Leader, Driving Force, Goal Machine – Lautaro Martinez At The Heart Of Inter Milan Champions League Run | OneFootball

Lautaro Martinez has been a “goal machine” and a real driving force for Inter Milan in the Champions League this season.

This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews.

Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez will wear the armband in a Champions League semifinal for the first time at the end of this month.

The Argentine has already gone as far as the final of the competition. But that was before he had become the captain.

And the armband seems to have unlocked something in Martinez.

Lautaro Martinez “Goal Machine” At The Heart Of Inter Champions League Run

MILAN, ITALY – APRIL 16: Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale celebrates with his team-mate Benjamin Pavard after scoring their team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Quarter Final Second Leg match between FC Internazionale Milano and FC Bayern München at San Siro on April 16, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Martinez had played his role in Inter’s run to the Champions League final in the 2022-23 season.

However, this time around, the 27-year-old has been right at the heart of the team’s success.

That has been the case in terms of goals from the Inter captain.

Lautaro Martinez has scored in six out of Inter’s last five matches in Europe. He scored the decisive goals against Sparta Prague before netting a hattrick against Monaco.

Then, the Inter captain also got himself on the scoresheet against Feyenoord in the round of sixteen.

But it was in the quarterfinals against Bayern Munich that Martinez truly stepped up.

The Argentine scored the first goal in the tie in Munich. He found the back of the net with a spectacular outside-of-the-boot finish.

Then, Martinez’s goal in the second leg on Wednesday was not nearly as impressive as that Trivela finish in the first. But it was every bit as important.

Martinez was the player who stepped up with the response to Bayern getting themselves level in the tie.

The Inter captain reacted faster than anyone to put the ball in the back of the net from a corner kick with a toe poke finish.

And that summed up the influence that Martinez had on the tie as a whole.

The Argentine was not just crucial for his goals. His holdup play put the Bayern backline under constant pressure and gave Inter a clear route up the pitch.

This was emblematic of how Martinez is now truly the “driving force” for the Nerazzurri.