Materazzi: Chivu reminds me of Mourinho, if you're with him you die for him. About Thuram and Jones...

On the eve of the Real Madrid-Inter match, Marco Materazzi spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport about José Mourinho, Cristian Chivu, and the keys to the Bernabeu showdown. The memory of the 'Special One' remains very strong: 'What we said, apart from my 'Go f*** yourself, you're leaving us with Benitez', will always remain between us.' Materazzi also recounted a recent meeting with Mourinho: 'José took a plane specifically to record a video and told me again: 'You and John Terry, the most important central defenders of my career'.

Materazzi is not surprised by Mourinho's return to the Real dugout: 'I know the relationship he has with Florentino and how much he trusts José. The beautiful thing is that those who play for him feel like 'one of him', they die for him on the pitch. The bad thing is that he is missed when he leaves.' He then drew a parallel with Chivu after the 3-2 win against Napoli: 'I felt like I was seeing Mourinho again from Inter-Siena 4-3 in 2010, when they were down 3-2 and he brought on five or six offensive players and won with Samuel as a striker.'

And on the Nerazzurri coach, he added: 'Cristian is so intelligent that I haven't heard him make a mistake in an interview yet. Sometimes they try to draw him into controversies, but he's not that stupid.' Materazzi identifies a primary danger for Inter: 'They cannot allow so many shots, even on goal, as they did against Napoli. If you concede those to Real, it's hard to escape.'

In attack, he has no doubts: 'I greatly respect Pio, he can fit into this group perfectly, but don't take away Thuram from me. He has pace, physicality, a nose for goal, he changes games. It's obvious that he and Lautaro are made to play together.' Curtis Jones also gets a promotion: 'Very good. He doesn't have the physique of a McTominay, but he throws himself into every ball, he's intelligent and can beat a man. You can see he played for a big club.' Materazzi believes the match could be decided mainly in midfield: 'If Inter plays with three midfielders and Real with only two, they could be in trouble.'

The absence of Federico Dimarco will weigh heavily instead: 'It's significant. Against Napoli, with a bad knee, few would have finished that move at the far post with the clarity to put it in the middle.' Finally, a look at Inter's seasonal ambitions: 'They can be in contention for both main objectives. The reason lies in three names: Stones, Spence, and Jones. The three Englishmen can make the difference.'