Chivu says Inter’s biggest international-break challenge was training with a depleted squad

Cristian Chivu says the length of the international break was not a concern for Inter, but admitted the wait to return to action and the limited number of players available for training had proved difficult.

Inter face Parma on Saturday in the sixth round of Serie A, with the club returning to league competition after the international fixtures.

“Two or three weeks of international break make no difference to me,” Chivu said at his pre-match news conference. “What changes is the waiting period and having to train with only a small number of players available.”

The Inter head coach said the experience was very different for those called up by their national teams, with players involved in camps and matches while the rest of the club’s work continued.

“It is a completely different situation for the players who join their national teams,” he added. “They go into camp, stay in hotels and play four matches, with one game every three days, while everything else continues as normal.”

Chivu said the full squad had only recently been reunited, leaving little time to prepare together before facing Parma.

“We all came back together two days ago, and today’s training session was the only one in which the whole team took part,” he said.

Inter are second in Serie A behind leaders Roma, with both sides on 13 points and the capital club ahead on goal difference.

Chivu said the team was relieved that the wait for the league’s return was finally over.

“Tomorrow we return to competition, and we are all happy because the waiting period was long,” he said.