LuLa revived: Inzaghi must trust Lukaku and Lautaro against Milan

ANALYSIS LuLa revived: Inzaghi must trust Lukaku and Lautaro against Milan

Seye Omidiora 21:34 - 09.05.2023

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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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.

Romelu Lukaku has hit top form for Inter Milan of late after a stop-start campaign

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.

Romelu Lukaku found Robin Gosens at the far post for Inter Milan's second against Lazio

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.

The Belgium striker was distraught after his misses against Croatia cost the Red Devils at the World Cup

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.

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.

Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez have found top form at the right time in Inter's season

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.

Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez have not combined consistently as well as Inter's title-winning partnership

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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