In an interview with Passione Inter, former Inter and Lazio defender Francesco ‘Ciccio’ Colonnese has shared his views ahead of the meeting between two of his former employers later on today.
“I am expecting a beautiful and spectacular game. There are big similarities between two teams, there is so much quality. Inter have Eriksen, Brozovic, Lautaro and Lukaku, Lazio have Immobile, Milinkovic, Leiva and Luis Alberto.
“There is a lot of talent so it will be a balanced game which will be decided by who will be able to win the individual battles. There will be so many duels.”
Next Colonnese went on to discuss how he thinks Inter will fare in their upcoming run of matches, a run which many have labelled a decisive one for the Nerazzurri’s season as a whole with them set to face big matches in the league, Europa League and Coppa Italia.
“Inter are first in the standings in the league. There was a bad stop in the Coppa Italia against Napoli, a match where a draw would have been fairer. The return leg will be a good game.”
Colonnese then went on to speak on Inter midfielder Stefano Sensi who has picked up yet another injury and looks set for another long spell on the sidelines.
“It’s a shame. Sensi got off to a great start, impressing everyone and proving to be worthy of Inter. After the first injury, however, he lost a bit and his technique was missing.”
He then touched upon Inter’s January transfer window signing, Christian Eriksen.
“Inter have bought Eriksen who is a player who has great talent. There is a lot of curiosity about him. He is being asked to play in a different role and has different tasks to carry out. I expect to see nice things from him as he is a great player.”
Next Colonnese discussed Lautaro Martinez’s future at Inter amid reports that Barcelona are willing to pay his €111 million release clause.
“It’s a complicated situation. The clause sometimes becomes a sword of Damocles. A contract renewal at this stage of the season and it will not be easy to convince him given the possibility of a move to Barcelona and Real Madrid.
“Inter need to really show they believe in him and raise his salary from €1.5 million to €6/7/8 million a year or the chance of him leaving is enormous.”
He then spoke on Lautaro’s strike partner Romelu Lukaku and whether he was expecting the Belgian to make the impact he has.
“No I wasn’t expecting it, he has surprised me. He did not seem so strong to me, but he has improved a lot and now he is really devastating.”
In conclusion Colonnese spoke on Inter manager Antonio Conte and whether he had any managers similar to him during his playing career.
“He is a manager who immediately gets into the players heads and makes a difference. Lippi is perhaps similar. He had great personality which I saw whilst at Inter and he also had charisma.”
