Lautaro Injury Update For Inter As Barcelona Look To Recover Lewandowski Ahead Of UCL Clash

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It is going to be a tough encounter at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium next week Tuesday between Inter Milan and Barcelona in the second leg of their UEFA Champions league semi-final clash and both teams are trying to have their best players available.

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After the first leg in Spain that ended in a 3-3 draw, it is an open game since there is no more away goal rule and for the reigning Serie A champions, they’re really sweating on the fitness of their striker and captain, Lautaro Martinez after he picked up an injury at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

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He had to be substituted before the second half and he will now face a race against time to be fit for the second leg clash. He went through test at the club today and it was found that he has an elongation of the flexor muscles in his left thigh and his condition will be reviewed day by day until Tuesday.

The best-case scenario would see him go to the bench at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium next week as it takes at least one week to recover, but it is looking likely that Benjamin Pavard will recover for this particular clash. Both players should skip this weekend’s home game against Hellas Verona.

Meanwhile, Barcelona head coach, Hansi Flick has revealed that Robert Lewandowski might be back in time to face Inter, revealing that the Poland international has progressed better than we expected in his injury rehab. They were without their leading scorer for the first leg as he has been out with a muscular injury since mid-April.

Lewandowski has so far scored 40 goals across all competitions this season. With 25 of those coming in LaLiga, the 36-year-old is currently third in the race for this season’s European Golden Shoe, behind Viktor Gyokeres of Sporting CP and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah as the Blaugrana will look to complete a treble win this season.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Barcelona’s upcoming LaLiga match against Real Valladolid, Flick confirmed that Lewandowski is in contention to feature against Inter on Tuesday, although he was unable to give any firm guarantees. “We have to wait and see how things progress day by day,” Flick said. “Robert is progressing very well, and we’ll have to see what Balde does,” he continued.

“He (Lewandowski) could be back for the second leg against Inter. Robert is doing very well and his progress is much better than we expected. We’ll have to see. He’s a great professional and always works hard to be 100%. He might be back on Tuesday.” He concluded. In a related development, Antonio Conte has sent his compliments to his former club Inter after their performance against Barça.

He feels that the Nerazzurri are representing Italy and helping to bring Serie A back to an important level. Inter and Napoli are locked into a battle for the Serie A title, with just three points separating the two teams with four games left to go. Inter, meanwhile, have also been in Champions League unlike the Partenopei who have no other distractions.

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Conte, like Pep Guardiola praised Inter for their showing during his pre-match press conference today. “First we have to congratulate them, and these are not fake compliments, because Inter are representing Italy and they are bringing us prestige, joy and an understanding that the Italian league is of an important level and, that Napoli, by giving Inter a hard time, are doing something extraordinary,” Conte told the press.

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