Inter travel to Bologna with an absence that changes the balance of their forward line but not the demands of their season. Lautaro Martinez, scorer of four Serie A goals and the captain around whom much of Inter’s attacking character is built, is unavailable. Cristian Chivu must now carry the team through seven matches before the next international break with Marcus Thuram, Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny sharing the burden.
Inter look beyond their captain at the Dall’Ara
The Dall’Ara offers Pio Esposito a familiar stage. He scored there on the final day of last season, when a 3-3 draw came after Inter had already secured their Double. Eleven days ago, he returned to Bologna with Italy and found himself involved in the 3-1 Nations League victory over Turkey.
This time, however, Esposito is expected to begin in Inter colours rather than arrive from the bench. Thuram is the likeliest partner, continuing a pairing already used in victories over Udinese and Parma.
No replacement can simply reproduce what Lautaro brings, either in front of goal or within the dressing room. Yet Chivu’s remaining forwards will be asked to provide the competitive edge required when Inter face difficult moments, especially if they again have to recover from a losing position.
- Lautaro has scored four times in Serie A so far.
- Thuram has one more overall goal contribution than the Inter captain.
- Esposito has produced four goal contributions, split evenly between goals and assists.
- Bonny has played roughly a third of the minutes of his fellow forwards, but his scoring rate matches Thuram’s.
Thuram’s opportunity and Esposito’s workload
The coming period could test Esposito’s resilience as much as his talent. With Champions League football returning for Inter next Wednesday, he may be required to start in both domestic and European competition within a short span.
Thuram also has a personal target during this stretch. Without his usual partnership with Lautaro, the French forward wants to arrive at the next break in form and force his way back into France coach Zinedine Zidane’s plans. A return to Clairefontaine and international duty remains an objective rather than a distraction.
For Chivu, the immediate calculation is clear: two attacking places are available, while three forwards are competing for them. Thuram and Esposito may start at Bologna, but Bonny remains part of the answer across a fixture run that leaves little time for recovery or rotation.
Bonny waits for his first start
Bonny has made his impact late in matches. In Inter’s first eight games of the season, Chivu has repeatedly used the Ivorian for the final 10 minutes and stoppage time, a period in which he has shown his sharpest work.
He has not yet started a match for Inter. The Bologna trip is likely to extend that wait, although the dense schedule means his chance may not be far away.
- Bonny’s most recent start came on 17 May, in the penultimate round of last season.
- By Saturday, 153 days will have passed since that appearance from the opening whistle.
- If he were to start against Shakhtar instead, the gap would rise to 157 days.
The figures underline both the patience required of Bonny and the changing hierarchy in an Inter attack now operating without its captain. Bologna is the next chapter, but the larger task is to keep the front line productive until Lautaro can return.
