Legendary former Inter captain Beppe Bergomi feels that striker Romelu Lukaku should start in attack this evening against Juventus in order to start finding his match-rhythm.

Speaking to Italian news outlet TuttoMercatoWeb, the former defender argued that constantly being in and out of the lineup is hardly good for a player like Lukaku, and that the 29-year-old should be starting to build on his performance against Empoli over the weekend.

During Lukaku’s first stint at Inter, the Belgian was rarely ever dropped from the starting eleven.

However, rather than this having the effect of leaving the player tired and worn out, the Belgian seemed to thrive and grow into the team as the matches went on.

Things have been very different both last season at Chelsea and this time around back at Inter on loan.

Injury problems have plagued the Belgian, whilst even when he has been fit he has not always been favoured to start in attack.

From the point of view of Bergomi, the swashbuckling display that Lukaku put in in the second half at the Stadio Carlo Castellani over the weekend was a sign that it may be time to strike while the iron is hot and given the 29-year-old run of starts, beginning with this evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal second leg.

“His comments after Empoli made me think,” Bergomi said of the striker, “he mentioned that people really don’t understand the kind of injury that he suffered.”

“I had two teammates, Alessandro Bianchi and Riccardo Ferri, who suffered bad muscle tears,” he added, “Bianchi never played at the same levelagain , Riccardo had to slow down and it took a lot of effort for him to get back and recover.”

“I was wondering why Lukaku, who’s almost 100 kg, hasn’t quite played the same way, and I think that it’s partly because in his mind there’s that fear of getting hurt again.”

“And so I think he’s someone who needs to play,” Bergomi explained.

“In Inzaghi’s mind, it’s up to Dzeko, but let’s see what choice he makes tonight.”

“It depends a lot on what he’s thinking,” Bergomi continued, “sometimes I think he feels this sort of debt of gratitude to the players who have gotten him this far, but I think that he needs to think of what’s best for Inter, so I’d start Lukaku tonight.”