CM: Tammy takes on Tammy – Inter vs. Milan becomes duel of the back-up strikers | OneFootball

Among the many sub-plots to the second leg between Inter and AC Milan tonight there is that of the back-up strikers who could become heroes.

Calciomercato.com report that Simone Inzaghi and Sergio Conceicao have chosen: they are will have Mehdi Taremi and Tammy Abraham lead them into battle respectively. The former will pair up with Lautaro Martinez, while the latter is preferred to Luka Jovic and Santiago Gimenez.

Parallel paths diverge

The Iranian and the Englishman arrived in the summer to be the reserves in attack. The Nerazzurri striker has been below expectations, while the Rossoneri centre-forward has netted 10 goals. Now they find themselves facing each other on the road to the final.

Inzaghi, according to the latest news, will prefer Taremi to Joaquin Correa, who was the starter in the first leg three weeks ago. It is a sign of trust, and an opportunity not to be missed in a season in which the Iranian has been a real disappointment.

The numbers speak for him: 36 games and three goals in a total of 1,508 minutes. Among those, many insufficient performances, not least those against Bayern Munich at San Siro and against Bologna at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.

Inzaghi will give him this chance in place of the injured Marcus Thuram. He also replaced him in the Supercoppa Italiana final, perhaps Taremi’s best performance of the season as he scored to make it 2-0, before Milan came roaring back to win 3-2. That was also the Iranian’s only non-penalty goal.

Abraham arrived to alternate with Alvaro Morata, he played two games as a starter in the Champions League, 11 in the league and three in the Coppa Italia. It has been a season of ups and downs for the Englishman, who found himself competing with Gimenez and Jovic after Morata left.

With Paulo Fonseca first and with Conceicao now he has struggled for consistent starts. Yet, the cup has been his specialty, with that winner in the Supercoppa final in addition to four Coppa Italia goals: one vs. Sassuolo, two vs. Roma and one in the first leg vs. Inter.

What the future holds

Taremi signed a contract until June 2027 at €3m net per season. His first year in Italy was a disappointment, but who knows, maybe in the derby there will be a surge of pride from the former Porto man.

Abraham, on the other hand, has a more uncertain situation regarding his future. In the agreement with Roma – which included Alexis Saelemaekers’ move to the Giallorossi – there is no mention of a buy-out clause and what will happen in the summer is still to be decided.

This was also confirmed by Geoffrey Moncada before the game against Atalanta: “With Roma, between Saelemaekers and Abraham, they are two different loans: we have to talk about them as two different loans.”

Now, however, it’s time for the derby. Taremi against Abraham. The first to gain the affection of the fans and convince Inzaghi, the second to continue to be the scarecrow of the Nerazzurri and say goodbye – possibly – to Milan with three goals in five derbies and maybe another trophy.