Italian international Matteo Darmian has had to play second fiddle to fellow new signing AchraafHakimiin the right-back position at Inter Milan. Matteo Darmian has seen little playing time in the position since the signing of Moroccan international player Hakimi. The lively fullback is widely regarded as the best right-sided defender at the moment on current form. He joined the Nerazzuri in a big money move from Real Madrid.

The Spanish giants have had to field an attacker at right-back this season to suggest that the club misses Hakimi, who would have slotted into the role with minimal fuss. Spanish international Dani Carvajal is the first choice right-back but he has not been able for manager Zinedine Zidane for a big part of this season due to injuries and the Frenchman has turned to Spanish attacker Lucas Vazquez to do a job at right-back. Lucas Vazquez has played there several times this season in the absence of Dani Carvajal.

Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte rested AchraafHakimi for the Coppa Italia quarterfinal clash at home to rivals AC Milan but the rest lasted for 45 minutes as his replacement Matteo Darmian was subbed off. Matteo Darmian struggled to reach the level shown by Achraaf Hakimi this season and he was subbed off. At the point of Matteo Darmian being substituted, Inter Milan were trailing to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike on 31 minutes.

Inter Milan fought back to win the game 2-1 but it must be pointed out that the sending off played a big part. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off on 58 minutes after two yellow cards and that gave Inter Milan the initiative to capitalise on the numerical advantage. RomeluLukaku scored the equaliser from the penalty spot on 71 minutes before the much maligned Christian Eriksen scored the winning goal in added time from a freekick.

Matteo Darmian will continue to be in the shadows of AchraafHakimi for the foreseeable future. Matteo Darmian is on loan at Inter Milan from Parma and he can also play as a left-back. He has one goal and two assists from 15 games in all competitions.