Cristian Chivu might just be feeling beads of sweat starting to gather.

A little bit of pressure is bubbling under the surface in the aftermath of Inter’s shock 2-1 home defeat by Udinese at the end of August. 

The Nerazzurri had taken the lead through Denzel Dumfries, but were hauled back with goals from Keinan Davis and Arthur Atta, with the latter’s in particular a sweet strike from the edge of the area.

The loss means Inter are already three points behind in the title race. There will be many twists and turns over the next nine months but the fact that Juventus in Turin now lie in wait does not make things any easier.

Games between the pair, of which Chivu participated in many down the years as an Inter player, are often tempestuous and controversial. 

Anyone with a passing interest in the Italian game can recall the infamous Ronaldo-Mark Iuliano incident from April 1998 when Inter’s Brazilian striker was denied a penalty, or the the first set of games post-Calciopoli, when the grudge factor was dialled up to 11 and tackles flew in.

The Calciopoli scandal itself is still a thorny issue for both sets of supporters, with Inter fans feeling they were wronged out of several Scudetti and the Juventus faithful believing their opponents were saved from prosecution only by the statute of limitations amid the Palazzi report in 2011.

Relations between the clubs are mostly cordial nowadays due to Inter changing owners multiple times in the intervening years, and the tension has eased on the pitch as a result.

Last season they played out a 4-4 cracker at San Siro, with Inter leading 4-2 before Kenan Yildiz came off the bench to give a reminder of his burgeoning talent. 

It was the game of the season and arguably the highlight of Thiago Motta’s short and underwhelming reign as Juve coach.

A few months later, Randal Kolo Muani inspired Juve to a home victory over Inter to secure four points for the season. Despite being in a constant state of flux since their last Scudetto win in 2020, Juve always manage to pull out wins against their biggest rivals. 

Inter haven’t won a league game away at Juve since April 2022 and have only won two of the last eight meetings in all competitions.

Chivu is still very much a manager cutting his teeth. Thrust into the job in light of Simone Inzaghi’s surprise departure to Saudi Arabia, Chivu’s only managerial experience at the highest level was his four-month stint with Parma last season.

Moreover, Inter are coming off the back of the biggest demolition ever witnessed in a Champions League final and an acceptance that many of the first-team squad needed replacing.

The signings of Luis Henrique, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Petar Sucic and Andy Diouf is an attempt to bring down Inter’s ageing squad, which was criticised for looking extremely leggy in the final stretch last spring.

Trying to slowly integrate the new recruits, plus keeping the elder statesmen happy while picking up wins, means Chivu has had to hit the ground running.

The 5-0 destruction of Torino on the opening weekend gave the impression it was business as usual for the 20-time Serie A winners. Sucic has already shown he belongs at Inter, while Bonny scored the fifth that evening at San Siro.

Yet the loss to Udinese has given food for thought. Juventus, meanwhile, have no such problems. 

They made a smart move in keeping Igor Tudor following the Club World Cup. That continuity will help a Juve side that, while not the greatest in terms of star power, will hold an advantage over many of their top-four competitors who switched managers.

Only Napoli and Juve retained coaches from May, and while Tudor is not in the class of Antonio Conte, he knows what it means to wear the Bianconero shirt, something many felt had been lost over the last couple of years.

“Mister Tudor makes us run a lot,” joked Andrea Cambiaso this week. Tudor has brought back some much-needed ‘grinta’, a word that was the club’s motto during his time as a player. 

Tudor was a well-respected utility man at Juve in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a defender with an elegant touch who could cover various positions.

Most believed he would relinquish control of the job at the end of the summer, but the Croat impressed new general manager Damien Comolli, and was handed the keys to the car on a full-time basis.

Juve have started the season sufficiently: two wins from two and no goals conceded. While they are not ripping up trees with their performances, Tudor can be satisfied.

Much like Chivu, Tudor has new signings to integrate in the coming weeks. Lois Openda and Edon Zhegrova arrived on deadline day, and the former could make his debut against Inter due to Francisco Conceicao’s injury on international duty.

Tudor has, for the most part, settled on a 3-4-2-1 system. Yet the injury to Conceicao could mean slight alterations in formation.

Jonathan David was Tudor’s centre-forward of choice for the season opener against Parma and the slender win over Genoa, yet Dusan Vlahovic netted the winner in Liguria and the much-maligned Serb could be given a start beside the Canadian if Tudor switches systems.

A defeat for Inter would leave Chivu facing an uphill struggle after just three games. An outright dismissal is far in the distance, but those beads of sweat may just multiply should Inter find themselves six points behind Juve by Saturday night.

For Juve and Tudor, it’s very much a case of ‘as is’. Yet with a tricky set of fixtures on the horizon, a win against the Nerazzurri would send confidence soaring. 

The tension has eased, but still expect fireworks because, after all, it’s the Derby d’Italia.