Inter defender Benjamin Pavard featured as the Nerazzurri drew 1-1 with Milan in a pre-season friendly in Perth, Australia on August 6, with Dimarco's goal cancelled out by Nkunku's equaliser in a derby staged nearly 14,000 kilometres from the San Siro.
The result itself was secondary. Inter coach Cristian Chivu said as much afterwards, stating that the work being done matters more than outcomes at this stage of preparation. For Pavard, that framing carries particular weight. The 30-year-old centre-back enters the 2026-27 Serie A campaign having appeared in just one competitive match last season, recording no goals, no assists, and an average rating of 7.50 — a number that suggests quality when called upon, but a sample size that raises questions about how central he is to Chivu's defensive plans.
Pavard's AI overall rating of 72 out of 100, with a potential ceiling of 65, reflects a player whose best work may already be behind him statistically, even if his physical and tactical output in individual appearances remains creditable. At a club sitting atop Serie A with 86 points from 37 matches — 27 wins, five draws, five defeats, 86 goals scored and only 32 conceded — the competition for defensive minutes is fierce. Inter's defensive record is among the most miserly in European football, which means the players who built it have earned their places.
The Perth friendly offered Pavard another opportunity to press his case in a high-profile environment. Chivu's emphasis on process over results in pre-season is tactically coherent: shape, fitness, and positional understanding matter more in August than scorelines. But for a defender with limited minutes on his ledger, each appearance is also an audition.
Whether Pavard can convert pre-season involvement into a meaningful role when the Serie A campaign begins is the question his 2026-27 will answer.