Lautaro, 14 goals in the Champions League like Adriano: "Amazing achievement"
Team
— Jan 23rd 2025The goal from the Inter captains gifts Inter the win over Sparta Praha and fourth post after matchday seven in the League Phase of the Champions League
A beautiful, crucial goal. The Inter captain, the number 10, the leader. After his masterpiece against Empoli, he produced another wonder-strike. Always crucial. Lautaro Martinez's goal in the 12th minute decided the game against Sparta Praha. The perfect assist from Bastoni, the coordination for the flying volley, all for the goal. Wonderful and decisive, an El Toro classic. A goal that reshapes the standings and tweaks the statistics. His 140th Inter goal (just three goals behind Benito Lorenzi), and most importantly, number 14 in Uefa Champions League. A special number: Adriano scored 14 for Inter in the Champions League, making him the all-time top scorer for the club in the competition until today. The statistics are clear: Lautaro reaches 14 goals in 51 appearances for Inter in the Champions League, thus matching Adriano at the top of the rankings when it comes to all-time goals scored for the club in the competition. If we delve into further detail: Adriano has also scored four goals in the competition's qualifiers, in addition to his 14 goals in the UEFA Champions League. The tally: Lautaro has scored 14 in 51 appearances in the UEFA Champions League. Adriano scored 18 goals in 30 appearances, including four appearances and four goals in the qualifiers. Moving onto the European Cup, Sandro Mazzola scored 17 in 38 appearances in the competition. Scary numbers, Nerazzurri numbers, which Lautaro commented on his post-match interview.
“14 goals just like Adriano in the Champions League is a hugely significant achievement, because there have been so many great Inter players to play in this competition. This is an important number, I have to keep improving to reach certain objectives and win everything that we are playing for. The match against Sparta: they had nothing to lose, we passed the ball a lot in the first half and we did well, then we lacked something and we need to improve on this, because it's been like that since the start of the season. The goal? I pulled back from the edge of the box to try that play, then Bastoni put in a ball to the back post and then I arrived. What has changed in my performance? I have worked harder, it's something I learned from my father who played football: when things aren't going well you have to keep your head down and work even harder. I've worked twice as hard, but even when things weren't going well, I always played for my teammates and for the team. I'm happy but I need to keep going down this path. Thinking about the Champions League: we're still one step away from making it to the top-eight, we need to finish strong against Monaco at San Siro. ”
Lautaro Martinez