Lautaro Martinez has lauded Cristian Chivu for the impact he has had on Inter's Scudetto-winning campaign, while also insisting he is not interested in leaving the Nerazzurri.

Inter secured the title with three games remaining last week, after Marcus Thuram and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored in a 2-0 victory over Parma. 

Chivu is just the fifth coach ever to win the Scudetto in his first season in charge of Inter, after Arpad Weisz in 1929-30, Alfredo Foni in 1952-53, Giovanni Invernizzi in 1970-71 and Jose Mourinho in 2008-09.

Having come in at a difficult time last June, after Simone Inzaghi quit for Al-Hilal in the wake of a 5-0 Champions League final loss to Paris Saint-Germain, the former defender has won over Inter's players and fans decisively.

In an interview with Cronache di Spogliatoio on the eve of Inter's trip to Lazio on Saturday, Martinez praised his head coach for getting the balance right.

"Last year we suffered a lot. We couldn't achieve all these goals we had at the end of the season, it was a very tough year for all of us," the striker said.

"But Cristian arrived with a new mentality and air, with a lot of leadership that can also be seen from the outside. This gave us a lot of confidence. 

"He added some things of his own style, but he didn't take away anything that we did well for four years with Simone, with whom we had done a great job. We have to thank the coach because he made us feel very comfortable this year." 

Martinez, whose 16 goals are the most by any player in Serie A this season, has repeatedly been linked with a move away in recent years, with Barcelona tipped as a potential landing spot.

But he is not going anywhere, saying: "I'm loyal to the Inter project, because I still have a contract and I feel like I'm at home here. 

"From day one they treated me in a way I had never thought possible. I have reached important personal goals, also as a group, and so today I have nothing else to think about than Inter. 

"Here, I am happy, together with my family, in Milan we also have a restaurant. We are fine, we are very happy."

Lazio have endured an underwhelming season and sit eighth in the table with 51 points, 11 adrift of Como, who are sixth.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Lazio – Pedro

Pedro, who scored a goal and provided an assist in his last appearance at the Stadio Olimpico against Udinese – has scored three goals against Inter in Serie A (two of which came in the reverse fixture last season).

He has only fared better in the competition against Udinese (four). Additionally, in the last two seasons across Europe's five big European leagues, only Alexander Sorloth (12) has scored more sub goals than the Spaniard (11, level with Cristhian Stuani).

Inter – Marcus Thuram 

Thuram (13) is one goal away from equalling his best scoring season in Europe's top five leagues (14 goals for Inter in 2024-25). 

Furthermore, the Frenchman has netted in five consecutive Serie A appearances (six goals in total during this run), and the last Inter player to score in at least six consecutive league games was Julio Cruz between October and December 2007 (a run of seven).

MATCH PREDICTION – INTER WIN 

Lazio have not won any of their last six Serie A matches against Inter (D2 L4), after winning half of the previous six (W3 D1 L2). 

Following their 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in November, the Biancocelesti could lose both league matches against them in a single season for the first time since 2016-17.

And, Inter have scored in 13 consecutive Serie A matches against Lazio, averaging exactly two goals per game (26 in total). 

They have never recorded a longer scoring streak against them. Furthermore, the Nerazzurri could also keep consecutive clean sheets against the Biancocelesti for the first time since 2010, when they managed four in a row.

Lazio are unbeaten in their last five Serie A matches against teams starting the day top of the league (W2 D3), after losing six of the previous seven such games (W1).

However, Inter are favourites as they have 82 points on the board already, one more than they accumulated last season. After 35 games, they have only bettered this points tally on three occasions, earning 90 points in 2006-07, 85 in 2020-21 and 89 in 2023-24.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Lazio – 24.3%

Draw – 25.7%

Inter – 50%