Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named in the starting lineup for the Nerazzurri's Serie A home fixture against Udinese on September 14, a 5-3 victory that delivered three points while exposing defensive vulnerabilities Cristian Chivu's side cannot afford to carry into heavier fixtures.
The result keeps Inter second in Serie A with 12 points from four matches — four wins, no draws, no defeats — but the manner of it complicates the narrative. Conceding three goals at home, and doing so after falling two goals behind for the second consecutive league game, suggests that the defensive solidity underpinning Inter's perfect record is less settled than the table implies. For Mkhitaryan, whose role in midfield has always been as much about structural discipline as creative output, the pattern is worth monitoring.
At 37, Mkhitaryan carries an AI overall of 74 out of 100, a figure that reflects a player still functioning at a meaningful level but operating within tighter margins than in earlier seasons. His appearance in the starting XI — alongside John Stones, according to the confirmed lineup — signals that Chivu continues to trust the Armenian's reading of the game to provide midfield cover and rhythm. Whether that trust is rewarded with minutes or managed carefully across a long campaign is the central question around him this season.
His Serie A numbers through the opening weeks are modest: one appearance, no goals, no assists, an average rating of 6.90. That rating is neither a red flag nor a commendation — it is the baseline of a player doing his job without imposing himself on the scoresheet. For a midfielder of Mkhitaryan's profile, the contribution is always more legible in the spaces he occupies than in the statistics he accumulates.
Chivu acknowledged after the Udinese win that "nobody's perfect," a candid assessment of a side that can score five but still concede three. Inter's attacking output — 13 goals in four matches — is the most visible expression of their quality. The defensive side of that ledger, six conceded, is where Mkhitaryan's positional intelligence becomes most relevant. A midfield that holds its shape limits the exposure behind it.
The coming weeks will test whether Inter's comeback capacity is a feature of their character or a symptom of structural looseness they have not yet been forced to correct.