Already as the words were being spoken, Cristian Chivu started to bristle. The term is commonly deployed in a football context as a shorthand for those high-stakes games between teams who are expected to finish close together in the table – much like “six-pointers” in the English game. Chivu’s Inter finished 11 points clear atop Serie A last season, his first as their head coach, but caught criticism along the way for an early Champions League exit and underperformance in some scontri diretti.
Inter lost four out of six games against Napoli, Milan and Juventus. Their only win, at home to the Bianconeri, came after Alessandro Bastoni deceived a referee to get Pierre Kalulu sent off. But did the media mis-sell the importance of these fixtures?
Nobody could doubt they were big occasions. Napoli were defending champions at the time, Inter share one of world football’s most iconic stadiums, San Siro, with Milan, and their rivalry with Juventus has earned its nickname as the Derby d’Italia. Of those clubs, however, only Napoli truly challenged Inter for the title.
Even then, not that fiercely. Milan and Juventus finished fifth and sixth respectively. Inter won all their games against Roma and Como, who took third and fourth.
Suffice to say, Chivu has not forgotten these details. The games against teams who finish in the top four? Or the ones all about tradition?
Milan and Juve last season, where should we put them? They finished a long way behind. Are they not scontri diretti any more?” He would later insist that this had not been a jab at any club, and that he personally considered every game a scontro diretto, even if facing the team in last place.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
