Inter Milan Star Diego Milito out for Season with Knee Injury

Inter Milan received some terrible news on Thursday when it found out that Diego Milito will miss the rest of the season.

European football writer James Horncastle first reported the news on Twitter:

Milito suffered a knee injury during his team's 2-0 first-leg victory over CFR Cluj-Napoca in the Europa League. Without him, Inter is certain to struggle.

The forward led the club with nine goals this season in 19 league starts. He also added five assists between Serie A and Europa League play.

When he suffered the injury, he was ranked ninth in the league in goals scored.

This was actually a slow start for the 33-year-old veteran. Last year he finished second in Serie A with 24 goals. He no longer has a chance to pick up his pace in the second part of the year.

Internazionale is already in trouble this season. The squad currently sits in fourth place, a full 12 points behind Juventus for the top spot in the table.

If the squad is unable to turn things around, it can say goodbye to a chance at the Champions League next season. This is especially true with a match against AC Milan coming up next week.

In order to turn things around, players like Antonio Cassano and Rodrigo Palacio will have to step up in Milito's absence. They have each provided some help on the front line this season, but they will both need to score with a lot more consistency to help the club win going forward.

Hopefully for the club and its supporters, it will be able to move past this set back and have a successful finish to the season.