Lautaro Martinez has warned Liverpool that Inter Milan have their ‘wickedness’ back ahead of visiting Anfield for their Champions League last 16 second-leg.
The Nerazzurri will arrive in Merseyside on Tuesday looking to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit. Second-half goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah sealed Jurgen Klopp’s side victory at the San Siro last month.
Inter Milan dominated much of the second period before Andrew Robertson fed Firmino for the Reds’ breakthrough. But Simone Inzaghi’s men failed to open the scoring, despite hitting the crossbar and coming close.
Martinez, particularly, enjoyed a glorious chance to beat Alisson when Ivan Perisic played an enticing cross into the box. But the Argentine failed to connect with the ball amid a dry run of form for the 37-cap international.
The 24-year-old has not scored in the Champions League so far this season after playing all seven fixtures. He had also not scored in Serie A since December 17 before facing Liverpool after six barren matches.
But Martinez will now travel to England to face Liverpool in great form after hitting a hat-trick for Inter Milan to beat Salernitana 5-0 on Friday night. He now has 15 goals across 36 appearances in all competitions this term.
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Martinez warns Liverpool that Inter Milan have their ‘wickedness’ back
Inter Milan were also out of form when Liverpool visited Martinez’s side in the Champions League. Friday’s win over Salernitana is just the Nerazzurri’s third Serie A victory after eight games in 2022 so far.
But Martinez, via quotes by Gianluca Di Marzio, now warns Klopp he will not face the same threat at Anfield next week.
“An important match is approaching for us,” Martinez said. “Today, we had to demonstrate many things. We lost a bit of wickedness and personality, today we recovered it against a team that comes to you.
“It’s amazing that in this period either I don’t score or I do three. In the last few weeks, I have talked a lot with my family in Argentina and my friends, even with my wife in bed, because I was sad.
“I want to dedicate the goal to my daughter, who has just turned one. In the embrace with Inzaghi there was trust: he always fights with us. In Liverpool, we are going to try to move forward, which is our dream.”