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Inter Milan’s dynamic duo are on song, and it is imperative to deploy them in tandem in the Champions League Derby della Madonnina double-header.
“A coach has an idea, but with 72 hours to go before kick-off (against AC Milan), the players can always do something to change the situation.”
Simone Inzaghi’s response to that line of questioning came after Inter Milan’s 2-0 win over Roma on Saturday, the Nerazzurri’s fourth consecutive win in Serie A.
Maximum points against Jose Mourinho’s men saw them open up a five-point lead between the clubs, effectively ruling out the Giallorossi of a top-four berth with four games remaining.
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19:09 - 06.05.2023
AS Roma vs Inter Milan: Lukaku condemns Mourinho’s men to another defeat
AS Roma now face an uphill battle of qualifying for the Champions League after suffering another defeat against Inter Milan.
Inter Milan's impressive run of results
For Inter, the resurgence has been incredible. Inzaghi’s troops were 16th in the form table across five games before gameweek 30, but their recent victories have shot them up to first place over the last series of fixtures.
They were sixth after losing at home to Monza in mid-April, five points adrift of Mourinho’s men. But the ongoing turnaround has sparked optimism in the season’s denouement, with Inzaghi’s team in the Champions League semi-final, the decider of the Coppa Italia and favourites for a top-four berth.
Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez have been pivotal to the Nerazzurri’s revival, coming up trumps for the side from Lombardy in the last month. The Belgian’s resurgence, in particular, is opportune after a wretched return to San Siro appears to be ending positively.
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When the Belgian netted on his second Inter debut at Lecce in August 2022, little did he know that would be his last Serie A goal from open play for eight months. That ended at Empoli in late April when the Chelsea loanee netted twice and set up Martinez’s 88th-minute strike.
The pair were at it a week later when the World Cup winner’s introduction brought about a turnaround against Lazio. Inzaghi’s men were 1-0 behind on the hour but scored three times in the final half-hour to secure a 3-1 victory against Maurizio Sarri’s men at San Siro.
Lukaku and Lautaro combined for the 77th-minute leveller when the burly Belgian held off Alessio Romagnoli and slipped his strike partner through. Five minutes later, Lukaku set up Robin Gosens for the winning goal — after dinking the ball over the Lazio defence from the inside-right channel — and the Argentina international made it 3-1 late on.
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The Chelsea loanee’s return to fitness and form is promising for Inter’s prospects, even if Inzaghi has emphasised the importance of having a healthy cadre of strikers in the season’s final weeks.
Lukaku's troubled Inter return
An unfortunate hamstring issue derailed the centre-forward's year-long return for almost three months before the World Cup in Qatar.
The unfit Lukaku could play just nine minutes in Belgium’s 2-0 defeat to Morocco and endured 45 minutes to forget in front of goal in the group’s final game against Croatia, ending 2022 on a low.
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The New Year was kind to Inter, but Lukaku’s stayed luckless, failing to score in six Serie A appearances before converting a penalty against Udinese in February.
Despite not scoring from open play in the league, a few valuable strikes were netted in Europe and the Coppa Italia.
The 2021 Scudetto winner netted the only goal of the tie in the Nerazzurri’s 1-0 aggregate win over Porto, converted from 12 yards against Benfica in Lisbon and netted a late penalty equaliser in the 1-1 Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg draw at Juventus despite being on the receiving end of racist abuse.
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20:30 - 24.04.2023
FOOTBALL Juventus supporters banned by Italian authorities over racist abuse directed at Lukaku
The Inter Milan striker was subjected to monkey chants during the two teams’ Coppa Italia meeting last month
The rebirth of LuLa
Lukaku’s resurgence has been evident in the eye test and the underlying attacking numbers.
The Belgium international has been involved in five goal-creating actions in as many games, outdoing his return of three all season preceding his return to form.
There have been six goal involvements in his last three league appearances, and Martinez has been a beneficiary.
The 25-year-old is undoubtedly streaky, but scoring only three times in 10 appearances for Inter in Serie A was worrisome.
That included a five-game drought until Lukaku set up the forward against Empoli last month, and he has not looked back.
Three of the five goals El Toro has netted since April 23 have come with Lukaku on the pitch, with the Belgian assisting two of those strikes. He returned the favour at the Olimpico last Saturday, upholding the belief that both frontmen bring the best out of each other.
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The numbers back up LuLa resurgence
Indeed, the stats make for attention-grabbing reading. Lukaku has provided three goals for Martinez in 2022-23, the highest goal-scoring combination for the Nerazzurri this term, eclipsing Nicolo Barella’s two assists for the Argentine.
This is striking because the Belgian missed almost three months of action at the start of the campaign.
Barella provided six goals for Martinez last season, with three assists for Ivan Perisic ranking below Inter’s highest combination. Interestingly, Edin Dzeko netted three goals from Hakan Calhanoglu's assists, ranking joint-second for Inzaghi’s men.
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Strikingly, Dzeko and Martinez have not quite been able to forge the same understanding that the Argentina international formed with Lukaku, somewhat evidenced by the pair not providing enough for the other.
Compare this with how swiftly LuLa have dovetailed now that the Belgian has a clean bill of health and how they combined effectively during the 2020-21 title-winning season, and their understanding is apparent.
Martinez set up six of Lukaku’s goals — a joint-league-high — and the physically imposing striker returned the favour on five occasions. No other combination in Serie A matched LuLa in Antonio Conte’s second season with the Nerazzurri.
But Dzeko is not giving in without a fight. The towering striker’s brace against Hellas Verona last week ended nearly four months without scoring in Serie A, prompting Inzaghi to keep him on for the game’s entirety to boost the experienced player’s confidence.
However, the Inter boss must lean on LuLa on Wednesday night, even if his recent rotation indicates that the Bosnia and Herzegovina star will be utilised with Martinez from the off against AC Milan.
Inter have not made it this far in the Champions League since they went all the way in 2010, and they will love nothing more than to eliminate their city rivals en route to the competition’s decider in June.
Lukaku and Lautaro give the Nerazzurri their best opportunity of making it to Istanbul.
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20:39 - 09.05.2023
AC Milan vs Inter: 5 Greatest Milan derbies of the 21st century
The Derby Della Madonnina, one of the most famous derbies in football history is set to light up the UCL semifinals and in celebration of this we look back at the most colossal Milan derbies this century
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22:23 - 09.05.2023
UCL AC Milan sweating over Rafeal Leao’s injury, Pioli provides update ahead of high-stakes derby
Seven-time UEFA Champions League winners AC Milan are desperate to have star Rafael Leao fit, after he missed first-team training on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the highly anticipated derby with nemesis Inter Milan.
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