Inter Milan & Argentina Superstar Needs Step Up In Champions League To Seriously Contend For Ballon D’Or | OneFootball

Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez will need to make a step up in the Champions League if he’s to seriously contend for the Ballon D’Or.

This is the view in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews.

It’s not terribly surprising to see Martinez as one of the names most prominently linked with the Ballon D;Or.

The 27-year-old is one of two Inter players on the thirty-player shortlist to win the award this year, along with midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.

Key to this inclusion has been the fact that Martinez has been decisive for both club and country.

For Inter, Martinez wore the captain’s armband for the first time last season. And he responded to the increase in responsibility by having his best season to date.

Martinez was not just Inter’s, but all of Serie A’s top scorer. He fired Inter to the Serie A title.

And then in the summer, Martinez was the top scorer at the Copa America. He scored the winner in the final as Argentina prevailed against Colombia in extra time.

Lautaro Martinez Needs Step Up In Champions League To Contend For Ballon D’Or.

There was one competition where Martinez did not show his best for Inter this year, however.

The Argentine was fairly anonymous in the first leg of Inter’s Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid in February.

Then in the decisive second leg, Martinez missed the penalty that sent Inter packing in the shootout.

That European disappointment was the one real lowlight of an otherwise stellar campaign for Inter and Martinez.

And that was not necessarily an aberration from Martinez.

The Argentine has had some impressive moments in the Champions League.

Moreover, Martinez also reached the final of the competition during the 2022-23 season. However, he was never really the decisive player for Inter on that run.

In the view of Tuttosport, stepping up on the biggest stage in the Champions League is the one thing that Martinez is missing in order to seriously put his name in the hat for the Ballon D’Or.