MILAN: Romelu Lukaku’s return to sparkling form has given Inter Milan an extra weapon ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final decider with AC Milan.

Out for much of the season with injuries and with a damaged reputation following a disastrous World Cup, Lukaku has slowly worked his way back to his best.

The Belgium striker, on loan at Inter from Chelsea, has scored five times and set up three more in his last six matches and his double in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Sassuolo highlighted his new-found confidence.

Lukaku celebrated his 30th birthday by beginning and ending the scoring at the San Siro, spinning and lashing home the opener from the edge of the box shortly before half-time and drilling in his eighth league goal of the season just before the end.

A striker in his sort of form should probably expect to be starting such a huge match on Tuesday, where Inter defend a 2-0 first leg lead in a bid to reach their first Champions League final since the last time they won it under Jose Mourinho 13 years ago.

However it will likely be veteran Edin Dzeko who partners Lautaro Martinez up front for the second of two huge derbies with Milan, with Lukaku set to come on as an impact substitute.

Manager Simone Inzaghi said on Monday that Lukaku had entered the final month of the season in the “best possible way” before adding that there are still some doubts over his fitness.

“Three games a week at the moment, I don’t even know if he can manage them,” he said.

Asked if the Belgian had returned to the level he had displayed during his first spell at Inter — during which he scored 64 goals in two seasons and won the Serie A title — Inzaghi told reporters: “You know him, you know what he can do.

“That’s what we expected during the year, unfortunately something unforeseen happened to both him and [Marcelo] Brozovic that took away two players who were indispensable for so many months.

“I can think of important games played without them, but what you see is a Lukaku who arrived at the last month in the best possible way.”

Inter CEO Beppe Marotta said on Saturday that there was a chance of Lukaku staying at Inter next season but with parent club Chelsea yet to announce their new manager his future remains uncertain.

What is sure is that the San Siro will again be a riot of colour and noise as two of Italy’s standard bearers recreate the days when they were among Europe’s elite.

Inter fans have good reason to be confident about their side’s chances, as they have a healthy lead from the first leg and are bang in form.

Inzaghi’s side have won seven matches in a row, scoring 20 goals in the process and playing with a confidence which has been lacking for most of an odd league season in which they have lost 11 times, more than any other team in Serie A’s European places.

The Italian side had a similar lead heading into their quarter-final second leg against Benfica, and Inzaghi said his message to his players was the same as it had been ahead of last month’s tie.

“I said it before Benfica, it will take a cool head and a warm heart. I will be repetitive, but it’s the only way for matches like this,” Inzaghi added.

“Tomorrow we know it’s one of the most important games in Inter’s history. Tomorrow we know we have an advantage, deservedly so, but we won’t just have to manage it. We’ll have to play as Inter, knowing that we have a strong team in front of us. We know we are 90 minutes away from a dream, which I and these wonderful guys had.”

Milan meanwhile come into Tuesday’s match in disarray after an embarrassing defeat at lowly Spezia which ended with team and coach Stefano Pioli having a post-match discussion with their away support.

Pioli and his players had their heads bowed in remorse while Milan’s hardcore ultras bellowed encouragement in the hope that their words might add something which was missing in the first leg.

However seeing as the big miss in the first leg was Rafael Leao, the Portugal winger’s probable return on Tuesday from a thigh injury will be much more of a boost to Milan.

Leao has been crucial to Milan’s advance to the last four for the first time since 2007 and without him last week the seven-time European champions were painfully short of cutting edge.

“He is better, as are [Rade] Krunic and [Junior] Messias,” Pioli said at Monday’s pre-match press conference. “If everything goes as it should, they will be available for this afternoon’s training and for the game tomorrow.”

Inter are on course to qualify for next season’s Champions League competition as they sit third in Serie A, a point above Lazio and five above fifth-placed Milan with three rounds remaining.

Indeed winning the Champions League could be Milan’s only route into next season’s competition. Winning the Champions League title guarantees a place in next season’s tournament if a team doesn’t qualify through its domestic competition.

And Pioli said he is confident Milan will be able to pull off a comeback at the San Siro after last week’s dispiriting first-leg defeat in which they conceded twice inside the opening 10 minutes.

Seven-time European champions Milan have not reached the Champions League final since their last triumph in 2007.

“We have an important goal in mind — to win the game and to qualify for the final, which nobody would have predicted, just as at the beginning of the year no one would have predicted our presence in the semi-finals,” Pioli said.

“We haven’t talked about Spezia, only about tomorrow... We know we are starting with a disadvantage, but we also have the quality to overturn it. Now more than ever, nobody thinks Milan can reach the final. I know we can play a great game and I know how strong my players are... We’ve made some mistakes, but the past is irrelevant.”

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2023