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What's the story?
Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has been ruled out of his side's Champions League group stage clash against Barcelona tonight, owing to a thigh injury, manager Antonio Conte has confirmed.
In case you didn't know...
Lukaku has been largely impressive for the Nerazzurri since his summer switch from Manchester United. The Belgium international has netted three goals in his first six appearances in Serie A and is currently Inter's top goalscorer in the league alongside midfielder Stefano Sensi.
The 26-year-old striker has helped the Milan giants to the summit of the Italian top-flight, following six consecutive victories in the division.
However, the former Manchester United star has been struggling with a quadriceps injury which resulted in his restricted role as a substitute in Inter's 3-1 win over Sampdoria on Saturday.
The heart of the matter
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Conte confirmed that Lukaku will be out for Inter's Group F clash against Barcelona and has cast doubt on his availability for their monumental clash against Juventus on Sunday night.
"Lukaku isn't here, he had a slight muscular issue in the quadricep that he has been carrying for 10 days.
"He was continuing to feel the problem and the tests were negative, but we preferred in any case not to risk him. We have to rely on how the player feels in these cases.
"It's not a tear, so we are fairly relaxed and will focus on that [if he can face Juve] only after tomorrow's game with Barcelona."
Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez could be given a start following his eventful clash against Sampdoria last weekend. The Chilean found the back of the net for Inter before being shown a second yellow card for diving.
What's next?
Barcelona have declared Lionel Messi, Ousmane Dembele and Jordi Alba are fit, ahead of their clash against Inter.
All teams in Group F have a single point, with Inter having drawn with Slavia Prague and Barcelona having drawn with Borussia Dortmund in the opening day.
