Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.
Cristian Chivu conceded his Inter side are “not ready yet” for their Serie A title defence despite extending their unbeaten run in pre-season to four matches on Saturday.
Inter beat league rivals Juventus 2-1 at Optus Stadium, with Federico Dimarco and Andy Diouf’s strikes enough to render Francisco Conceicao’s late goal a mere consolation.
The Nerazzurri dominated for large parts of the contest and deservedly took the lead through Dimarco in the 20th minute, and they continued where they left off from there.
Diouf doubled Inter’s lead just four minutes after replacing Alessandro Bastoni, and Chivu’s side appeared set to cruise to the finish line with Juventus having barely threatened.
However, Conceicao’s 85th-minute strike sparked Juventus into life, and only a one-on-one save from Josep Martinez denied Kerim Alajbegovic a goal on his debut, while Randal Kolo Muani saw appeals for a stoppage-time penalty waved away.
Inter finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.5 from their 15 shots compared to Juventus’ 1.0 from eight attempts, though Chivu was left wanting more from his team.
“We can always do better, at least we conclude the tour without injuries,” Chivu told Sky Sport Italia. “We’re not ready yet, we need a few more weeks to get that sharpness.
“You talk about the first-half performance, but I didn’t like the second half at all. Not one bit, especially the approach.
“We need to find more solutions. It’s true that during Juve’s best spell of the match, we scored our second goal, but we need to do better.”
Il nostro Summer Tour finisce con una vittoria nel Derby d’Italia pic.twitter.com/RajtExm5xo
Inter face Real Betis next week before beginning their Scudetto defence at home to Monza on August 22. They have already beaten the likes of AC Milan and Manchester City, though the latter triumph came on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
Chivu did, however, acknowledge the test Juventus posed to Inter, with the Bianconeri preparing for their first full campaign under the guidance of Luciano Spalletti.
Spalletti took over last October but could only guide Juventus to a sixth-place finish, with the Bianconeri finishing outside the top four for the second time in the last four seasons, having finished in fourth place or higher in 11 consecutive campaigns prior to that.
“I think they are a good team who are well-drilled,” Chivu added. “Pre-season matches don’t count for much; we’re looking for new ideas and to improve fitness levels.
“Juve are strong and will certainly have their say this season.”
But Chivu did have words of praise for Diouf, who netted his third goal of pre-season and looked lively when being brought into the action on the left-hand side of the attack.
Despite only coming on in the 58th minute, Diouf won possession back more times (five) than any other player for Inter, putting himself in contention for more game time next season having been restricted to just 480 minutes of league action last term from his 19 appearances.
“I have seen improvements in the last few weeks, so I am happy with him,” Chivu said of Diouf.
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