Lazio and Italy defender Francesco Acerbi has said that marking Inter forward Romelu Lukaku is actually harder than marking Cristiano Ronaldo, according to a report in the Italian media last night.
Whilst doing an interview in the mixed zone as reported by FCInter1908 after Italy’s match against Austria, Francesco Acerbi was asked who he finds harder to mark out of Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Many would expect him to choose the Portuguese striker as he is generally regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Instead, Francesco Acerbi went for the Inter man.
“As a centre forward it is more difficult to mark Lukaku because he has more physique, has shooting and is a bit more centre forward. Cristiano Ronaldo is the classic striker but is more markable than Lukaku.”
It should be made clear that he’s not necessarily saying that Romelu Lukaku is a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo, but he does find him harder to mark because of his broad-shouldered physique.
The Lazio centre-back was asked the question because, after the 2-1 extra-time victory over Austria, Italy’s Euro 2020 quarter final will be against either Romelu Lukaku’s Belgium, or Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.