Despite the victory, Cristian Chivu appeared visibly worn out at the end of the match, which ended with a 1-0 win over Lecce. With these three points, his Inter secured the title of winter champions and, at least for one night, will have a six-point lead over second place. Speaking to Dazn microphones, here are the words of the Inter coach.

THE HUG WITH PIO – “It’s been seven years, he was a small and tall child, he reached my chest. We grew up together, I know him well, I know his pockets, his family, his work and his ambitions. He was my captain in Inter’s Primavera team while underage and I’m happy for him, but I’m happy for the whole team because it was a complicated evening.”

HARD-FOUGHT VICTORY – “I expected it to be difficult because when you spend so much in a match like Sunday’s and maybe you don’t manage to achieve your ambitions, the lack of energy shows. I’ve also experienced matches as a player within 72 hours to face. I’ll take the attitude of this team, despite the difficulties in finding our game. But they left their soul and heart to bring home this match. These are the matches where it’s more likely to lose than to win, I’m happy for them because they deserve it, despite the lack of clarity they did everything to bring it home.”

REST ON THE EVE – “Maybe we won because of the rest day, it’s all relative. I don’t coach for my conscience, but for my experience. Sometimes I make decisions that may seem strange because sometimes Italian football isn’t used to it. But sometimes I make choices that can pay off or not.”

WINTER CHAMPIONS – “It happened during my career to win this semi-title, but it doesn’t mean anything. What matters is getting to the end in May, aware of the fact that we are competitive. We want to stay clinging to the top of the table, it will be a point-to-point championship, a battle until the end.”

TRAINING CAMP – “I liked going to training camp. Sometimes it was optional and I always went. I have a group of guys I trust, it’s not that if you go to training camp you win the match. For as many training camps as I’ve done in my career, I should have won the championship every year and it wasn’t like that. I trust my guys, I’m happy with how they work every day.”