In the postponement against Sampdoria Inzaghi will field Lukaku and Lautaro as starters ten days ago in the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup when the two did not score. At the Ferraris the Belgian and the Argentine are aiming to beat the opposing goalkeeper and another victory like Sunday’s triumphal derby
The LuLa is back. After the starter in the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup against Atalanta, on Tuesday 31 January, Lukaku and Lautaro will also start in the league from 1′. The last time it happened was on August 26, at the Olimpico against Lazio. That Friday night, no one could have ever imagined that five and a half months would pass before seeing them alongside each other as starters in Serie A. The Lady Luck didn’t help the pair who gave away the Scudetto to the Conte’s Inter. In particular the Belgian, battered by two injuries to his left thigh and an inflammation of his left knee, when in January he thought he had finally come out of the tunnel. The real Big Rom has only been seen for a few minutes in this 2022-23, but the former United and Chelsea has certainly not thrown in the towel. Indeed, he is angrier and more determined than when he returned from London to take back the crown of King of Milan football. Together with his … different twin, he wants to end the season on a high note, perhaps by raising the Italian Cup as a protagonist. In Riyadh he too celebrated his triumph in the Supercoppa Italiana derby, but now he wants a trophy that can hear about him. Maybe after having come a long way in the Champions League as well and reviving the Scudetto race.
ROMELU WATER
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Lukaku made just 11 appearances and scored 2 goals in Inter’s 30 official matches. He was a starter in the first 3 days of Serie A, against Lecce, Spezia and Lazio, in the first match of 2023, at San Siro with Napoli, and in the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup with Atalanta. He added clips against Sampdoria, Viktoria Plzen, Monza, Empoli, Cremonese and Milan (last Sunday). In all, he played just 474 minutes and his last goal in Serie A dates back to August 13 in Lecce. Exactly 6 months have passed since that day on Monday. An eternity for a striker who, not yet thirty, has already signed over 300 goals and who is the best scorer in the history of the Belgian national team. The year, unfortunately for him, took a bad turn and not even being 100% professional prevented him from suffering a double thigh injury and a nightmare World Cup. However, he does not lack the desire to get back on track and in the (scarce) last four months of 2022-23 he wants to prove that he is still the Big Rom who had scored 64 goals for the Nerazzurri between 2019 and 2021. A “dominant” player for Serie A. One to keep at all costs by renegotiating the loan deal taken from Chelsea last June.
FIVE LAUTARO
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Compared to the Belgian, the Bull has experienced a less complicated season from a physical point of view and, despite the extra efforts at the World Cup, his leg is polished. I deserve above all… the head and the conviction that raising the World Cup gave him. If he has shown the “hit” since the summer of 2018, when he landed in Milan, now Martinez is more continuous and no longer suffers from the ups and downs of the past. In the last 5 Serie A games, he has beaten the opposing goalkeeper 5 times (the last one was Tatarusanu in Sunday’s derby, decided by a gore from him) and in 2023 he has scored 7 goals in 9 matches. He also served Darmian with the assist for the 1-0 draw against Atalanta in the Italian Cup. It had never happened to him to reach 12 goals after the first 21 days of the championship and the records set in 2021-22 (21 goals in Serie A; 25 in total) are within his reach. Especially if Big Rom will open the spaces for him as happened in the second half against Atalanta, when flashes of LuLa were seen again… full. It is not true that Lautaro has shone so far because Lukaku was absent: Inzaghi is convinced that those two together will not share the goals, but will multiply those that the team has put together so far. Because they talk great, complement each other technically and are not selfish at all. Of course, now it is Big Rom who most needs to beat the opposing goalkeeper, but his friend “Lauty” also knows this and, if he can, he will already help him on Monday evening at the Ferraris.
February 10, 2023 (change February 10, 2023 | 5:33 pm)
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