No point waving the red Arsenal jersey in front of him, the ‘Toro’, as he is nicknamed in Serie A and Argentina, is already very pumped up. Sunday evening after his team’s laborious victory against poorly ranked Venice (1-0), the Argentine striker exploded, live on the ‘DAZN’ platform, to the surprise of his interlocutors, hardly used to seeing him so vehement .
Certainly there was victory in the end, he noted, “but it’s not just a question of points, it’s also a question of state of mind”: “We must learn to kill matches when we dominate them like this” he fumed.
A few minutes earlier, as he left his teammates in the 71st minute ahead of the duel against ArsenalMartinez, 27, rushed to the referee at the final whistle to criticize him for prolonged added time. “This makes me angry,” he even shouted, summarizing the feeling that has been driving him for several days.
It all started with the Ballon d’Or award ceremony on October 28: top scorer in the Italian Championship and the Copa America, competitions he won with Inter and Argentina, Martinez saw himself finishing much higher than seventh in the standings. “I sincerely hoped for better, but at the same time, these trophies are sometimes not awarded fairly,” he said, bitter.
First home goal since February
And Lautaro Martinez is nervous whileInter Milan is 2nd in Serie A, one point behind leader Naples, and that the Lombard club has pocketed seven points out of nine possible in C1, it’s also because his start to the season leaves him hungry.
His statistics (5 goals in the league, one in C1) are clearly down compared to last season (12 in the championship after the 11th day, one in C1 before the 4th day). His agreement with Marcus Thuram, so explosive during the 2023-24 season concluded with a twentieth league title for Inter, is for the moment less effective.
“The reason is simple,” defended the N.10 nerazzurro who scored 44 goals last season for club, “I came back to training late with the Copa America, I’ve been working hard since and I feel it’s coming back“. As proof, he scored his first goal at San Siro in Serie A on Sunday since …. February 2024, an eight-month drought at home, and he will start on Wednesday for the first time of the season in the Champions League .
Simone Inzaghi did not want to take any risks with her scorer who this summer extended his contract until 2029. Martinez only had 79 minutes of C1 to get his teeth into, not enough for the moment to be able to make an impression with a view to the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
But that could quickly change if he were to take his nerves out on Arsenal, seven points collected in C1 like Inter but down in the championship (5th) with only one point taken in their last three matches.
