Icardi blasted by Inter coach Spalletti
MILAN: Inter Milan coach Luciano Spalletti remained defiant over his decision to snub Argentina striker Mauro Icardi despite Sunday’s 1-0 Serie A defeat to Champions League rivals Lazio.
Inter Milan are third, ten points behind second-placed Napoli, with Lazio just three points off the elite European football berths in fifth.
“The need to mediate with someone just to get him to pull on the shirt that they love, that’s humiliating,” said Spalletti of the ongoing dispute with Icardi.
Icardi has not played since Feb 9 after being replaced as club captain by Samir Handanovic amid protracted contract negotiations.
The 26-year-old, who has been linked with a summer move to Real Madrid, had complained of a knee problem but is back training during the week.
However, he remained dropped despite fellow Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez being sidelined through an injury picked up on international duty.
Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored the only goal after 13 minutes heading in a Luis Alberto cross in the San Siro.
Meanwhile in Ligue 1, Kylian Mbappe fired Paris Saint-Germain to their eighth straight win with a stunning goal that earned the champions a 1-0 victory at Toulouse on Sunday and kept them miles clear at the top of the league.
The 20-year-old World Cup winner crashed home his 27th league goal of the season, his seventh in as many league games, with 16 minutes left as he continues to shine in the absence of the injured duo Neymar and Edinson Cavani.
PSG now have 80 points, 20 ahead of second placed Lille with a game in hand to boot.
Lille, on Sunday, scored three quickfire second-half goals to comeback from 2-0 and snatch a vital win against Nantes that kept them firm favourites for direct qualification for the Champions League.
Monaco suffered a shock home defeat to Caen, who climbed off the bottom of Ligue 1 thanks to a 1-0 win in which their goalkeeper the Congolese Brice Samba emerged as the star.
It was Leonardo Jardim’s first defeat since returning to the helm eight games ago when Thierry Henry was fired.
Patrick Viera meanwhile was a happy man after seeing his Nice said win 1-0 at Dijon, who slipped to bottom with this latest defeat.
A late goal from Martin Terrier saw Lyon win 1-0 at Rennes on Friday while an early brace from Mario Balotelli was cancelled out by two Thomas Mangani penalties on Saturday as Marseille drew 2-2 at home to Angers.