibility is mine, I could have done better. Agreement with Lautaro? A player would never come to me and ask to play. I had the idea. For a striker, to get him out of a similar situation, you have to play him. I’m happier with the play he made in the corner to close down a cross, for example. That’s the right spirit for us. Soccer is also about happiness; you don’t have to get too worked up or see ghosts that aren’t there. Lautaro is important, as are many others, and it’s important to smile; you have to give your all.”