Inter Milan, Chivu lifts Lautaro’s spirits before the Kairat clash

Inter Milan coach motivates Lautaro Martinez: “He must smile more — responsibility shouldn’t weigh him down"

Inter Milan’s captain, Lautaro Martinez, often struggles when he fails to score, but coach Cristian Chivu has found a way to ease that frustration. 

Once again, Lautaro will lead Inter Milan’s attack, pairing up front with Esposito in the Champions League match against Kairat Almaty — determined to rediscover his scoring touch.

During the pre-match press conference, Chivu delivered both a smile and a message:

“More than goals, he needs a feeling — light-heartedness,” the Inter Milan coach said, miming the gesture of stretching his lips into a smile. “He must smile more. Sometimes his thoughts cloud his mind; he feels the weight of leadership, but I told him there’s no reason to worry. We all admire him for who he is.”

Confidence over pressure

It was advice that sounded more like a brother’s counsel than a coach’s instruction. The words arrive on the eve of a match that could help Lautaro just as much as Inter Milan. 

The Argentine striker has already scored three goals in two Champions League games — one every 42 minutes played — and against the unpredictable Kazakh side, he has the chance to extend his record and confirm his place as the competition’s top scorer of 2025.

Yesterday, Harry Kane — level with him on 11 goals — failed to score in Paris, leaving the door open for Lautaro to take sole lead.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport via Fcinter1908, both the facts and the stats confirm Lautaro’s elite status. 

Yet one step remains: learning not to doubt himself. The captain’s greatest challenge, perhaps, isn’t scoring — it’s escaping those moments of self-sabotage and playing with the joy that made him great.