Inter's Cristian Chivu Focused on Victory: "We Must Be Ready to Get the Result"

Ahead of their Champions League meeting with Shakhtar Donetsk, Cristian Chivu has urged his Inter players to be ready to come away from the game with nothing less than a positive result.

The Italian side are enduring a difficult campaign in the Champions League this season. Beaten by Real Madrid and Club Brugge in their first 2 matches of the league phase, Inter are on the longest losing run in their history in the competition (4 matches in a row). Inter have lost 7 of their last 8 Champions League matches, having suffered only 6 defeats in their previous 41 games in the competition.

Speaking ahead of the game, Chivu said: "We are aware of the defeats in the Champions League; there is no need to keep reminding us. We have lost 2 matches, and we want to rediscover the energy that matches our ambitions. There is too much talk about the past and what we have failed to do. We need to think about Shakhtar and be ready to bring the result home."

Including qualifiers, Inter are unbeaten in 7 matches against Shakhtar Donetsk (3 wins, 4 draws) and have kept a clean sheet in 6 of them. Among fixtures played at least 3 times in the competition's history, Inter v Shakhtar is the lowest-scoring, with an average of 0.5 goals per game.

Shakhtar, for their part, have yet to taste defeat in their 2 Champions League matches this season (1 win, 1 draw).

Highlighting the strength of the opposition, Chivu said: "Shakhtar are a strong side. Teams playing in the Champions League are always well developed and of high quality. They have quality, dynamism and a high tempo. They are very well organised on the pitch; they play with great intensity both in and out of possession and have a clear footballing identity. We have to play like ourselves and carry our confidence onto the pitch. The past does not matter right now; what matters is preparing for the game in the best possible way and getting the result we want."