Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has been racially abused on social media after losing the Champions League final. The 30-year-old loanee from Chelsea came on as a substitute in the 57th minute of Saturday night’s 0-1 draw against Manchester City in Istanbul.
Shortly before the end he had had a promising chance to score and missed it. Substitute Robin Gosens had hit a cross and Lukaku couldn’t head the ball into the goal (88th minute of the game). Unfortunately that’s football, said Gosens, “if you don’t do those things, then unfortunately you can’t win a game either”.
The Belgian Lukaku is followed by almost nine million users on the Instagram network alone. In addition to a number of inhuman comments against Lukaku, numerous people condemned these statements.
Racist insults against the striker triggered a scandal in Italy last season. In the cup semifinals at Juventus Turin, Lukaku was verbally attacked by opposing fans in the stadium.
His yellow-red card for a supposedly provocative goal celebration was subsequently withdrawn. Lukaku then commented on his Instagram channel, thanking him for numerous positive messages, among other things.
Coach Simone Inzaghi did not want to make a sporting reproach to Lukaku after the final of the premier class on Saturday evening – on the contrary: he tried to mentally build up his entire team. Such final defeats are “the worst thing in sport,” said Inzaghi.
Nevertheless, the players could be proud of their season and the final, “they played great”.