Within Lautaro's 144 goals: the legend of Lorenzi and Mazzola's European nights

Inter Milan

·31 January 2025

Within Lautaro's 144 goals: the legend of Lorenzi and Mazzola's European nights

The third Nerazzurri hat-trick in the Champions League: Lautaro Martinez’s three goals against Monaco have led to a significant update of the Club's records and statistics, breaking milestones and allowing the captain to climb further in the all-time rankings.

Before Wednesday's clash, there had been two previous Inter hat-tricks in the Champions League. On 15 March 2005, it finished Inter 3-1 Porto thanks to three goals from Adriano in the round of 16. On 29 September 2010, Samuel Eto'o scored a hat-trick in Inter 4-0 Werder Bremen. Lautaro is thus now in the company of two legendary forwards in Nerazzurri history.

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El Toro's goals, which secured Inter's direct qualification to the Round of 16, helped him climb even higher, matching or surpassing true legends of the Club.

Lautaro Martinez now has 17 goals in the Champions League: this is an all-time Club record he shares with Sandro Mazzola, who bagged 17 goals in the European Cup. El Toro has now moved comfortably ahead of Adriano, who scored 14 goals in Europe's elite competition (plus four in the preliminary stages of the competition).

Lautaro's goals in recent weeks have propelled him to sixth place in Inter's all-time top scorer ranking. After surpassing Istvan Nyers earlier this season, the No.10 has now overtaken Benito Lorenzi. With 144 goals to his name, Lautaro is now the sixth highest scorer in Nerazzurri history and is now chasing Luigi Cevenini III (158) and Sandro Mazzola, who is fourth with 161 goals.

TOP SCORERS IN INTER HISTORY

Updated on 29 January 2025

LAUTARO AND MAZZOLA: 17 GOALS IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE/EUROPEAN CUP

History is being made, there's no doubt about it. Lautaro’s journey in the Champions League began at Camp Nou in October 2019. It was a fantastic goal in a match that Inter eventually lost, but it marked the start of the Argentinian striker’s journey with Inter in Europe’s elite competition. This journey has continued until the match with Monaco, and, on the way, there has just been one other match where he's scored more than once in a single 90 minutes: against Slavia in Prague in 2019. Lautaro has certainly bagged some big goals: he's scored twice away to Barcelona, once away to Real Madrid and once against Liverpool at Anfield. And then there was that quarter-final strike against Benfica and, even more significantly, that finish against AC Milan in the semi-finals. This season, he's bagged against Crvena Zvezda, the winner in Prague and a fantastic hat-trick against Monaco, goals which have brought him level with Sandro Mazzola in Europe (17).

Mazzola and Lautaro met last spring at Appiano Gentile, with the Nerazzurri legend and Hall of Famer paying a visit to Simone Inzaghi’s team. A greeting and an intense conversation with the current Inter captain, and a connection between two captains (and also two No.10s, as Mazzola, after his iconic number 8, also wore the number 10 for Inter).

Mazzola's European nights began with the triumphant run in the 1963/64 European Cup. And his first two goals came against Monaco, of all teams. It is clear that the fates of the duo are closely intertwined. After that brace in the round of 16, Sandrino found the net against Partizan, scored twice against Borussia in the semis and took centre stage against Real Madrid in the legendary final in Vienna, where he netted a double.

The following season saw Mazzola bag three times in Europe's elite competition, including a first-leg goal against Liverpool at Anfield in a famous semi-final clash. Another European trophy was then added to the trophy cabinet following a 1-0 victory over Benfica at San Siro (Jair the scorer). In total, he scored 17 goals in the European Cup, where he also netted in the 1967 final against Celtic, although the Nerazzurri lost that game.

LAUTARO'S 17 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GOALS

MAZZOLA'S 17 EUROPEAN CUP GOALS

BENITO 'VELENO' LORENZI SURPASSED

Lautaro had previously moved above Istvan Nyers (an extraordinary striker whose story we shared here) in Inter's all-time top scorer ranking.

Now, with 144 goals to his name, the Nerazzurri captain has surpassed Benito Lorenzi and is closing in on Lugi Cevenini III, otherwise known as Zizì, and Sandro Mazzola.

Born in Borgo a Buggiano in 1925, Benito Lorenzi made history with the Nerazzurri from 1947 to 1958 thanks to his skill and charisma on the pitch, as well as his great spirit off the field. He spent eleven seasons with the Nerazzurri, making 314 appearances, scoring 143 goals and winning two Scudetto titles.

He was known as 'Veleno', a nickname given to him by his mother, Ida. There are many anecdotes that portray Lorenzi's character: his battles with John Charles, the nickname ‘Marisa’ which he gave to Boniperti, the slap he handed out to Nyers. But above all, that moment in the 1957/58 Derby will always be remembered. It was 6 October 1957 and Milan were awarded a penalty. Cucchiaroni stepped up to take it but shot over the bar.

Just before the penalty, Lorenzi approached the dugout, asked for a drink and received half a lemon. It was then that he had a genius idea. Indeed, he placed the lemon under the ball. The fans in the stands were waving their arms trying to warn Cucchiaroni, who, however, didn't notice and ended up skying his spot-kick. Lorenzi, a practising Catholic, would admit a few years later: "I confessed everything. I said 'I did something wrong', and the priest who confessed me was an Inter fan and started laughing."

But Lorenzi's story has other tales, like his friendship with Valentino Mazzola, Sandro's father. Valentino was a big advocate for him in the Italian national team (for whom Lorenzi only played 14 times, scoring four goals). After the Superga air disaster, the intertwining of football and life led to Lorenzi effectively "adopting" Sandro and Ferruccio, the children left orphaned by the great Valentino. He brought them to Inter and, every year, would take them to Superga to pay tribute to Grande Torino. And he also helped start Sandrino’s journey at Inter.