Not good news for Inter is coming from the infirmary. After the injury suffered in the first half of the Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona, Lautaro Martínez underwent instrumental examinations this morning at the Humanitas Institute in Rozzano. The outcome confirmed a left thigh flexor elongation, an injury that, although not serious, forces him to a stop with recovery time still undetermined. Surely the Nerazzurri captain will miss the league match against Verona scheduled for Saturday, May 3, at the San Siro.

The Nerazzurri captain had stopped in the 43rd minute of the Montjuïc challenge after feeling a twinge during a restart sprint. The Inter medical staff, with great care, avoided risks by asking Lautaro to wait until halftime to change so as not to burn a slot. Returning to Milan as early as the next day, the Argentine striker immediately made himself available to the medical staff to assess his condition.

The club’s official statement speaks of a muscle injury unaccompanied by injury, but does not give an opinion on the date of his return:“conditions will be evaluated day by day,” reads the note published on the club’s channels. The goal remains to try a speedy recovery to be available next Tuesday at the San Siro for the return leg of the Champions League semifinal against Barcelona. However, at the moment, his presence remains in strong doubt.

For Simone Inzaghi this is a heavy loss, both for the technical value of the Nerazzurri’s top scorer and for his charisma and leadership. While waiting for further updates, Inter is preparing to face one of the most important matches of the season, hoping for the miracle recovery of its “Toro.”

The countdown is now winding down: in a week’s time, Friday, May 9, the Giro d’Italia 2025 will officially start with an unprecedented and symbolic stage from Durres to Tirana, Albania. There will be 184 riders at the start, representing 23 teams, each with eight men. The pink race promises spectacle, with an elite participation that includes five former winners: Nairo Quintana (2014), Richard Carapaz (2019), Egan Bernal (2021), Jai Hindley (2022) and Primoz Roglic, last year’s triumphant rider.

It will be Roglic, 35, who will start with the number 1 on his back, ready to defend the title but with a young and fierce opponent: Juan Ayuso, 22, is considered the rising star of Spanish cycling. The two have already put on a show at the Volta Catalunya, where Roglic got the better of them, but the duel could ignite the entire race all the way to Milan.

Along with them, many other names to keep an eye on for the general classification: Mikel Landa, Simon Yates, Pello Bilbao, David Gaudu, Antonio Tiberi (back from physical problems), not forgetting Italians Giulio Ciccone and Damiano Caruso. Also of note are the presence of quality climbers such as Romain Bardet, Thymen Arensman and Michael Storer.

On the stages and sprints front, the Giro will feature top names such as Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Thomas Pidcock, Diego Ulissi and Jakob Fuglsang. For the sprints, a big battle is expected with Olav Kooij as the man to beat, followed by Kaden Groves, Sam Bennett and Matteo Moschetti.

Finally, the two time trials – a short one in Albania and a longer one from Lucca to Pisa – will offer terrain for specialists such as Edoardo Affini, Joshua Tarling and Mattia Cattaneo. Everything is set for three weeks of excitement, twists and turns and pink jersey dreams.

Inter between satisfaction and regret for the 3-3 away win at the Barcelona ground, with the Champions League final within the reach of the Nerazzurri who, however, saw themselves come back from 2-0 down and then 3-2 down by the Blaugrana. This is why Marcus Thuram doesn’t trust the Nerazzurri’s result ahead of the return match at San Siro.

“After the draw away from home, the challenge against Barcelona remains 50-50 – Thuram said in an ’interview with ‘CBS Sports’ -. I think they will have a lot of ball possession in Milan as well, but Inter play at home so we should improve in that aspect as well. But the match will probably be similar in performance to what we saw in the’first leg”.

Thuram then anticipated a possible tactical key that could help his Inter team in the return semifinal: “Barcelona always plays high. But when you have 11 players who press you constantly, and they often do it inside your own half of the field, you have to find a solution to contain them. To defend you have to stay low, and that isn&#8217t easy, but then you can break away on the counterattack and become you dangerous”.

“The field is very big, but Barcelona is able to cover it all with their pressing. Playing against champions of this level is a nightmare, but we can also go against their goalkeeper when he controls the ball. Their technical level is very high, and they know how to get between the lines. To succeed, Inter will have to do the same” Thuram concluded.