Real Madrid vs Inter: Lautaro Calls Champions League Win an Objective | OneFootball

Inter captain Lautaro Martinez says winning the Champions League is a genuine objective for the club, speaking ahead of the Nerazzurri’s opening 2026-27 league phase fixture against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday 8 September.

According to Football Italia, the captain sat alongside head coach Cristian Chivu at the pre-match press conference in the Spanish capital. Asked directly whether Europe’s top prize is a dream or a target, Lautaro was unambiguous: it’s an objective, not an obsession, and something he has repeated since first arriving at the club.

Facing Madrid’s Champions After an Early Exit

Lautaro acknowledged Real Madrid field a squad full of champions and top-level players, but insisted Inter have their own weapons and a group that consistently performs at the highest level. He pointed to last season’s early Champions League exit as a lesson to be learned from, while noting Inter’s past European pedigree against elite opposition, including previous wins over Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as detailed in this recent preview of the Bernabeu trip.

The fixture opens Inter’s 2026-27 Champions League league-phase schedule, and Lautaro made clear the ambition remains to push as far as possible.

Preparation, Pressing and the Collective

With limited turnaround time after Saturday’s league win over Napoli, Lautaro said Inter had prepared as well as circumstances allowed and had recovered their energy in time for Madrid. He described the modern centre-forward’s defensive workload as something that varies by team and coach, but comes naturally to him given the pressing demands Chivu asks of his attackers.

On his own scoring form, discussed further in this piece on the captain’s recent comments and priorities, Lautaro brushed aside talk of his big-match numbers, stressing that the team’s result matters more than individual tallies and that he has scored plenty of important goals throughout his career.

Mbappe, Mourinho, Alvarez and Messi

Responding to Kylian Mbappe’s praise, Lautaro called the Frenchman one of the best strikers in the world while insisting Inter’s own quality demands respect too. On Jose Mourinho, the former Inter head coach now central to this fixture’s storyline, Lautaro said he deserves enormous credit for what he achieved at the club, though he stressed he wasn’t at Inter during that era and that his focus is entirely on the present.

Asked about Julian Alvarez’s difficult spell at Atletico Madrid, Lautaro called him a friend and hoped he returns to his best. On Lionel Messi’s international retirement, he said the moment had long been expected, calling it significant news for the national team and vowing to carry forward everything Messi taught him.