Inter, the last Italian team to lift the UEFA Champions League trophy, reached their first final in this competition in 13 years thanks to Lautaro Martínez’s second-half winner in their UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against city rivals Milan.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan, boosted by the return from injury of Rafael Leão, were on the end of two early goals in last week’s first leg, but appeared determined not to let that happen again this time round.
In fact, the Rossoneri could have taken the lead in spectacular fashion themselves inside the opening five minutes. Collecting a short Sandro Tonali pass from a free-kick out near the right, Theo Hernández’s ambitious strike from 35 metres out caught André Onana by surprise, flying narrowly over the bar with the goalkeeper rooted to his line.
Soon after, Tonali’s determination to get to the byline after dispossessing Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the left wing almost paid dividends. The midfielder’s clever cut-back picked out Brahim Díaz on the edge of the box, but the 23-year-old opted for placement over power and his low effort was held by Onana.
Leão’s return was muchly anticipated by those of a Milan persuasion and the Portuguese international – who struck twice and set up the other when the Rossoneri defeated their neighbours in Serie A earlier in the season – was the next to go close to opening the scoring. He bamboozled two defenders with a powerful run into the left of the box, but his crisp left-footed shot curled across the face of goal.
The Nerazzurri, and Edin Džeko in particular, profited from set pieces in the meeting six days previously and that route created Inter’s first real opening of the game. Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s sumptuous delivery from a free-kick out near the left touchline was met by Džeko’s glancing header, but Mike Maignan’s smart reaction stop prevented another semi-final goal for the 37-year-old forward.
Simone Inzaghi’s men were in the ascendancy and captain Martínez was the next Inter forward to go close, sending a fierce, left-footed strike flashing past Maignan’s right post.
It was the home skipper who eventually found the breakthrough in a cagey second half with 16 minutes remaining. He exploited some space to the left of goal before exchanging passes with substitute Romelu Lukaku and, with very little of the target to aim for, squeezed a low shot just inside Maignan’s near post.
Milan could not find an answer, failing to force Onana into a second-half save, and their aggregate defeat might have been even heavier when Lukaku caught sight of goal in added time, but could only fire straight at Maignan.
Line-ups
Inter: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella (Gagliardini 84), Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan (Brozović 44), Dimarco (Gosens 66); Martínez (Correa 84), Džeko (Lukaku 66)
Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw (Kalulu 64), Tomori, Hernández; Tonali, Krunić; Junior Messias (Saelemaekers 76), Brahim Díaz (Origi 76), Rafael Leão; Giroud
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