Real Madrid may not have to face Inter’s best player next week
Real Madrid are still in search of their first Champions League win this season, and they will play against Inter Milan next Tuesday.
This week, Real Madrid managed to rescue a point against Borussia Monchengladbach on the road in their second Champions League fixture, somewhat recovering from an embarrassing loss – including a failed late comeback – against Shakhtar Donetsk at home the week before.
Still, the result from Los Blancos wasn’t good enough, even if they can argue they were unlucky to have fallen behind 2-0 in the first place Real didn’t complete their chances, had their usual issues with movement in the final third, and were caught out of the counter repeatedly by the efficient Gladbach duo of Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram.
Next week, Real Madrid need to shoot for the full three points against their toughest opponents in the group in last season’s Serie A title contenders, Inter Milan.
They may get a boost, though, if they do not have to face superstar striker Romelu Lukaku. The unselfish forward, who has been linked to Los Merengues in transfer rumors, suffered an injury in the club’s own draw this week with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Romelu Lukaku could be out against Real Madrid with an adductor injury
In an official statement posted on their website, Inter state that Lukaku has a muscle strain in his left adductor and is considered day-to-day.
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He only has a limited amount of time to recover before Inter face Real on Tuesday night at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. So Inter could be faced with the prospect of playing against the most talented team in the group without their star striker.
Real Madrid always want to play against teams at their best to prove they are at the best, and everyone hates seeing players get injured, especially someone as kind-hearted and gifted as Lukaku. But for a team that is reeling right now, Real would benefit from not having to mark or account for Lukaku, who knows how to find space and how to finish.
The 27-year-old has been Inter’s best attacking player by some distance with five goals this season already in Serie A. Lukaku is more than a goal-scorer, too, as he has 1.4 key passes per game and 2.0 dribbles completed per game in league competition, per WhoScored.com.
In the Champions League specifically, Lukaku’s brace rescued a 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach in the first round, so he was quite literally the difference for his club again. His link-up play with Achraf Hakimi is already excellent.
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Lukaku means everything to Inter, so if he’s out, that increases Real’s chances greatly. Think about it this way. To get the same result against Gladbach, Inter needed Lukaku to score twice. Both Real and Inter have a lot to prove going into this game, and the road team would be at a serious disadvantage without the brilliant Belgian. But we will have to keep an eye on Lukaku’s status in order to judge whether or not he’ll play. Stay tuned.