Martinez emerging as best player in Serie A ahead of Juve showdown

Lautaro Martinez has taken Serie A by storm this season.

The Inter Milan captain is clear as the league's top goalscorer and has led his side to the top of the table with less than half the campaign to play.

And having recently made a significant move up the club's list of all-time bagsmen, the striker is having a 2023-24 to remember.

Ahead of Sunday's crunch clash with second-place Juventus, we analyse Martinez's brilliance.

Rise to prominence

Martinez has scored 22 goals already this season — the fourth campaign in five in which he has broken the 20-strike barrier.

But having predominantly featured in front twos with Mauro Icardi, Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko during his time in Italy, he has not always received the accolades he deserves.

This year, partnered by Marcus Thuram, he has emerged as arguably the best player in the entirety of Serie A.

The Argentina international has bagged 19 league goals — seven more than second-place Dusan Vlahovic — at a rate of one per appearance, spearheading his side's charge towards their second title in four seasons.

Beauty and the beast

Martinez's relentless off-the-ball work perhaps explains why his technical qualities are not so revered.

The Argentine has topped Serie A strikers for possessions won in the attacking third in three of the last four seasons, including this one, and ranked second in the exception.

But he excels at the more glamorous side of the game too.

The former Racing Club forward has created the third-most chances of all Italian top-flight forwards since the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign.

And he is an all-rounder in front of goal, netting more often with his unfavoured left foot (10) than with his right (nine) in the league last term.

Writing history

Martinez is writing his name into Inter's record books, having recently gone past legendary striker Christian Vieri in their list of all-time leading goalscorers.

His total tally of 124 strikes is the joint-seventh highest in the club's history, level with Icardi.

Should the forward decide to play out his peak years in Italy, second-place Alessandro Altobelli's haul of 209 is comfortably within reach and overtaking Giuseppe Meazza's legendary 284 strikes is not out of the question.

And upon going level with Vieri after scoring in last month's Supercoppa Italiana final, Martinez revealed how much the numbers mean to him.

 He said: "I am very proud and happy.

"I didn't want to take off my jersey because of the yellow card but the emotion took over.

"It was a unique moment. I scored my 100th goal in the Coppa Italia final and in the Supercoppa my 123rd goal allowed me to match Vieri."

Time to shine

Martinez's focus returns to the here and now for this weekend's massive game with Juventus.

Inter have scored 14 more goals and conceded three fewer than their rivals — but are ahead of them by just one point and would surrender top spot should they lose.

Their No10 has marked himself out as a man for the big occasion, netting in the reverse fixture in November as well as in the victory at third-place Atalanta earlier that month.

But a match-winning contribution on Sunday would be his most significant of the season.