"Why don't we talk about anti-Roma, anti-Como, anti-Juve or anti-Milan, but we always talk about anti-Inter?" Cristian Chivu said in his Parma pre-match press conference, and that was the tone for most of the afternoon. Inter went into the international break level with Roma and Lazio on 13 points, with four wins and one draw after five league matches of the 2026-27 season. Twelve key first-team players were away with their national teams, so the Inter head coach spent as much time on workload as on the title race.

Chivu's message on the title race

Chivu was not interested in turning Inter's start into a title-race verdict. Speaking to goal.com, he said: "Right now it is too early to talk about these things, we have 13 points, there are teams that have 11, it is too early."

The more pointed line came through Calciomercato.it, where he challenged the anti-Inter framing directly. That is a fair pushback. Inter are unbeaten in Serie A, have scored 15 league goals and conceded 8, and the shape of their opening five games does not really fit the idea of a side needing emergency correction.

Calhanoglu and the squad after the break

Team news was the other part of the press conference that mattered. Chivu said Hakan Çalhanoğlu came back on Monday and has been training with the group without issues for the last week, and the midfielder is available for Inter vs Parma.

He was just as clear on Djed Spence, who he said has been training with the squad for a week after missing two months of work on the pitch and will be called up. The message around both players was the same, Inter will use them, but not recklessly.

That caution fits the schedule. Chivu said the club cannot neglect the minutes players have logged with their national teams and that Inter do not want to risk them. With so many internationals coming back into a busy run, that feels like the more practical story than any title-table noise.

Parma, meanwhile, arrive at San Siro with Alberto Gilardino saying the trip is his first match after taking Carlos Cuesta's place during the break. He called the mental side fundamental and said his side must use its characteristics to trouble Inter on Saturday 10 October at 18:00.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →