Inter striker Romelu Lukaku made a little piece of personal history during the Europa League final against Sevilla as he matched a feat last achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Belgium international, who departed Manchester United for San Siro last summer after a disappointing spell at Old Trafford, has exploded back to life under Antonio Conte and has now scored in six successive major European competition matches, levelling Ronaldo’s achievement from 2012 and 2013.
Lukaku opened the scoring with a penalty kick, which he slotted under Bono, after winning the opportunity himself as he was fouled by Diego Carlos after a quick break.
Carlos would strike back late, however, scoring the winner in the 74th minute as Sevilla lifted the Europa League trophy for the sixth time with a 3-2 win.
Lukaku's strike was his 34th goal of the season and his 11th in Europe.
The 27-year-old’s six-game run began in the last-32, in which Inter found themselves after being eliminated from the Champions League, despite four goals from the striker. Ludogorets were Inter’s first opponents in February, and Lukaku scored in both legs to secure a 4-1 aggregate success.
Following the suspension of hostilities due to Covid-19, Inter went to the final stages in Germany, where they first tackled Getafe. A 2-0 win was marked by a Lukaku strike, and he was again on target as Bayer Leverkusen were defeated 2-1 in the quarter-finals, while he notched twice as Inter steamrollered Shakhtar Donetsk in the semis.
The penalty against Sevilla continued the remarkable run.
Cristiano Ronaldo, now at Inter’s arch-rivals Juventus, was with Real Madrid when he enjoyed his six-game scoring burst in Europe.
The Portuguese’s goals all arrived in the Champions League, starting with one against Ajax that saw Los Blancos move through the group stages. In the knockout rounds, he scored in each leg as his former side Manchester United were defeated 3-2 on aggregate, while he struck three in two matches versus Galatasaray.
His run was rounded off in a 4-1 away defeat by Borussia Dortmund, and though Madrid responded with a 2-0 success at the Bernabeu, in which Ronaldo played 90 minutes, he was unable to stretch his sequence to seven games.
During that campaign, Ronaldo scored 55 goals in 55 appearances, while also notching an impressive 13 assists.