Inter, Dzeko or Lukaku? Who plays in the Champions League final

And now at Ataturk in Istanbul who will be Lautaro Martinez’s partner in attack? Simone Inzaghi’s choices from February onwards leave little room for doubt and, even if at the moment the physical condition of the two forwards concerned is tipping the balance decisively in favor of Romelu Lukaku, the feeling is that, without upheavals in next 16 days, Edin Dzeko will start in the 1st minute against Manchester City. Right? Wrong? As usual, the field will tell. What is certain is that in 2022-23 the choices of the former Lazio coach were all right and that in the 8 in or out of the season, whether it was a 180 minute match, a knockout match or a final , his Inter was perfect: two trophies lifted to the sky (the Super Cup in Riyadh on 18 January and the Italian Cup last night) plus opponents ousted from the race of the caliber of Milan, Benfica and Porto in the Champions League, Juventus, Atalanta and Parma in Italian Cup. On almost all of these occasions Edin Dzeko was the starter in attack and Romelu Lukaku on the bench. The only exception was Inter-Atalanta, where the Belgian started in the first minute. Big Rome he was often not in top condition due to the after-effects of the double injury to his left thigh, but if in winter the motivation for the choice… “held up”, now there are other assessments behind Inzaghi’s decision.

Rage and goal

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The Bosnian went off in the 58th minute of the match against Fiorentina quite angry: he wanted to play more or perhaps he was simply angry at having missed an uncomplicated opportunity when the team was still down in the score. The fact is that, as soon as he saw the number 9 light up on the fourth official’s billboard with the 90 (Lukaku’s) next to it, his blood boiled in his veins and on the bench he was unable to hold back his anger. Case opened and closed in the space of one night given that the trophy returned to Milan with Inter, but it is still an alarm bell. Dzeko has unblocked himself in recent weeks with a brace against Hellas Verona and with a goal in the first leg of the Euro-derby. Previously a fast of over 3 months that lasted in the league from 4 January and more generally from the Super Cup final on 18 January. Compared to the Belgian, he guarantees the team more tactical solutions because he meets the maneuver, ties up the game, gets the ball rolling and acts as an offensive playmaker, but the ex United’s numbers are eloquent. One might say… quite another thing. In the last 6 Champions League matches, the knockout ones, Romelu scored two goals, both crucial for going through, and he served Lautaro with an assist in the second leg of the Euro derby, but there’s much more: from from the beginning of April onwards he scored 8 goals, six of which in the league. In 2023 he is even in double figures with 11 goals for the nerazzurri and 4 for the national team. All right, in the Italian Cup final he was reprimanded because he didn’t always help in the non-possession phase (even his friend Lautaro, who had already been substituted, went as far as the touchline to call him back), but perhaps Lukaku had such a strong desire to beat Terracciano, who for once (and only for a few actions) thought more about his hunger for goals than the rest.

Last choice

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On Saturday against Atalanta, in a match that Inter absolutely cannot lose if they don’t want to complicate their run-up to qualifying for the next Champions League, the former Chelsea player will be in the starting lineup again and will want to demonstrate, as explained in an interview with a website at home, that “I feel this shirt is mine and I know that I have to give something more”. Then there will be the match against Turin on the last day and the Champions League final in Istanbul on 10 June. If Inzaghi has reached the epilogue in Europe, inside or outside par excellence on Turkish soil, always lining up Dzeko and Lautaro up front, logic leads us to think that he will do the same this time too. He found the team … in the Cup as the weeks went by, some of them particularly tough because he didn’t have the possibility to choose (Brozovic and Big Rome were not at the top), and has important beliefs. In addition, Dzeko will have the desire for revenge from the ex who played and won in City before being sold to Roma, when they made him understand that his time in Manchester was over. All right, but the best scorer in the history of the Belgian national team is perhaps in the best moment of form in his second adventure with the Nerazzurri shirt and has fire burning inside him. With Lautaro we understand perfectly and the loving dialogue that he had with the father of Bull, on the lawn of the Olimpico after the Cup final, certifies it. He will also be there on Monday for the wedding party between Lautaro and Agustina. In the hope, then, of finding him next to Ataturk from 1′ and making… a party with Guardiola, opponent of the Manchester derbies between United and City. But that’s another story.