Inter Milan smash Torino 5-0 in Serie A opener as Chivu makes instant impact
Chivu’s first night: control, intensity, and a ruthless edge
Five goals, a clean sheet, and a crowd buzzing before the hour mark—this was the reset Inter wanted. On opening night at San Siro, Inter Milan tore through Torino 5-0 and handed Christian Chivu a debut that felt less like a first step and more like a declaration.
The tone was set early. After 17 minutes, Alessandro Bastoni drifted into space at the near post and flicked in a corner with the kind of ease that drains belief from an opponent. Roughly 18 minutes later, Marcus Thuram doubled the lead, arriving inside the box to finish a move that started wide and snapped through the lines in two passes. Torino were wobbling by the break.
Any hope of a reset vanished right after halftime. Inter pressed high, forced a loose touch, and Lautaro Martínez pounced to make it 3-0. From there, it turned into a showcase. Thuram grabbed his second just after the hour—direct, sharp, and clinical—before Ange-Yoan Bonny capped the scoring late following another Torino mix-up at the back.
This wasn’t just about finishing. Inter controlled the middle third, set traps on the flanks, and punished slow decision-making. The back line pushed play forward, the wing-backs kept Torino pinned, and the front two ran clever angles that opened pockets everywhere. It looked organized, fast, and mean.
Torino never found a foothold. Their build-up repeatedly stalled under pressure, and when they did clear the first line, they struggled to connect the next pass. Inter’s counterpress cut off options and kept the ball in Torino’s half for long stretches. Errors at the back only made a bad night worse.
What changed—and what it might mean
Chivu didn’t rip up the club’s recent identity. He leaned into it. The shape looked familiar with a back three and wing-backs high, but the details were sharper. Bastoni stepped into midfield zones to create overloads, while the near-side wing-back drove past the first line rather than waiting to recycle. The front pairing alternated roles—one dropping to drag a center-back, the other sprinting into the channel. It was simple, clear, and hard to defend.
Set pieces mattered too. Bastoni’s opener from a corner was more than a goal; it was a signal that Inter plan to squeeze small advantages everywhere. The second strike came from a quick switch and a vertical punch through the middle, a pattern that popped up all night.
Individual notes told the same story. Thuram looked in mid-season rhythm—first touch clean, decisions fast, movement unselfish. Lautaro’s pressing cues were constant headaches, and his goal stemmed from that edge. Bastoni was the platform: calm on the ball, aggressive off it. Bonny’s contribution was brief but bright, reading a late mistake and finishing with no fuss.
For a team that staggered across the finish line last season—missing the Scudetto by a whisker to Napoli and taking a heavy hit against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final—this felt like a mental break as much as a tactical one. The passes were forward, the running was vertical, and the reactions after losing the ball were instant. That’s what looked new.
Torino will circle the tape and see avoidable damage. Two goals came from unforced errors, another from losing a duel on a routine set piece. The spacing between their lines stretched under pressure, and once that gap appeared, Inter poured through it. The fixes—tighter distances, simpler exits, cleaner first touches—are basic but non-negotiable at this level.
Key moments that swung it:
- 17’ — Bastoni glances in a corner to break the game open.
- Mid-first half — Thuram doubles the lead after a direct, two-pass move splits Torino.
- Early second half — Inter’s press forces a mistake; Lautaro punishes for 3-0.
- Just after the hour — Thuram’s second, a confident finish at speed.
- Late on — Bonny pounces on another defensive slip for the fifth.
Beyond the scoreline, the structure stood out. Inter’s first pass out from the back was rarely square; it was vertical or clipped into a forward’s chest. When Torino tried to squeeze, the wing-back ran into the space behind. When Torino dropped off, Inter’s center-backs carried the ball into midfield and forced a decision. Every scenario had a simple answer.
There are caveats. It’s matchday one, some legs are still heavy, and this was a night when nearly everything went right for Inter and very little did for Torino. The next two or three league games—especially against sides more comfortable playing through a press—will show how durable this version of Inter is. But if you were looking for signs of a refreshed team, you got them.
Three takeaways to bank:
- Inter’s press-and-punish approach under Chivu looks coherent and aggressive.
- The Thuram–Lautaro pairing remains a tier-one Serie A weapon, with movement that complements the system.
- Set pieces and second phases are clearly a focus—Bastoni’s goal and multiple half-chances came from rehearsed routines.
Chivu’s first test was about tone as much as points. The tone was ruthless. The points—three of them—were routine. And for a fan base that ended last season with a sour taste, that combination counts.