Inter striker Lautaro Martinez could be sensing an opportunity could be sensing a certain opportunity to reassert his leadership in this Nerazzurri team against Benfica this evening.

This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInter1908, who suggest that this evening’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg match as a chance to really reemerge from his recent bad run of form.

In the immediate aftermath of his victory at the World Cup in Qatar with Argentina, Martinez seemed to find another gear for Inter.

The 25-year-old scored vital goals in both the Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia against AC Milan, whilst he took the team on his back to complete a comeback win over Cremonese.

The Argentine was not just in some of his best goalscoring form in those weeks after the World Cup, but looked like a man possessed as his performances really set the tone.

This even coincided with Martinez starting to wear the captain’s armband on a regular basis for the Nerazzurri, underlining his central role within the team.

However, in recent weeks, the intensity has dropped and the goals have dried up.

Even if there are good reasons for the striker’s dip in form related to the physical toll of constantly playing, there is no hiding the fact that goal droughts like this have become an unfortunate recurring theme for him.

The fact that this latest spell of bad form came right after what looked to be Martinez’s most positive period since joining Inter, and the fact that it has come alongside a broader crisis in attacking form for the team, has looked quite damning.

However, there are many important matches in which the Argentine can reassert himself.

This evening against Benfica would be the perfect opportunity, the Corriere highlights, as if Martinez were to score his first goal in the knockout rounds of this season’s Champions League he would surely give the team a big boost in their bid to reach the semifinals.

If Martinez can be fired up by the sense of occasion to find the kind of form he was in during January and the start of February, the Corriere suggests, he can quickly make his recent bad spell a distant memory.