When Lukas Podolski boarded the plane taking him from Cologne to Milan on Monday morning, the 29-year-old would have been well-advised to grab the Italian papers offered to the passengers. After his debut in the starting IX with Inter Milan, praise for the World Champion dominated the headlines. Podolksi himself had another surprise in store for the fans: He called for the Champions League to be the ultimate goal for the season.
“It will be a difficult task, we are still six points away from a Champions League-qualifying spot,” Podolski said. Only a few hours after his success with Inter on Sunday, he went to an indoor tournament in Gummersbach near Cologne to receive a 120,000 Euro donation to his foundation. He confirmed: “We’ve still got enough games left to close the gap.”
A home debut with "a lot of character"
The papers took a similar stance. They certified Podolski’s excellent performance during his 90-minute-stint in the 3:1 success over Genoa and thinks he will improve even further. “He is already the crowd favourite,” wrote the Gazzetta dello Sport. The Corriere dello Sport saw a home debut “with a lot of character” and analysed: “He showed his class when he had enough stamina to go on. His performance declined a little in the second half.”
The Corriere della Sera agreed: „Podolski still needs to improve his form, but he has also proved a strong personality.” Despite his assist to a Nemanja Vidic header making the score 3-1, the Roman La Repubblica viewed the Polish-born German international’s performance more critically and wrote: “The crowd is calling Podolski’s name, but he is not in top form yet.”
Podolski: "It’s been a whirlwind few days"
However, Roberto Mancini was happy with his new player’s form. Shortly after Inter had agreed to loan the 121-time-capped international for the rest of the season from Arsenal, he was used as a second-half substitute in a 1:1 draw away to current champions Juventus. This weekend he was already part of the starting formation, while the Swiss Xherdan Shaqiri, recently purchased from Bayern Munich, watched the entire match from the bench.
After the final whistle Podolski was tired but happy: “My legs felt quite tired after 90 minutes, but I’m so happy that I still managed to get an assist,” the winger commented. To the German Bild he revealed that he had already promised his shirt to his son Louis and wrapped up with: “This has been the conclusion to a whirlwind few days between London and Milan.”