Rome (AFP)

Antonio Conte wanted it with him at any cost and made Romelu Lukaku, his "good giant", the mainstay of the attack of Inter Milan: no luck, he will have to compose in Barcelona without the Belgian, injured while the Nerazzurri have already missed their debut in the Champions League.

Inter made this summer a gamble out of the range of Serie A by investing around 80 million euros for the transfer of the former Manchester United player and to restore the pair he composed under the jersey of the Red Devils with Alexis Sanchez.

The association of both was also expected for the first time on Wednesday in Barcelona. Finally, the absence of Lukaku puts the only Sanchez in the limelight for his return to Camp Nou.

The Chilean, starting for the first time this weekend against the Sampdoria Genoa (3-1) will be paradoxically cool enough. After scoring the goal of 2-0, he found a way to get kicked out just after the break for a simulation that earned him a second warning.

"This expulsion, then the goal concealed just after, could have killed an elephant, but not us," explained Conte.

- Great humility -

Despite the presence of Sanchez and other valuable offensives, such as Lautaro Martinez or Politano, the absence of Lukaku is still a real blow for the Italian technician, who must bring back a result of Barcelona after the disappointing draw of the first day against Slavia Prague (1-1).

With three goals in five starts in Serie A, including one in the derby of Milan, which is necessarily a little more expensive than the others, the Belgian has globally made his first steps in his new colors.

"Lukaku entered the Inter world in the best of ways, with great humility, he's a good giant, a giant with a smile," Conte summed up after the first game of the season, winning 4-0 against Lecce , with a purpose of Lukaku.

His second goal was less cheerful, scored in Cagliari under the monkeys cries of local fans, he glared before writing the next day a call to the union for footballers.

"We are in 2019 and instead of moving forward, we are backing away, and I think that as players, we need to come together and take a stand on this issue in order to keep this sport clean and enjoyable for all", wrote the Belgian, confirming that he could be a voice when Italian football struggles to get rid of racism.

Interviewed Tuesday by the Gazzetta dello Sport, Samuel Eto'o, also passed through Inter, confirmed the diagnosis.

- Excellent report -

"We played together at Everton, he was already big and strong even though he is like a baby, but he is very intelligent and on the issue of racism, he said important things," said the Cameroonian.

"Some players think they are stars and others feel like normal people, he's in the second category, and you'll see how many goals he's going to put," added Eto'o.

A priori, Lukaku's injury to the thigh "is minor" according to Conte. The technician can therefore hope to see the player continue his acclimatization to Serie A - facilitated by his excellent command of Italian, worked with his brother Jordan, who plays at Lazio Rome since 2016 - at the next meeting of huge importance, Sunday at home against Juventus.

Despite the incident in Cagliari, despite a dispute apparently quickly forgotten with his teammate Brozovic, despite the articles on a supposed overweight or, even more fanciful, on his so-called slowness, Lukaku, he does not regret having chosen the Italy and especially Conte.

"Between him and me, there's a very strong relationship, I'm happy, at 26 I needed a coach like him."

© 2019 AFP