Beating Milan 1-0 in the second leg and 3-0 on aggregate, Inter reached the Champions League final for the first time since 2010.
The return of Rafael Leao also did not help Milan to create a miraculous comeback at San Siro and accept to stop in the continental arena. In the remaining time, coach Stefano Pioli and his team will focus on the goal of reaching the top 4 of Serie A, where they are currently ranked fifth with 61 points, four points behind Lazio.
Martinez shares joy with fans after Inter reached the Champions League final. Photo: AP
Meanwhile, Inter reached the Champions League final for the first time since the historic 2009-2010 season under Jose Mourinho. At that time, Inter defeated Bayern in the Champions League final, winning both Serie A and the Italian Cup, thereby becoming the first Italian club to win the treble in a single season.
Yesterday, Milan welcomed Leao back, but were without Ismael Bennacer, Rade Krunic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to injury, with Malick Thiaw and Junior Messias starting in place of Simon Kjaer and Alexis Saelemaekers. On the other side, Inter were only without Milan Skriniar and kept the same starting lineup from the 2-0 win a week ago.
The second leg of the Milan derby was not as exciting as expected. Milan pushed up their formation to find an early goal, but were deadlocked and only created a few highlights in the first half. In the 5th minute, Theo Hernandez fired a cannon from more than 30m away, sending the ball over the bar. Six minutes later, Sandro Tonali accelerated on the left and passed the ball just in time for Brahim Diaz to cross the corner with a one-touch pass, but Andre Onana caught it.
The most dangerous chance came in the 38th minute, when Leao took advantage of an aerial challenge with Matteo Darmian, sprinted past Francesco Acerbi and fired a low left-footed shot that went just wide of the post. Inter players thought Leao had illegally pushed Darmian, but the referee did not blow the whistle.
With a two-goal lead, Inter played a lurky game and struck the finishing blow in the 74th minute. Receiving the ball from Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez controlled the ball for a moment and then shot with his left foot to the near corner past goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Thanks to that, Martinez became the third Argentinian player to reach the 10-goal mark in the European Cup/Champions League for Inter, after Julio Cruz (13) and Hernan Crespo (11).
Lautaro Martinez scored the decisive goal to help Inter beat Milan 1-0 in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Meazza Stadium on May 16. Photo: AFP
Immediately after conceding the goal, coach Stefano Pioli went all out, bringing on Alexis Saelemaekers and Divock Origi, but it did not help Milan improve. Thanks to that, Andre Onana extended his record with an eighth clean sheet in the Champions League this season.
Having beaten their city rivals 3-0 on aggregate, Inter will now face the winner of the other semi-final between Man City and Real Madrid in the final at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on June 10. With this achievement, Inzaghi becomes the second Italian coach in history to lead Inter to the final match of the European Cup/Champions League, after Giovanni Invernizzi in 1972.
In the Champions League final, Inter have a chance to win the treble this season. They beat Milan 3-0 in the Italian Super Cup final, reached the Champions League final and also have the Italian Cup final against Fiorentina on May 24 in Rome.
Inter will also play in three finals this season, including the Italian Super Cup, Italian Cup and Champions League finals. The last time they did this was in four finals in 2010-11, winning three of the Italian Super Cup, Italian Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
This is also the fourth consecutive time Inter have beaten Milan in three different competitions this season, after winning 2-0 in the first leg, 3-0 in the Italian Super Cup final and 1-0 in Serie A. It is only the second time in history that Inter have beaten the same city club four times in one season, after the 1973-1974 season with two wins in Serie A and two in the Italian Cup.
Line-up :
Inter : Onana, Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dumfries, Barella (Gagliardini 84), Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan (Brozovic 44), Dimarco (Gosens 66), Lautaro Martinez (Correa 84), Dzeko (Lukaku 66).
Milan : Maignan, Calabria, Tomori, Theo, Thiaw (Kalulu 64), Krunic, Diaz (Origi 76), Tonali, Leao, Messias (Saelemaekers 76), Giroud.
Hong Duy
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