Inter vs. Olympiacos live stream: How to watch online, TV channel, start time, odds, predicted lineups
The 2025-26 season is around the corner and Inter need to bounce back after a difficult end to the 2024-25 season. The Nerazzurri failed to win the Italian Serie A on the last matchday, and then lost the 2025 edition of the UEFA Champions League final after a disappointing 5-0 defeat against PSG in Munich. The Italian giants made a big decision ahead of the Club World Cup, where they were knocked out by Fluminense, and decided to part ways with former manager Simone Inzaghi who joined Al-Hilal. The Italian manager reached two Champions League finals and won one Scudetto over the four years at the club, and the Nerazzurri decided to replace him with an unusual choice and appointed former 2010 Champions League winner Cristian Chivu. Chivu had previously coached the youth teams of the Italian team before taking charge of Parma last season, where he only coached 13 first division games before taking the new job at his former club. The Nerazzurri will face Olympiacos on Saturday in their last friendly match ahead of the new season that starts on August 25 against Torino (As always you can catch all the Serie A action with coverage across Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network and CBS Sports Network). Here are the storylines, how you can watch the match and more.
The main question and doubt about the new season is about the new coach, Cristian Chivu. Despite his past at the club and what he has done as a player at Inter, Chivu's managerial record is only related to what he has done at Parma last season and his job as a managerial of the youth teams at Inter before. The fact he has already worked with the current Inter directors helped sporting director Piero Ausilio and club president Giuseppe Marotta make the decision to hire him, but at the same time they were looking for a specific profile of coach. In the early days of June, Inter decided to hire a manager who could work closely with young players and the current Como manager Cesc Fabregas emerged as one of the strongest candidates. However, Como decided to keep him at the club, didn't let Inter start talks with the Spanish coach, and the Nerazzurri had to make another decision. Chivu was immediately considered as the frontrunner for the job and joined the Nerazzurri ahead of the Club World Cup where he couldn't really show much of an impact considering he only had few days of training with his new team.
A revolution that didn't happenHowever, the doubts about Inter's season are not just related to the new inexperienced manager, but also to the decisions the club made this summer. Ahead of the summer, even if Inzaghi was staying, Inter was likely to make many changes to the roster as some key players of the current team are reaching their sell-by date. In particular, the two central center backs of the defensive line are Stefan de Vrij, who is currently 33 and Francesco Acerbi who will turn 38 next year. The Nerazzurri, with two weeks left before the summer transfer deadline day, are now not expected to sign a new defender and are instead looking for an attacking player and a midfielder to complete their roster for the new season. Can the two experienced, but obviously aging, defenders keep their level for another long and exhausting season? This is something that was underlined after Inter decided not to even try to sign 18-year old Giovanni Leoni, who joined Liverpool for around $30 million, creating a debate on how Italian clubs are not willing to invest on the young prospects of Italian soccer, and usually prefer to make safer deals with experienced players.
For weeks Inter directors have tried to find a deal with Atalanta for Ademola Lookman, but so far failed to reach an agreement for the transfer of the Nigerian striker. While doubts are growing in the fanbase on what can be expected from Inter this season. There is a lot of excitement around the young striker Francesco Pio Esposito, who already played with the Nerazzurri and scored a key goal against River Plate in the Club World Cup. Chivu, who worked with Esposito in the Inter academy, wanted him to stay at the club despite many offers coming from Italian and European clubs as the former Parma manager is willing to give him a key role at the club.
- Date: Saturday, August 16 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Stadio San Nicola -- Bari, Italy
- Live stream: CBSSN
- Odds: Inter +110; Draw +233; Olympiacos +250
This is the last friendly match ahead of the new season for the team coached by Chivu that will kick off the 2025-26 Serie A season on Monday, August 25, against Torino at San Siro. The Nerazzurri showed some tactical changes compared to Inzaghi's cycle and more is expected to come with new signings in the coming days before the end of the summer transfer window. However, the 2024-25 Champions League finalists showed some defensive issues in the past friendlies as they conceded three goals in the first two friendly matches against AS Monaco and Monza, but also managed to win both matches at the end. As with other clubs that played the Club World Cup, it's fair to expect Inter to be behind compared to other teams that played the tournament, but it will be interesting to see how quickly Chivu's tactical ideas will have an impact on the team in the short time.
Possible lineupsInter XI: Yann Sommer; Benjamin Pavard, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco; Yann Bonny, Henrix Mkhitaryan; Lautaro Martinez.
Olympiacos XI: Konstantinos Tzolakis, Costinha, Panagiotis Retsos, Alexios Kalogeropoulos, Sopuruchukwu Onyemaechi, Santiago Hezze, Christos Mouzakitis, Martins, Chiquinho, Remy Cabella, Ayoub El Kaabi.
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