Inter Milan really felt the absence of their captain Lautaro Martinez against Real Sociedad in yesterday evening’s Champions League draw.
This is the verdict across Italian media, according to L’Interista. The player ratings for the match underscored how the 26-year-old showed the Nerazzurri what they were missing when he finally came on.
Martinez had about half an hour in which to make an impact yesterday evening.
The Argentine was a second half substitute.
Martinez is in the Inter starting eleven more often than not. But Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi decided to give the striker some rest from the first minute.
And in the first half, Inter really missed Martinez.
Particularly, Marcus Thuram lacked his usual reference point.
It was a good individual performance from the Frenchman, who used his turn of pace to really get at the La Real backline.
But he did not have Martinez as a foil to give him an option to link up with and open up space in attack.
Instead, it was Alexis Sanchez partnering Thuram. The Chilean started in Martinez’s place, but couldn’t give the team the same sort of reference point that Martinez does.
Lautaro Martinez Shows Inter What They’d Missed With Second Half Display Vs Real Sociedad
When Martinez did come onto the pitch, it was part of a wholesale attacking change.
Thuram and Sanchez both exited the pitch. And the captain came on along with Marko Arnautovic.
And almost immediately, Inter had more of a genuine goal threat.
Martinez had three decent chances to score.
The Argentine’s movement both in and out of the penalty area caused some problems for the La Real defense.
And so for Italian media, the big question is what would’ve happened if both Martinez and Thuram had started. The pair could have really wreaked havoc in a way neither of the strike duos did in reality.
