Report: Inter top Serie A with 0 Champions League points, and Chivu turns to Provedel

By the Data Desk · Published 20 OCT 06:30

First reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport (Roberto Maida) · 19 OCT 10:56

Inter lead Serie A with 19 points from seven games, yet they sit 29th of 36 in the Champions League with none. For Wednesday's must-win game against Shakhtar at San Siro, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Cristian Chivu will rotate and hand Ivan Provedel his Inter debut in goal, 231 days after his last match.

• Gazzetta's headline on Monday: "Chivu ribalta l'Inter in Europa: contro lo Shakhtar tocca a Provedel". Inter have not confirmed a line-up; this is a probable XI.
• Inter lost 2-1 at Real Madrid on 8 September and 4-3 at home to Club Brugge on 13 October: six goals conceded in two games. Shakhtar have four points.
• Lautaro Martínez is out with a strain of the left thigh flexors, the club said on 15 October. Sky Italia expects him back after the November international break.

Behind the scenes, Gazzetta's Roberto Maida writes that the former Lazio goalkeeper is "pronto al debutto in nerazzurro" and that Chivu wants to involve the whole squad because "in Champions non si può più sbagliare". TMW, summarising the report, adds that Provedel is favourite to keep his place against Fiorentina on Sunday and that this is not a demotion for Josep Martínez, who has started all nine games this season (ESPN line-ups). Hakan Çalhanoglu and Andy Diouf, on the bench at Bologna, should return; Ange-Yoan Bonny is pushing Pio Esposito for the place next to Marcus Thuram. Repubblica says Chivu raised his voice at half-time in Bologna at 1-1, then gave the players a day off after the 3-1 win.

Provedel's last game was Lazio's 2-2 with Atalanta in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg on 4 March. Days later Lazio announced a shoulder ligament injury that needed surgery, and he joined Inter in the summer. Treat the timing with some care: on 24 September Fantacalcio wrote that Parma or Brugge "potrebbe essere quella giusta" for his debut, and Martínez started both.

The rotation is real either way. By ESPN's line-ups Inter have used 19 different starters in nine games; Provedel and Bonny, who has not started yet, would make 21, the figure TMW gives. Lautaro scored both of Inter's first two goals against Brugge, and Sky Italia lists seven games he should miss, from Shakhtar to the Milan derby on 31 October and the trip to Feyenoord on 3 November.

One correction to the coverage: TMW writes that Inter lost to Bodø/Glimt. UEFA's match list and ESPN both show the two defeats came against Real Madrid and Club Brugge, where Nicolò Tresoldi scored a hat-trick at San Siro. What happens next: Inter v Shakhtar kicks off on Wednesday 21 October at 21:00 in Milan (19:00 UTC), and the official XI comes an hour before.