Inter Milan felt the absence of their captain Lautaro Martinez in yesterday evening’s Serie A draw away to Genoa.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews.
Martinez missed his second consecutive match with a muscle injury yesterday.
The Argentine was in the stadium as Inter faced off against newly-promoted Genoa at the Marassi.
But this was only to support his teammates. Inter’s captain was not able to get out on the pitch.
And in the view of the Corriere, the lack of Martinez’s absence was a key factor in the Nerazzurri giving one of their flatter performances of the season to date.
Inter Miss Lautaro Martinez In Serie A Draw Vs Genoa
In Inter’s last match, they did not let Martinez’s absence become too much of a problem.
The Nerazzurri secured a convincing 2-0 victory against Lecce with Marko Arnautovic leading the line instead of the captain.
And the Austrian even scored against Genoa yesterday. That had perhaps made it briefly look like Inter would have enough in the tank to overcome the Grifone without Martinez.
But as the second half wore on, it became increasingly clear that Inter were missing some inspiration.
Martinez’s movement and endless running were absent.
Whilst Arnautovic put in a commendable display as a traditional big man in attack, he didn’t provide what Martinez does.
The Argentine can set the tone in matches like yesterday’s by dropping deep to help in the midfield battle.
And Martinez’s pressing can be a factor against physical teams like Genoa.
Moreover, the Corriere note, Marcus Thuram looked far from his best.
The Frenchman tried playing off of Arnautovic. But the Austrian is not the same kind of reference point that Martinez is.
In the end, Inter played out a draw that few would deny was a fair result.
And they could be left wondering whether a win would have been possible with Martinez available.