There are both points in favour of and points against striker Romelu Lukaku starting for Inter in this evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal second leg against Juventus.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who report that the question of whether or not to start the Belgian is the one real selection dilemma that Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi has for this evening’s match.
After having played a heavily-rotated starting eleven in Sunday afternoon’s Serie A win over Empoli, Inzaghi is set to play a basically first-choice lineup against Juventus this evening.
For the 47-year-old most of the decisions are relatively straightforward, as this will mean players who have been trusted all season coming back into their usual positions all over the pitch.
However, in attack the coach will be seriously pondering whether or not the best decision would be to put Edin Dzeko into the starting eleven, or to start Romelu Lukaku in attack again as against Empoli over the weekend.
If it had seemed fairly clear before the match against Empoli that it would be Dzeko leading the line alongside Lautaro Martinez, Lukaku’s performance at the Stadio Carlo Castellani has certainly given Inzaghi one or two things to think about.
The Belgian was at something close to his best in the second half against Empoli, and there will be a growing temptation for Inzaghi to “strike while the iron is hot” by giving the Belgian a start in the hopes that he produces the same kind of form against Juventus.
However, one of the main reasons that Inzaghi could be wary of starting Lukaku is that he is well aware that this evening’s match could go into extra time, with things all square at the start and no away goals rules meaning the prospect is more likely.
Moreover, the coach knows all to well that after this evening’s efforts there will be little time to rest up ahead of a vital Serie A match against Lazio.
As such, Inzaghi could ultimately defer to his usual policy of squad rotation in order to avoid potentially putting too much strain on Lukaku, and use the 29-year-old as an extra weapon from the bench.
