Inter's forward Romelu Lukaku will never win UEFA Europa League after Europa League

Own goal that closed Roma’s championship window.

Romelu Lukaku formally competed in the second European final in his life. The first happened at the very start of his career, and now without Wikipedia it is no longer possible to remember when it was.

May 2012, Lukaku spent his first season with Chelsea. He moved for 12 million euros and seemed like the heir of Didier Drogba – just as powerful and brutal in someone else’s penalty area. The season was lousy both for Roma and for the whole team – the Londoners had merged Andre Villas-Boas by March, got coach Roberto di Matteo and the veterans reached the Champions League title match.

UEFA Europa League

???? Sevilla won the tournament for the sixth time in 14 years

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Lukaku did not play for a second in European competition then, and did not even make it into the application for the decisive game with Bayern Munich. When the Blues dragged the final against the Germans in Munich on penalties, the locker room was full of people. With such victories, there are always singers and lackeys who are happy to join someone else’s success and take a sip of champion champagne, knowing full well that this is not their drink.

Romelu Lukaku, Champions League final 2011/12, Bayern – Chelsea, Munich

Фото: Getty Images

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Romelu is not one of those. “I don’t like being reminded of that Champions League. It was not me who won, but my team. When Salomon Kalu took the cup on the bus, I immediately asked him to remove it. I didn’t even want to touch the trophy, because I didn’t do anything at all to win ”, – seriously uttered 19 year old boy. For him, the Champions League was definitely a dream come true, but the guy set the bar higher – to become an important part of the coolest European company himself.

Eight years have passed since then. Lukaku did not become the second Drogba for Chelsea, and the Londoners easily abandoned him in favor of first West Brom, then Everton. In July 2017, Manchester United paid 85 million euros for the mature striker, and two seasons later, in frustration, fled to Inter for 65 toons.

Romelu Lukaku, Inter

Фото: Getty Images

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And throughout the entire journey, the 27-year-old man did not even come close to any decisive stages of the playoffs and regularly lost a lot in the championship. Moreover, in his entire career, Lukaku has gone through only two rounds of European competition – with Everton in 2014/15 and quite accidentally with Manchester United in 2018/19 (remember the PSG penalty for handball?). In other cases, his clubs either failed miserably, or did not survive in the race for titles.

It’s very dumb to call only Romelu guilty, he is a dependent forward. Unlike the conditional Messi, Rom does not close the team game on himself, and, unlike Ibrahimovic, does not overexpose the ball and obediently follows the coaching instructions. In Leo and Zlatan, it is easy to discern the reasons for the constant failures, in the post, which only puts his legs and head under the partners’ canopies – it seems that it is incredibly stupid.

Romelu Lukaku, Inter

Фото: Getty Images

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Lukaku had an amazing season for Inter – became the third striker in Serie A, lost only to Immobile with Cristiano, scored in the championship against Milan, Roma and Napoli, drove five goals in four playoff games of the Europa League and repeated the record great Ronaldo for goals in his debut season. The Belgian giant perfectly suited Antonio Conte’s system and eagerly ate its fruits, each of these achievements would be nice to share with one of the partners.

Romelu gave a clear performance in the fourth minute of the final with Sevilla: the penalty was purely his, the implementation was brilliant. There are no individual questions to the striker. Sister Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, after Juve’s departure from Lyon choked with delight from the Portuguese game: “My dear, you cannot work miracles alone. Anyway, head up, you couldn’t do more. ” After the defeat of “Inter” in the LE, it would be nice to monitor the social networks of Lukaku’s relatives – one of them probably issued a similar text about a good king and a bad retinue.

Of course, an own goal after Diego Carlos hit through himself is an accident. Yes, the Sevilla defender was probably missed by one of Romelu’s partners, although there were plenty of free partners next to the Brazilian, ready for the decisive shot. But another failure of the Belgian pillar is a fatal injustice. Lukaku will receive a consolation prize in the form of a statuette of the best striker in the Europa League, but he certainly has enough of the main award.

Antonio Conte will have plenty of time in the offseason to squabble with his superiors, refuse Lionel Messi’s transfer, and develop a three-defender formation. In this kind of football of the Milan club, there is definitely a place for Romelu Lukaku – an excellent finisher with top implementation. Young enough for important functions and flexible enough to remain in the starting lineup of an obstinate coach.

Antonio Conte, Romelu Lukaku, Inter

Photo: Imago

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Perhaps now Lukaku missed the last opportunity for a continental title – Inter has long stepped over the level of the Europa League, but Roma does not have so much time to wait for the required round of evolution of Conte’s team in the Champions League. He still has an occasional chance that the Nerazzurri, following the example of last year’s Atlético, will again collapse in the LE from the Champions League group, but it would be strange to lay on this.

It makes no sense for him to break into another club, because under Antonio obedient forwards only add and consistently bring 20 goals scored per season in attack. In the tactical progress of Lukaku, you need to look for motivation – after a couple of empty years for the club museum, the Belgian will be included in the lists of players who have always been cool, but have never achieved anything in terms of titles. Such ratings look very loud, the company is always selected in them, and the fans regularly feel sorry for the worthy men who fought on the lower floors and never won the main finals.

Romelu accidentally ricocheted into his own gates and received a delayed pass to this company. Yes, I really do not want to end his top career at 27, but the forward seems to be going down there to the applause of the fans at Giuseppe Meazza, to Di Natale and Quagliarella – great players who chose respect instead of victories. Perhaps then, in 2012, Lukaku should have touched the Champions Cup on a Chelsea bus. After all, he will never get to such titles again.