In recent years, Martinez has built a high-level offensive duo with all the teammates he has shared the pitch with: from the Belgian to the Frenchman, through to the Bosnian. While the two Argentinians only touched each other with Spalletti who rarely used them together because he rarely gave up the 4-2-3-1
– MILAN
The LuLa, the DzeLa, now the ThuLa. Tandem of 9 and 10 who have made Inter’s fortune in recent years, all with a common denominator: Lautaro Martinez. The perfect partner on which to build an offensive cup: a bit of first striker and a bit of second striker, bomber of the penalty area and chip in the spaces left free by his teammate. It all started with Antonio Conte and in the idyll with Lukaku, the man who arrived in 2019 in place of Icardi. Beppe Marotta downplayed Maurito’s stormy farewell on the occasion of the Sports Festival, choosing the current Galatasaray player in the “challenge” with Big Rom. And then you can push your imagination: what a couple it would have been, the one between Icardi and the bull? The name is already there, different from those of the other three couples: Ica-ro. A couple… mythological, all Argentinian.
THE LULA
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One could support the thesis according to which Maurito is a solo striker, a first striker who plays alone. But Lautaro, in recent seasons with the Nerazzurri, has been able to fit in with everyone. With the pivot Lukaku, with the offensive director Dzeko, with the “fluid” Thuram. Each with his own characteristics, all different from each other, yet the Bull was not affected. Indeed: in LuLa he was considered the Belgian’s sidekick, now he is the leader recognized by all. He has grown visibly. The feeling with Marcus is as strong as it was with the current Roma player, a former friend with whom he will share the pitch as an opponent next October 29th after having teamed up 109 times at Inter. There were many memorable LuLa matches, especially in version 1.0, before Lukaku’s return to Milan: the 3-1 in Prague and the one in Naples, the 5-0 against Shakhtar in the Europa League, the 3-0 in the scudetto derby of 2021 after the 3-1 against Lazio.
DZEKO AND THURAM
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An axis – the LuLa – that seemed impossible to replicate, yet Toro transforms all the pairs into perfect tandems: together with Dzeko he gave the Nerazzurri several cups and contributed to taking Inter to the Champions League final, with Edin scoring in the first Euroderby and the Argentine in the second leg (but Lukaku gave him the assist…). Now it’s Thuram’s turn to enjoy the benefits of having Lautaro at his side: they look for each other, they find each other, they score. The two of them have scored 14 goals this year (11 for the Argentine, three for the French), some of which as a duo, with assists and goals: think of the former ‘Gladbach’s support for Martinez’s right-footed shot from outside the area against Bologna , or Toro’s first goal recently coming off the bench in Salerno. Lautaro is the ingredient that works with everything, so we can say that he is the perfect partner.
WITH ICARDI?
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So how would things have gone with Icardi? The two were together at Inter in Luciano Spalletti’s last year which was also Maurito’s last, as well as Lautaro’s first in Milan. In his first outing of the season, in 2018-19, the boy who recently arrived from Racing was deployed in support of Icardi and Inter lost on the pitch of De Zerbi’s Sassuolo. They were on the pitch together on Santo Stefano in the final against Napoli, when Lautaro decided the match due to the incidents between fans and racist insults towards Koulibaly. The rest is history, with the breakup in February 2019 between Icardi and the Nerazzurri world, with the consequent “promotion” of Toro to starter. Thanks to Spalletti’s use of the 4-2-3-1, in total the two shared the pitch 22 times, most of which only for moments. Who knows what it would have been… the Icaro, the all-albiceleste couple between the former and current captain. Wouldn’t it have worked? With a Lautaro like this, a man who marries perfectly with anyone, anything would be possible.
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