Tale of two Martínez – Lautaro progresses; ‘Dibu’ knocked out

One of the downsides of sending more than half the league onto play-offs is that the final matches tend to lose a bit of their edge. That is certainly the case in the Liga Profesional de Fútbol at the moment, for all but a few teams.

Three of the big five are already guaranteed to be playing in the knockout stages with three matches still to play,m while River need just one more win to make sure they join their rivals, in spite of putting together an underwhelming campaign that seems to have pleased nobody around the club. 

Racing admittedly are still in a battle to make the cut after spending most of the year distracted by international commitments, but overall it is hard to drum up much enthusiasm for local events at least until the last-16 finally swings into action.

We can be forgiven, then, for turning a guilty eye towards Europe this past week, at least with the excuse of following two of Argentina's World Cup winners. Emiliano Martínez and Lautaro Martínez both flew the flag in the Champions League quarter-finals, though the Albiceleste stalwarts' experiences in the grand old continental competition could not have been more different.

The goalkeeper, so often the hero, was cast into the unfamiliar role of villain (that is, with the extra I). The Aston Villa man made the rarest of errors at the most inopportune time, spilling what appeared to be a routine low cross in his own area with 11 minutes gone in the second leg. 

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi could barely believe his luck and finished easily to give the French side the lead on the night and a 4-1 aggregate advantage. Nuno Mendes beat ‘Dibu’ in a more conventional manner and though Villa came roaring back to beat PSG 3-2 it wasn't enough to overturn the deficit.Martínez's haters, and there are plenty, were almost more delighted at the outcome than the Parisians themselves.

He certainly does cut an abrasive figure at times, doing little to endear himself to opposing fans while inspiring unconditional admiration from Argentina and Villa supporters. That admiration is built on the solidest of foundations and won't be shaken by one bad night. Dibu, after all, helped take a team one year out from the Championship to the top half of the table and a Champions League quarter-final in the space of five seasons. 

His contribution to the four titles Argentina have won in as many years since he became a starter needs no reminding. Nobody will be angrier than Martínez himself at that costly blooper, but he'll be back stronger and crazier and desperate to make amends.

His (sur)namesake at Inter of course knows how cruel and sweet football can be. Lautaro's struggles in Qatar were painful to watch, but he bounced back to deliver Copa América glory in 2024. And in the blue half of Milan the ex-Racing ace's idol status is already sealed.

Lautaro took his Champions League tally to eight this season with the opener against Bayern Munich, setting Inter on the way to a 4-2 aggregate win and the semis. It was his 150th strike for the Italian giants, whom he has represented as captain since the start of 2023-2024, and the second time he has led the team among the four best teams in Europe – a feat Inter had last managed during the famous, also Argentine-inspired Treble season of 2009-2010. 

“We will remember tonight for a long time... because Inter has two big balls,” the jubilant striker told reporters after the final whistle.

Next up are Barcelona in a mouthwatering semi. Martínez almost took Inter all the way in 2022-23 before going down in the final to Manchester City, and the resurgent Catalans pose a formidable obstacle between the Bahía Blanca native and a second chance for glory. 

With Lautaro's extraordinary ability, though, his eye for goal, his uncanny talent for reading a game and, perhaps most important, his determination to keep going no matter what, he will leave no stone unturned in the quest to add to his already extensive trophy collection for club and country.