Thuram mirroring Serie A exploits on international stage for Inter
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MILAN (AP) — Marcus Thuram has emerged as one of Serie A’s leading players this season. The Inter Milan forward is now doing it on the international stage.
Thuram scored a stunning early goal to set Inter on its way to a 2-1 victory over Feyenoord in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday.
Inter advanced 4-1 on aggregate — with Thuram also having scored in the first leg — and will face Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
Thuram, the son of former Juventus defender and World Cup winner Lilian Thuram, could have added to his tally with more fancy footwork as he showed few ill effects from an ankle injury that has restricted his playing time of late.
“I’ve had a problem with my ankle for a month, sometimes it hurts more sometimes less,” the 27-year-old Thuram said. “I’m not at 100% yet.”
However, he certainly seemed back to his best right from the start at San Siro.
There was less than eight minutes on the clock when Thuram received the ball midway inside the Feyenoord half and the France forward then twisted and weaved his way to the edge of the area before unleashing a powerful effort into the top right corner.
That made Thuram only the second Inter player to score in both legs of a Champions League round-of-16 tie, and the first since Dejan Stanković did so against Ajax in 2006.
Thuram almost repeated his exploits at the start of the second half, turning deftly on the edge of the area before his strike went narrowly over the bar.
He also rattled the crossbar in the 70th minute after again dribbling his way through a maze of Feyenoord shirts.
Thuram received a standing ovation from the San Siro crowd when he was substituted shortly afterward.
Thuram, in his second season at Inter, has become one of the league’s top players. He helped the team to the Serie A title last year.
Known for his assists last season, the forward has developed into a top scorer in this campaign with 13 goals — plus four assists — in Serie A.
However, he had only scored once in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition, against Young Boys back in October.
Inter last won the Champions League in 2010 as part of a trio of trophies under Jose Mourinho — along with the Serie A title and the Italian Cup.
The Nerazzurri are again on the treble hunt as they lead Serie A and are in the Italian Cup semifinal, where they will play city rival AC Milan. They face a crucial match at Atalanta on Sunday, with just three points separating the two teams at the top of the table.
“It’s not that I believe it or I don’t believe it,” Thuram said when asked about Inter’s treble chances. “It’s that at Inter we play all the games to win it. And if you do that, then at the end of the season beautiful things arrive.”
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