The 1-0 win gave Inter their first European points of the season, while an unbeaten Serie A start has kept them at the top.

Cristian Chivu’s Inter stopped the immediate Champions League damage with a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk at San Siro on Wednesday, 21 October, taking their first points of the league phase after two defeats. The result ended a run in which Inter had lost seven of their previous eight matches in the competition, including last season.

Inter had opened their European campaign with a 2-1 defeat away to Real Madrid and a 4-3 home loss to Club Brugge. Against Shakhtar, they protected a narrow lead despite Alessandro Bastoni being sent off, a result that kept their route towards the knockout phase open after a poor start.

The win also came against a Shakhtar side who had been unbeaten in the competition before travelling to Milan. They had drawn 1-1 away to PSV Eindhoven and beaten AEK Athens 3-1 in their first two matches.

Chivu had framed the match in direct terms before kick-off at 21:00 CEST. “After two defeats, we need to win, especially as we are on home turf and must rediscover what we earned over the years, that intensity, hunger and Champions League victories,” he told Amazon Prime Video Italia.

Inter’s defensive numbers had put pressure on the manager’s choices before the game. They had conceded 15 goals in nine matches in all competitions, prompting a reshuffle in which Bastoni was used in the middle of the back three, with Carlos Augusto on the left and Federico Dimarco at left wing-back.

Chivu also defended Josep Martinez, who kept his place in goal despite criticism of recent performances. “I do not understand these questions, Martinez is the first choice goalkeeper of Inter, this is the first season where he has taken on that responsibility,” he said. “At this moment, it is his opportunity, then as time goes on we’ll give a chance to Ivan Provedel too.”

The European reset has run alongside stronger domestic form. Inter had dropped only two points in their first seven Serie A matches and were level at the summit with Lazio after beating Bologna 3-1, a match in which they came from behind for the fourth time in the league season.

They then beat Fiorentina 2-1 at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday, 25 October. Alejandro Jiménez Sánchez put Fiorentina ahead in the 65th minute, before Marcus Thuram equalised in the 91st minute and Piotr Zielinski scored the winner in the 97th.

That kept Chivu’s side unbeaten in Serie A while the Champions League position remained more fragile. Lautaro Martinez was unavailable, while Benjamin Pavard, Curtis Jones and John Stones were also sidelined around the Shakhtar match, leaving Inter to manage the domestic lead and the European recovery with a reduced squad.