MILAN (AP) — Cristian Chivu’s brand of brotherly love could be just what Serie A champion Inter Milan needs to dominate Italian soccer again this season.
More than a few eyebrows were raised when the inexperienced Chivu was hired last year to replace Simone Inzaghi as Inter coach. The Nerazzurri were fresh off a 5-0 thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain in the most lopsided Champions League final in history.
“Everyone was thinking that Inter was, let’s say dying, after what happened,” Inter midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu said in a recent interview with beIN Sports Australia.
Chivu had only ever overseen 13 matches in Serie A but his fresh approach as a coach and new ideas reinvigorated Inter as he steered the Nerazzurri to the Italian league and cup double.
Moreover, the 45-year-old Chivu’s closeness to the players has pulled the team even more together.
“With Chivu it is something different, he cares more about the person, not about the football,” Çalhanoğlu added. “For him it’s more important how you are, how you feel, and he’s open to everything. He gives you the confidence to feel good.
“Of course, he has tactical things … but (outside) of the football he’s like a brother or a friend, you can talk to him about whatever you want, he’s always close to you. … That helped me a lot.”
Inter has been boosted by a distinctive English flavor this offseason. It has already signed England defenders Djed Spence and John Stones and looks set to also land their Three Lions teammate Curtis Jones.
The Serie A champion kicks off the defense of its title at home to newly-promoted Monza on Saturday.
Here’s a look at Inter’s potential challengers:
Napoli finished runner-up last season and would arguably have pushed Inter harder had it not been plagued by injuries all campaign.
But it is having to deal with its sixth coach in little more than three years after Antonio Conte quit at the end of the season.
And it’s a familiar face in charge. Former Juventus and AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was given the reins, despite having been fired by Milan following “an unequivocal failure” of a season.
Rúben Amorim — whose reputation as one of the top emerging coaches in Europe took a hit at Manchester United — has taken over from Allegri at Milan, which ended up finishing fifth last season after struggling toward the end of the campaign.
Milan has added some much-needed firepower as it smashed its transfer record to sign Portugal forward Gonçalo Ramos from Paris Saint-Germain for more than 70 million euros ($80 million).
Lazio and Atalanta are also among the nine Serie A teams to have changed coaches during the offseason. Maurizio Sarri left Lazio for Atalanta, which had a tough season last year in its first without Gian Piero Gasperini.
Former Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso has replaced Sarri at Lazio.
While three of the teams that finished in the top seven last season have changed coaches, there will be added stability at Juventus and Roma.
Roma qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2018 in its first season under Gasperini.
That was despite a high-profile spat between Gasperini and Roma's special adviser — and former coach — Claudio Ranieri, that ultimately led to the latter leaving the club.
Gasperini has added talented youngsters Santiago Castro and Rodrigo Mora and could be a serious challenger for a first Serie A title in more than 25 years.
At Juventus, Luciano Spalletti will be in his first full season with the team after the former Napoli and Italy coach took over in October. Juventus was pushing hard for a Champions League spot last season and Spalletti was rewarded with a new two-year contract but the Bianconeri ultimately finished sixth.
Indeed it was Como which surprised everyone by pipping Juventus and Milan to fourth place and the final Champions League spot.
Como, which had never qualified for any continental competition in its 119-year history, was playing in the fourth division of Italian soccer just seven years ago.
What former Arsenal and Barcelona player Cesc Fàbregas has achieved in his two years in charge is nothing short of remarkable.
And it was no fluke. Como had the meanest defense in the league but still managed to play an exciting and attacking brand of football.
It has bolstered its already stingy defense with the signing of Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea for 30 million euros and, perhaps most importantly, managed to keep hold of playmaker Nico Paz for at least another season.
After last season, no one would rule out Como making an improbable title push. However, it remains to be seen how its young players — nearly all of whom have never played in the Champions League — cope with the double challenge of European and domestic competition.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
FILE - AC Milan coach Ruben Amorim leads a training at AC Milan's headquarter in Carnago, Italy, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
FILE - Inter Milan coach Christian Chivu celebrates winning the Italian Serie A soccer championship title at the end of their final-round match against Hellas Verona in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - Inter Milan players celebrate with the Italian Serie A soccer championship trophy at the end of their final-round match against Hellas Verona in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — When Russia fires a ballistic missile at Ukraine, air-defense systems have only minutes — sometimes seconds — to detect and intercept the deadly threat.
The lack of time has left Kyiv and other cities increasingly exposed to devastating attacks by the missiles that come down so fast and so steeply that Ukraine says only the U.S.-made Patriot defense system can stop them. But Ukraine says it has too few batteries and interceptors to protect itself.
Unlike cruise missiles, which behave like pilotless planes, ballistic missiles are launched like rockets and then dive steeply toward their targets at several times the speed of sound.
That sharply reduces the time available to find and destroy a warhead.
When the warhead is hurled toward its target, “it’s very, very steep and it’s going at a ridiculous speed,” said Thomas Withington, an expert on electronic warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, who compared the physics to playing catch. If the ball is “going really fast, it’s harder to catch.”
Russia’s ground-launched Iskander-M missile is the Kremlin’s main ballistic missile. Another example is the air-launched Kinzhal missile. Russia has also fired S-300 and S-400 air-defense missiles at ground targets. A model known as the Zircon is technically a hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile, but its high speed resembles that of a ballistic missile and creates a similar interception problem.
Here's a look at the challenge of shielding Ukraine from some of Russia's deadliest projectiles.
The most capable Patriot system supplied to Ukraine is designed for high-speed missile defense. Instead of exploding near a target, the PAC-3 system uses a maneuverable interceptor designed to collide with an incoming warhead. The Patriot technology must track the missile, predict its path and launch within minutes, sometimes leaving seconds for the final engagement.
Patriots are currently the only system in Ukrainian service able to intercept the Russian Iskander-M, S-400 and Zircon missiles, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat. The United States and its allies operate other anti-ballistic systems, including THAAD and sea-based Aegis defenses, but they have not been provided to Ukraine.
Even Patriot protection is not guaranteed. When a Patriot battery is absent, out of position or short of missiles, most other Ukrainian defenses cannot substitute for it.
Ukraine has too few batteries to shield every city. Russia combines ballistic missiles with cruise missiles, drones and decoys, forcing defenders to track many threats and ration scarce interceptors.
The interceptor shortage has become more acute as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has consumed large numbers of Patriot and THAAD interceptors. An analysis by The Associated Press estimated that the U.S. Patriot inventory had fallen by at least 65% from its prewar level, while the Pentagon said it retained a deep arsenal.
Production cannot immediately close the gap. Lockheed Martin delivered more than 600 PAC-3 MSE interceptors in 2025 and is working toward annual capacity of 2,000 by the end of 2030. NATO says Europe’s first Patriot missile production facility is expected to open in September in Germany.
Political signals from Washington have also shifted. At a NATO summit in Turkey in July, President Donald Trump said the United States would give Ukraine a license to produce Patriots. About three weeks later, he said he had not made a final decision. Even with a license, officials and experts told AP that starting production in Ukraine would take years.
Ukraine is also trying to destroy Russian missile launchers and infrastructure before missiles can be fired — shooting the archer instead of the arrow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Trump to help secure Elon Musk’s permission for Ukrainian forces to use Starlink communications for targeting inside Russia, where Musk has restricted the service, according to someone familiar with the matter. Zelenskyy also told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he wanted Starlink to help with targeting inside Russia, according to a person in the room. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive private discussions.
Such access could help Ukrainian drones hunt launchers and related infrastructure, reducing the number of missiles Patriot batteries must face.
Kyiv is also developing Freya, a proposed Ukrainian-led, lower-cost anti-ballistic system intended to reduce dependence on Patriots. Ukraine and nine European countries formed a coalition in July to pursue a shared missile-defense capability, with Zelenskyy saying they could jointly develop a mass-produced system within 12 months. Freya remains under development, and it is unclear when it could become operational.
Following a Russian ballistic attack on Kyiv earlier this month, Zelenskyy said Ukraine received only one-third as many air-defense missiles in the first half of 2026 as in the same period last year. He said Ukraine's partners that are unwilling to increase interceptor deliveries immediately should instead impose new sanctions, noting that a significant share of Russia’s ballistic missile production has been untouched by sanctions.
Associated Press Writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
A police officer examines a damaged Nova Poshta postal warehouse after Russian missiles strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out a fire in a residential building following a Russian air attack in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a food warehouse near Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
