Inter stretched their unbeaten run to 20 games on Wednesday night as they comfortably cruised past Roma in Serie A Round 36. However, despite the easy win, there was a bit of tension on the Nerazzurri‘s bench as coach Antonio Conte had a row with Lautaro Martinez – who was not happy with being substituted 40 minutes after setting foot on the pitch.
The Argentine striker was not a starter tonight but was sent in on 36 minutes when Alexis Sanchez picked up an ankle injury. Conte eventually pulled Lautaro out on 77 minutes to give some playing time to young striker Andrea Pinamonti.
The coach was not happy with the Argentine’s approach to the game or perhaps was just wanting to give him some rest in view of the upcoming Derby d’Italia against Juventus on Saturday.
Whatever the reason, Lautaro didn’t seem to like the substitution and was seen kicking a water bottle and grumbling as he took a sit back on the bench. There was an heated exchange between him and the coach as Antonio Conte reportedly urged him to “show some respect rather than acting like a ‘fenomeno.‘”
Acting like a fenomeno can be translatable as acting “so cool” or acting like a prima donna. Perhaps Conte’s choice of words was not random as indeed there once was a Fenomeno at Inter – one that didn’t win a Scudetto with the Nerazzurri, but surely left a stronger trace than Lautaro Martinez.