Icardi suffers thigh strain as Inter tops Empoli to secure Europa League berth
Milan - Mauro Icardi's Serie A season could be over a week early after the Inter Milan striker hit the opener in a 2-1 win over Empoli on Saturday, then hobbled off with a right thigh injury.
.@MauroIcardi has picked up a thigh strain and will be assessed over the coming days #FCIM
— F.C. Internazionale (@Inter_en) May 7, 2016
Inter's San Siro victory secured fourth spot in Italy's top flight and direct entry to next season's Europa League, with Ivan Perisic scoring what proved to be the winner after Manuel Pucciarelli's equaliser.
In what is coach Roberto Mancini's second spell at the club, Inter began this season with big ambitions to clinch a place in the Champions League after a five-year absence.
But despite challenging Napoli and Fiorentina at the top of the table for the first half of the season, Mancini's men took their foot off the gas following the winter break.
Their faint hopes of returning to Europe's premier club competition were ended by a 2-0 defeat at Lazio last week, where Icardi was among Inter's misfiring players.
The Argentine hobbled off just after the hour on Saturday with a knock that is expected to sideline him for next week's trip to Sassuolo, a match keeper Samir Handanovic and winger Perisic will miss through suspensions after picking up late bookings for time-wasting.