Capello: Chivu ‘a bit confused’ but Serie A title race still in Inter’s hands
Fabio Capello admits that Inter coach Cristian Chivu is ‘a bit confused’, but the race for the Serie A title remains in the Nerazzurri’s hands.
Inter were held to a 1-1 home draw by Atalanta at San Siro on Saturday, but the Serie A leaders were upset by referee decisions in the second half.
Ex-Milan, Juventus and Roma coach Capello, however, examined the Nerazzurri’s performance in an interview with Gazzetta, suggesting that the result was not determined solely by referees’ decisions.
“I was at San Siro and saw a team that wasn’t very sharp physically,” said the legendary Italian coach.
“Inter also had chances to kill off the game when they were 1-0 up, but Atalanta also wasted the opportunity to equalise as well, before eventually scoring with Krstovic. My impression is that Chivu is a bit confused.
“The substitutions didn’t convince me,” Capello continued.
“Why take off Esposito, who allowed the team not to get pinned back and forced Atalanta not to push up too much? After that, Atalanta began to take control of the field.
Inter remain the Serie A table leaders with an eight-point lead over second-placed Milan, but the Rossoneri have a game in hand, to be played away at Lazio tonight.
The Rossoneri boss Massimiliano Allegri will look to Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao in attack.
“The Portuguese seems to have lost his best qualities, namely, his acceleration and his ability in one-on-one situations,” Capello noted.
“Maybe he’s not fully fit yet, but I didn’t like him much in the derby, and when he had chances to strike, he was unusually slow and got bothered right when he was about to shoot.
If Milan beat Lazio, they’ll move five points below their city rivals with nine games remaining.
“Dreaming and hoping are always allowed, but everything would still depend on Inter, which would have to make mistakes in at least two or three more matches,” argued Capello.
“At the same time, Milan would need to keep winning, starting tonight in Rome.
“The draw between Inter and Atalanta will have brought some cheer to Milanello, but the away match in Rome is definitely not something to take lightly. Sometimes, when you are fired up and want to do too much, you overdo it, and it ends badly.”
Inter play their next Serie A match away at Fiorentina before facing Roma and Como. After their game against Lazio, Milan will play Torino at home, Napoli away and Udinese at home.