Chivu backs Inter captain Martinez to have ‘big season’

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Cristian Chivu has backed Inter captain Lautaro Martinez to have a “big season” as they continue their title defence with a trip to Cagliari.

Inter started their 2026-27 Serie A campaign with a resounding 4-1 win over Monza, as Hakan Calhanoglu, Piotr Zielinski, Francesco Pio Esposito and Yann Bisseck got on the scoresheet.

Martinez, who only featured in one pre-season friendly, failed to register a shot against Monza or create any chances before being replaced in the 54th minute.

The striker missed out on a full pre-season after helping Argentina reach the World Cup final, though he cut his extended holiday short to feature in Inter’s opener.

Chivu has little doubt Martinez will thrive for the Nerazzurri this term, while he also played down rumours linking his skipper with a move to Barcelona.

“Lautaro is our captain, for the reason that he loves this shirt and this will be the ninth year for him in this squad,” Chivu told SportMediaSet.

“He’s motivated and has a lot of ambition despite the disappointment of a lost World Cup final.

“He has the right ambition, he returned from the World Cup as early as possible, he cut his holiday short and only had a few days off before coming back to work. I think he’s ready to have a big season.

“We don’t have fixed starters, because fixed starting positions don’t exist in football.

“We’re interested in having a competitive level, we’re interested in individuals with different characteristics who give their all to be available to the group.”

— Inter  (@Inter_en) August 29, 2026

Cagliari also started their Serie A campaign with three points, defeating Parma 1-0 away from home.

Romano scored on his Serie A debut for Cagliari, netting the winner against Parma on MD1.

In the three-points-for-a-win era, only three players have scored in each of their first two appearances for the Sardinians in the competition: Pasquale Foggia in 2007, Marco Borriello and Federico Melchiorri in 2016.

Martínez has scored 12 goals in 12 previous Serie A matches against Cagliari; in the entire history of the competition, only Francesco Totti (14) and Ciro Immobile (13) have scored more goals against them.

Inter have won nine of their last 10 Serie A matches against Cagliari (D1), scoring 26 goals in the process, an average of 2.6 per game.

Inter have scored the most goals against Cagliari in Serie A (160); only AC Milan (48) have more wins against them than Inter (47, level with Juventus) in the competition.

Cagliari have lost all of their last six home Serie A matches against Inter and have only recorded one longer run of consecutive home defeats against one opponent in the competition: eight against Juventus between 2011 and 2019.

However, Inter failed to win four of their last six away league games last season (W2 D3 L1). Additionally, the Nerazzurri have not won their first away game of the season in the last two Serie A campaigns.

Cagliari have won their opening Serie A match of the season for the first time since 2012-13 and have only won each of their first two top-flight games in three previous campaigns: 1968-69, 1970-71 and 2011-12.

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