The premonitory speech of Lautaro Martínez and Diego Milito: the coincidences that invite Inter to dream of winning another Champions League

In 2010 Diego Milito had his dream game. It happened to him in the Champions League final, the most important event in European football. That May 22nd the Argentine was the figure of Inter against Bayern Munich and scored a brace for the Milan side to stay with the postponed Orejona for more than three decades. Thirteen years later, the nerazzurri return to the definition of the greatest trophy of the Old Continent. And from the hand of Lautaro Martínez. Coincidences invite fans to dream. The two Argentinians The two forwards. The two emerged in Racing. The last one: the day in which Toro made his debut in the Academy shirt, he replaced none other than Diego Milito. As if he had received his testimony. Now he wants to be his heir, bringing the Milanese to the top too.

Earlier this week, Inter Milan shared part of a conversation between Lautaro Martínez and Diego Milito with the preview of the Champions League classic as the centerpiece of the conversation. The Prince passed on his inheritance to Lautaro, in a conversation that ultimately ended up being premonitory.

“First of all I want to say thank you. Thank you for what you have done, for what you have made us live, you and your teammates,” declared the former Racing manager before obtaining the selection in Qatar. And immediately there was a request from Milito al Toro.

“Now I want to see you lift that trophy (the Champions). I wish it with all my heart” confessed the former striker, to which Lautaro replied: “It’s the most important thing after the World Cup. After winning that cup, one has the motivation to win more, as you certainly did when you won the Champions League. They are the two most beautiful trophies in the world.”

Inter and tradition with the Argentines

Inter’s love stories with Argentine footballers already seem to be the order of the day. That European night in May 2010 Lautaro was 13 while he was writing the Prince wrote history with his brace against Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabéu. After achieving what meant their third Champions League, the Scudetto-level destination for the Neroazurros was not the best, only qualifying for a Europa League final in 2020 was the biggest achievement to date.

But this Tuesday Inter touched the European sky again and once again an Argentinian (and former Racing) was fundamental: it’s his number “10” and team captain, Lautaro Martínez.

That year, UEFA chose Diego Milito as their player of the year. And El Toro is the Argentine with the best performance so far in 2023. Thus, little by little, Lautaro begins to follow the path that the Prince has traced in the Nerazzurri. The world champion striker is having the best season of his career (25 goals and 10 assists), which allowed him to become the captain of the team. And this Tuesday he stole the covers of the Italian media after scoring the only goal of the Champions League semi-final against Milan, thus reaching 10 goals in the European Cup.

And Lautaro did not fail. He has respected the Argentine lineage of scoring in important fixtures for Inter. There are also several similarities between the two Argentine “matadores”. Fans count and dream. The two are idols in the same Italian city where they arrived as ambassadors of the Biancoceleste side of Avellaneda.

In Racing it was the first place where “succession” happened. Even in real time. Like the day Riquelme replaced Maradona in a Superclásico, El Toro did it with Milito on October 31, 2015 at the Cilindro de Avellaneda against Crucero del Norte.

“He’s extraordinary and he’s showing it. He recently said he needed to improve in handling yellow cards and he succeeded. I like his ability to stay inside the box, his eye for goal,” said the former Zaragoza when Lautaro set up at Inter in 2019.

And now, face to face, he told her his wish: “I want to see you raise that glass, now,” he said as he saw a photo of himself on a giant screen, holding the Orejona, the top.

Inter fans have something to get excited about knowing they are back in the Champions League final thanks to an Argentinian striker. However, in both teams that reached the last European match there was an overpopulation of players from our country.

In 2010, in that team commanded by José Mourinho, in addition to Milito there were Walter Samuel, Esteban Cambiasso and the captain Javier Zanetti who was transferred to Inter in 1995 and remained at Milan forever.

Now, in addition to the presence of Martínez, Joaquín Correa and Valentín Carboni there are the other Argentines in the squad. The history between the black and blue team and the world champion country does not seem to be a coincidence.

Inter also arrived in both finals with a formidable attacking duo. At the time Milito was accompanied by the Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o, while Lautaro varied between Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku.