Life, or more accurately football, will give Lautaro Martínez a kind of revenge: after not being able to be one hundred percent in the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup against France (he entered the second half), he will now have the opportunity and privilege of playing a Champions League final, neither more nor less. Yes, in the career of the Bull will appear another milestone: next June 10 in Turkey, because Inter beat Milan 1-0 (3-0 on aggregate) with a goal of his own.
Lautaro played the World Cup and enjoyed them as the most, it is clear. But a thorn was left to the 25-year-old Bahian because he did not reach the optimal appointment from the physical. That's why he quickly lost the position to Julián Álvarez, precisely whom he could face in the final in Istanbul. "I didn't do the World Cup I wanted. I did not arrive as expected, I played with my ankle injected with painkillers. Then a colleague came in who did better than me and I'm still very happy. I gave everything, even from the outside. It's nice when you have a partner in attack who does things so well," confessed the former Racing.
Lautaro recovered and that ankle didn't bother him anymore. The performance of the Inter captain was on the rise. The numbers do not lie: in the last half of 2022 he scored 8 goals in 24 games, while so far in 2023 he accumulates 17 shouts in 31 duels. This Tuesday was special, of course, because of the setting: Champions League semifinal and against the classic rival. El Toro received from his friend Romelu Lukaku inside the area, controlled and finished left-footed down, to the first stick of Maignan, who could do nothing. And Lautaro celebrated: he climbed on one of the electronic posters, came face to face with the tifosi and made the gesture of the Topo Gigio so that the cry is heard very loudly.
The Champions League final will be the ninth in Martinez's career. On May 24 he will play the eighth: against Fiorentina for the Coppa Italia. How did the rest go? Not bad: he won 6 and only lost 1.
Three of the cups he lifted he did dressed in blue and white: Copa América 2021, Copa de Campeones Conmebol-UEFA 2022 (Finalissima 2022) and World Cup Qatar 2022. The others were with the Inter shirt: Italian Super Cup 2021, Italian Super Cup 2022 and Coppa Italia 2022. How many goals did he score? Also three: one with Argentina in the 3-0 against Italy at Wembley, another in the 2-1 against Juventus in the Coppa Italia and the remaining in the 3-0 against Milan for the Super Cup played in January of this year in Saudi Arabia. "The only time I remember not sleeping was before the final against Brazil at the Maracanã. That was one of the few times I had a hard time sleeping. In the rest I was very calm," said El Toro.
Photo: Xinhua/Wang Lili
The second leg at the Derby della Madonnina was thick, as Italy matches usually are. He played with the Inter advantage and Milan didn't have too many ideas. He had a start with some fury, especially revitalized with the presence of the Portuguese Rafael Leao, who had missed the first leg due to injury. But that fervor lasted nothing and quickly the local could put the game in freezer. In that period favorable to the visitors, André Onana drowned the celebration to Brahim Díaz, who finished weak with a right from the penalty spot. The other clear was a cross shot by Leao after a good personal move. Not much else.
Inter, it is insisted, played with the advantage of 2 goals in the head. He was more cautious than in the first boy and attacked with the necessary players so as not to be unprotected in defense. Edin Dzeko came close to converting with a header that was cleared great by goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Lautaro? He came into play little and was able to finish left-footed from the half-moon, but the ball went over the crossbar.
Photo: EFE/EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
Nothing happened in the second half until Lukaku and Lautaro connected and the Argentine sealed the series with that left-footed shot that will be historic. A not minor fact: after obtaining the World Cup, Martínez is the champion with the most goals, with 17, leaving behind Lionel Messi, with 12, and Paulo Dybala, with 9.
Inter won with a goal from Lautaro and left Milan, the city's classic, on the road. Now, in the final, El Toro will wait with his captain's ribbon and the 10 on his back to Manchester City or Real Madrid. A new defining encounter looms for Lautaro, a kind of well-deserved revenge of fate.
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