Romelu Lukaku: Stats Show Chelsea Striker Has Been Vital in Inter’s Champions League Success This Season

• Romelu Lukaku scored from the spot in Inter Milan's 2-0 win away to Benfica
• The Chelsea striker came off the bench to help Nerazzurri secure an advantage ahead of the second leg
• He has been fairly criticised this season but he has been an important player for the team

Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to score Inter Milan's second goal, from the spot, against Benfica in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.

The on-loan Chelsea striker is yet to start a Champions League game this season and has also struggled in the league due to injuries and a lack of confidence in front of goal.

His goal helped Inter get within touching distance of the semi-final for the first time since 2010. Italian midfielder Nicolo Barella had earlier put the visitors ahead.

The Belgian has been fairly criticised this season, having produced point-blank misses in front of goal, but according to ESPN FC, he is the team's most important player in the Champions League this season.

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Lukaku's impacts on Inter Milan

According to stats provided by Transfermarkt, Lukaku has scored three goals in four Champions League games for Nerazzurri this season, all coming off the bench.

He has only played 11% of the minutes in the competition while scoring 23% of Inter Milan's goals. He averages a goal every 28.7 minutes, scoring thrice in 86 minutes.

He got the winner in the 1-0 win over Porto that helped Inter progress to the quarter-final and may have scored another one to help them to the semi-final if they hold on at San Siro.

Lukaku fires back at Inter CEO

Sports Brief reported that Lukaku responded to Inter CEO emphatically after Beppe Barotta criticised his weight and cited it as the reason he was benched against Porto.

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He came off the bench to score the winner and joked during the post-match conference that 'mama mia, see me, I am fit.' to shut up Barotta.

Inter ultras applaud Lukaku

Sports Brief also reported that Inter ultras showed love to Lukaku after the striker approached the fans to apologise for his horrendous miss against Salernitana.

The fans took to their Instagram page and applauded Lukaku's sense of responsibility and issued him a message of support that in good and adversary, they will be there