Lautaro Martinez scored the opener and paved the way for the second goal by winning a penalty in the thriller against Barcelona, but he was crying for two days at home in the buildup to the Champions League game.
He was hit by an injury to his leg, and he feared the worst.
“I was struggling a bit—I couldn’t even lift my leg. I spent the first two days after the injury in Barcelona crying at home,” Martinez told Sky Sports.
He began to train, doing double training sessions all week as he pursued a miraculous recovery.
His mother was alarmed by his efforts as she feared he might do irreparable damage to the leg.
But he had promised his wife and kids that he would play the second leg game.
” I cried with my wife and kids at home, but I promised them I’d play. Even my mom was worried – she called me all morning, but I didn’t answer because she suffers so much.”
On the day of the game, he didn’t answer his mother’s calls. ” A tight bandage and straight onto the field. That’s just how I am. In games like this, you have to be there.”
There’s a reason why Martinez is referred to as El Toro (The Bull) in the Argentine dressing room. He was only 15 when one of the biggest clubs in South America, Boca Juniors, came knocking. The club that was home to Diego Maradona, Juan Román Riquelme and Carlos Tevez among others, well before they became global icons for the sport. Despite the initial interest, the talks fizzled out as Boca ultimately rejected the forward, apprehensive over his ability to ultimately make the cut into their first team.
Over the course of next three years, Martinez responded by rising through the ranks at the Racing Club, attracting the attention of several European clubs for his agile, all-round abilities apart from a goal scoring panache.
