Will Lukaku return against Mounho? He could come in instead of De Bruyne

They dance for about ten days, which could make all the difference in the world. Having or not having Romelu Lukaku available for a Champions League match, in fact, would have a specific weight of no small importance. The attacker’s recovery is proceeding quickly and from Castel Volturno there is a fair amount of optimism regarding the player’s condition, who in August suffered a high-grade lesion to the rectus femoris of his left thigh during the friendly against Olympiacos. Initially, the roadmap drawn up envisaged a return to be scheduled approximately with the Italian Super Cup, where Napoli will face Milan on December 18th. But it cannot be ruled out, at this point, that the Belgian could be eligible again for the match against Benfica on the 10th, in Lisbon.

COUNTDOWN

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There are still two weeks left before the match against Mourinho, in which the Azzurri must necessarily get a result to keep their chances of accessing the next phase high. Also considering Hojlund’s moment of decline, being able to count on Lukaku would be a considerable plus for Conte. So here’s the idea: eliminate De Bruyne from the Champions League list for the single group stage to include Lukaku. The regulation allows it: you can intervene during the race by making just one change to remedy one too many injuries. Napoli, from this point of view, knows something about it. In this way, the coach could find his trusted terminal again for the matches against Benfica, Copenhagen and Chelsea.

THE ALTERNATIVE

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Obviously, it is not advisable to rush when the muscle problem has turned out to be so serious. So it is still early to be able to set a date with certainty. In any case, if Lukaku is not available for the trip to Portugal, he could return for the match with Udinese in the championship, the last one before flying to Saudi Arabia. Not much left now.