Chivu´s Champions League regrets do not come from Arsenal loss

Cristian Chivu has “regrets” about Inter’s three-game losing streak in the Champions League, but not from their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, who he believes had more “intensity”.

Gabriel Jesus scored a brace and Viktor Gyokeres was also on target as Arsenal ran out winners in San Siro, though Inter had equalised in the first half through Petar Sucic.

After winning their opening four games of this season’s Champions League, Inter have since lost each of their last three, marking their joint-longest losing run in the competition along with 2006 and 2011.

And it was a potentially damaging defeat for Inter, who have slipped out of the automatic qualification spots and into ninth, with half of the penultimate round of fixtures still to be played.

“We’ve got to wait for [Wednesday] to see what the table says, if a win [in our last game] will be enough or not,” Chivu told Sky Sport Italia.

“We know that we might have to go through the play-offs, that is not a problem for us.

“The regret is that in these three games we could’ve had more, perhaps not [against Arsenal], but against Atletico [Madrid] and Liverpool, a little more maturity and concentration could have made the difference.

“I think a month on from those matches, if we had the same attitude we did this evening, then it would’ve been a different result. That’s my supposition. I think those experiences helped us to grow and mature a little more.

“Despite the difficulties, this squad keeps going with the right attitude; it is ready to play open football, knowing there could be problems against the likes of [Bukayo] Saka and [Leandro] Trossard. I take home the courage and our recent growth from this match.”

Defeat at San Siro. pic.twitter.com/pJToW4p7HY

— Inter (@Inter_en) January 20, 2026

Inter finished the match with more shots (18 to 17), but only tested David Raya with four of those, and accumulated just 1.3 expected goals (xG) to Arsenal’s 2.1.

Asked what the difference was between Inter and Arsenal’s performances, Chivu conceded the Gunners put up a much better fight.

“They had more intensity, technique and pace, they occupied the space well, attacked the lines with intensity and speed, the same with the second balls, as they dive into every duel,” Chivu said.

“We tried to stay in the match; we played quite well in the first half and at 1-1 could’ve scored another. That doesn’t mean we would’ve gone on to win, but incidents do change the mood of the teams.

“We were also unlucky on that goal on a corner, where it bounced off the bar and onto the head of an Arsenal player. In the second half, Arsenal raised the focus level and were also a little more humble, as there was some arrogance from them in the first half.

“They sat deeper, have physicality, and of course can bring players off the bench to raise the level further.”