Inter Milan President Downplays Captain Being Benched Vs Man City: ‘Doesn’t Have To Be Big News’ | OneFootball

Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta feels that Lautaro Martinez being on the bench against Man City “shouldn’t be big news.”

The Nerazzurri President spoke to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, ahead of the Nerazzurri’s Champions League opener this evening.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has made a couple of eye-catching decisions in his team selection this evening.

Piotr Zielinski and Yann Bisseck take the places of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Benjamin Pavard respectively.

And Carlos Augusto starts on the left flank for Inter. That much is less of a surprise, as Federico Dimarco is absent due to injury.

But the biggest piece of team news has come in the form of Inter captain Lautaro Martinez dropping to the bench.

The Argentine started for Inter in their Serie A match against Monza over the weekend.

However, Martinez failed to score or assist a goal in that match.

It has now been three matches for Martinez in which the Inter captain has not gotten on the scoresheet – he did not feature against Lecce due to injury.

Moreover, Martinez’s performances as a whole have been quite unconvincing.

A lack of fitness has been evident as the 27-year-old has not really been able to set the tone with his lively linkup play and intense defensive effort as he does at his best.

Inter President Marotta: “Lautaro Being Benched Vs Man City Shouldn’t Be Big News”

On recent form, it’s not surprising to see Martinez out of Inter’s starting eleven for their Champions League opener.

But there is still something odd about it.

Martinez wears the captain’s armband for Inter. He has a huge leadership role in the team.

And leadership is certainly something that the Nerazzurri will need for a match like this evening’s.

However, Inter President Marotta doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal.

“Matches go on for 95-100 minutes,” the Nerazzurri President noted.

“And who thinks they know how to make team decisions better than Inzaghi?”

“These assessments re based on technical, tactical, and also physical factors,” Marotta said. Perhaps hinting at the fact that Martinez is still not in anywhere near his best condition.

“Let’s not forget that Lautaro has had a very busy scheduled with Argentina,” the Inter Preisdent added.

Marotta said that “We have a competitive squad. It shouldn’t be news when one player or another does or doesn’t play.”