Two Major Injury Doubts For Inter Ahead Of Their Champions League Opener Against Ajax

Written By Onyeka Daniel

After the disappointment of the Derby d’Italia loss for former Serie A champions, Inter Milan over the weekend, it is time to turn a new chapter as they prepare to begin their UEFA Champions league adventure for the new season and the idea would be to start off on the right foot.

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For the Nerazzurri, they would want to banish the ghost of last season’s final loss to PSG with five goals without reply, but that task might have just gotten harder as they’re set to miss a key player for this upcoming encounter that would be away from home.

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According to reports, Inter captain Lautaro Martinez didn’t train with the rest of the team on Tuesday due to back pain and could miss tomorrow’s Champions League match against Ajax, while Matteo Darmian has been ruled out because of a similar issue.

The Argentine forward who had arrived late for the 4-3 loss to Juventus on Saturday but steal featured is now in doubt for their next encounter as he didn’t train with the rest of the team on the eve of the game but there’s no indication yet on how long he might be out for.

Gazzetta and other Italian media report that Lautaro only trained in the gym and not on the pitch due to back pain, but still travelled to Amsterdam with the rest of the squad and as for Darmian, he remained in Milan due to low back pain and his absence will not be highly felt unlike Lautaro.

Meanwhile, Cristian Chivu will provide updates more updates on the situation at a press conference today but should he be unable to feature, either one of Ange-Yoan Bonny or Francesco Pio Esposito will replace him in the starting line-up alongside Marcus Thuram in attack.

Lautaro scored nine goals in 14 Champions League appearances last season, his best-ever campaign in Europe’s elite club competition, while Bonny and Pio Esposito have yet to make their debut in the tournament and they will be expected to at least feature tomorrow at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

In a related development, controversial figure, Antonio Cassano has revealed his high expectations for new Inter manager, Chivu despite his unenviable start at San Siro as he spoke about his former club and issues relating to them this season so far on Twitch at Viva el Fútbol.

The former striker who has been a heavy critic of former coach, Simone Inzaghi praised Chivu’s managerial skills even after his not so great start to life as Inter coach as he made the summer move from Parma (helped them avoid relegation mid-season) to Inter.

After failing to land Cesc Fabregas, Inter turned to the 44-year-old to replace Inzaghi. Though his appointment raised a few eyebrows, the ex-defender impressed on his touchline debut in Serie A, a 5-0 win over Torino which revived optimism but it had since gone downhill from their.

Following a lackluster 2-1 home loss to Udinese, Inter slumped to a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat against Juventus over the weekend and the most troubling aspect is that they dropped points from winning positions on both occasion, but for Cassano, he believes Chivu can still succeed at Inter.

“Chivu will become a fantastic coach,” Cassano admitted. “I like his idea of football, the way he speaks and understands the game. He will become a top coach. He had also made his point by insisting on Lookman at all costs, and the club was about to satisfy him.” He continued.

“Because with Lookman, he would have played a different kind of football, but then the club went after other profiles and brought in Diouf, the youngster. You can’t take prisoners and I’ll be specific.” He then went on to give his opinion on the best formation for this team.

“Inter must play in a 4-2-3-1. Akanji and De Vrij in the middle, Carlos Augusto and Dumfries on the wings. De Vrij in 2014 was one of the top three defenders of the World Cup. Bastoni out, because he keeps making mistakes one after another.” He said.

”He used to be one of my protégés, but first you need to know how to mark, how to move, then if you can also play football you’re a top player – and Bastoni is not. Calhanoglu should have been sold, but if he stays, he is decisive for Inter. He laid it all on the line, the other day he made the difference, a fantastic match.”

“Calhanoglu and Sucic in midfield, Luis Henrique on the right, Thuram on the left a bit sacrificed. Zielinski as the attacking midfielder, he’s the only one who can really do something, behind Lautaro. Leave out Dimarco, Mkhitaryan, unpopular choices must be made.”

“Bastoni, sit down, out. Barella hasn’t been producing for two years, you earn 7 million euros, sit down. Bastoni sit down, Dimarco sit down, that way you can revitalize the group. If things go well you can put them back in. Otherwise we’ll see again the 3-5-2 of the other one.”

“But let’s not forget that after the 5-0 against Torino everyone said it was spectacular football, and now they’ve all jumped off the bandwagon. Chivu is a fantastic coach, if I were advising him I’d tell him this: use the 4-2-3-1 to change something.” He further added in his controversial manner.

“He must be credible. Lautaro, you arrived Friday, you’re tired? Fine, I’ll put you on for the last 30 minutes. Marotta, instead of just giving interviews and then leaking stuff, shouldn’t play the shell game. Inter don’t have dribblers, they don’t have players who solve problems in midfield.”

“Sucic and Diouf are for the future, but if Mkhitaryan keeps playing. Then there’s also the Frattesi question. Everybody wanted him, you kept him, and I haven’t seen him in these games. The club hasn’t helped Chivu evolve his ideas, he has few alternatives.”

Read Also: Contrasting Reports On Inter’s Attack As Lazio Reject Their First Offer For Nicolo Rovella

“Does he want to play more directly? On the wings, there’s Luis Henrique, who can play wide, if he has courage, he can pull himself out of trouble, otherwise he’ll struggle – but I continue to believe he’s good.” He concluded in his assessment of the team.

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