A 37-year-old cancer survivor keeps shutting down Europe's top strikers
Munich's Harry Kane, right, and Inter's Francesco Acerbi fight for the ball during the Champions League quarterfinals first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP/Sven Hoppe
ROME — Harry Kane. Erling Haaland. Romelu Lukaku. Mateo Retegui. Moise Kean.
Across Europe and Serie A, Inter Milan center back Francesco Acerbi has held all five of those center forwards scoreless this season.
The latest defensive exploit from Acerbi came in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, when the 37-year-old cancer survivor conceded only one shot to Kane — which the England striker curled onto the post.
Otherwise, it was the relentless man-to-man lockdown effort reminiscent of the job that Acerbi did on Haaland in Inter’s Champions League opener at Manchester City in September, which ended 0-0.
Acerbi also held Haaland scoreless in the 2023 Champions League final.
In all, Inter has conceded three goals in 11 Champions League games, but only two with Acerbi on the field — he missed the 1-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen in December.
Acerbi, whose career was put on hold briefly due to testicular cancer more than a decade ago, has been just as effective in the Italian league.
Inter Milan's Francesco Acerbi, front left, duels for the ball with Bayern's Raphael Guerreiro during the Champions League quarterfinals first leg soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Credit: AP/Matthias Schrader
He has held Lukaku and Serie A scoring leader Retegui scoreless twice each — two 1-1 draws with Napoli (Lukaku) and 4-0 and 2-0 wins over Atalanta (Retegui) that have been decisive in helping Inter to first place.
Actually, Acerbi has held Lukaku scoreless all four times they’ve faced each other since the Belgium forward left Inter, including two matches when Lukaku played for Roma last season.
Retegui (22 goals) and Kean (17) stand 1-2 in the Serie A scoring chart.
Kean scored twice when Fiorentina stunned Inter 3-0 in Serie A in a match that Acerbi missed. When the defender returned for a rematch four days later, Kean was held scoreless and Inter won 2-1.
Atalanta's Mateo Retegui heads the ball past Inter Milan's Francesco Acerbi during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and Inter at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, Saturday, March 16, 2025. Credit: AP/Stefano Nicoli
While Acerbi could be rested on Saturday for a league match against Cagliari, he’ll surely be used against Kane again in the return match with Bayern at the San Siro next week.
If Inter can maintain or add to its 2-1 first-leg advantage against Bayern, there could be another top center forward to face in the semifinals or final.
Then Italy opens World Cup qualifying at Haaland’s Norway in June, although it remains to be seen whether or not Haaland will return from injury in time for that match. If he does, Acerbi should be waiting for him.
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