Cristian Chivu predicted a bright future for his Inter team despite starting their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid at the Estadio Bernabeu. The Serie A champions were made to pay for two costly mistakes on Tuesday, with Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde the beneficiaries of those untimely errors. Yann Bisseck was caught in possession after a loose pass from Curtis Jones after 14 minutes, allowing Brahim Diaz to feed into Mbappe, who finished past Josep Martinez from inside the box.Madrid doubled their advantage nine minutes later when Martinez got the ball stuck under his feet, allowing Valverde to pounce and give Inter a huge mountain to climb. But the visitors responded strongly, with Jones rattling the woodwork, while Martinez atoned for his error with three saves in quick succession to deny Jude Bellingham, Mbappe and Brahim from pulling Madrid even further clear. Then Carlos Augusto was able to find a way past Thibaut Courtois in the 77th minute, but Inter were unable to find an equaliser as they started their European campaign with a defeat. Inter have now lost four of their last five games in the league/group phase of the Champions League (W1), as many defeats as in their previous 29 combined (W19 D6 L4).But Chivu was keen to look at the positives. Remarkably, Inter's 21 shots were the most by an away side against Madrid in a group/league phase match of the Champions League since 2004 (22 by Dynamo Kyiv)."I am not angry at all and I am happy with the courage and character shown by my team," Chivu told Sky Sport Italia."If you make mistakes, and that's part of the sport, it's about how to react to them and move forward, your body language, your attitude to the end."I'd say it was a good performance, trying to be dominant and keeping the initiative throughout. That makes me happy and optimistic for the future of this team. Mistakes happen."We knew that we'd need to allow them something in transition and the quality that they have in attack, but we stayed in the game, showed character and it was a good display."I am proud that we showed courage and didn't come here trying to play for a point, instead we took the game to a team like Real Madrid."Full Time. pic.twitter.com/UEOnsjnLQA— Inter (@Inter_en) September 8, 2026Madrid were only able to average just 35.6% possession against Inter, with this their lowest for a home match in the league/group phase of the Champions League on record (since 2003-04). The away side also completed 94.0% of their passes, the highest completion rate that any team has had in a Champions League match against Madrid on record (since 2003-04).Inter were made to rue those first-half mistakes, though Martinez redeemed himself with six important saves, with Chivu leaping to the defence of his goalkeeper when asked about his individual performance. "Why do you have to name him? I just said, the most important thing is how you react to errors, and Pepo reacted like a goalkeeper of a high level, because he kept his head and made some great saves," Chivu added. "It's not just goalkeepers, any player on the pitch, it's important how you react, keep your head up, rediscover your confidence, that is what interests me."Inter's defeat was their first of the season after starting their Serie A campaign with three wins, the latest of which saw them complete a dramatic turnaround to defeat Napoli 3-2. And Chivu lauded the effort of his players, naming goalscorer Augusto and Andy Diouf as two players that stood out to him against Madrid. "Carlos Augusto was exhausted, he could barely stand up, but I'm happy with what the wingers did," Chivu said."Carlos Augusto attacked the line and caused Denzel [Dumfries] some problems, while Andy showed character to take on Marc Cucurella repeatedly, [even though he is] one of the best full-backs in the world. He also showed defensive focus against important opponents."This is why I take the positives. This performance gives me confidence for the future."The post Chivu optimistic of bright future for Inter despite defeat to Real Madrid appeared first on SoccerNews.