Overcoming Benfica, Inter Milan faces AC Milan in Champions League semi-finals

Inter Milan have one foot in the semi-finals of this season's Champions League after beating Benfica 2-0 in Portugal in the first leg of their quarter-final last week.

However, the home advantage continued to help Inter Milan take the initiative and put a lot of pressure on the visitors' goal right from the start. After only 14 minutes of the match, the home team opened the scoring after a goal from Nicolo Barella - who also opened the scoring in the first leg.

Barella opened the scoring for home team Inter Milan in the 14th minute of the match (Photo: Getty).

That was the situation when Lautaro Martinez tried to steal the ball in front of the visitors' penalty area and then passed it to Barella. The Italian midfielder turned the ball to eliminate Antonio Silva before curling the ball with his left foot to defeat goalkeeper Vlachodimos.

The early goal forced Benfica players to push up their formation to find a goal to reduce the score when the gap between the two teams was now 3 goals. In the 31st minute, from a free kick from nearly 30m away, Alex Grimaldo shot very hard, forcing goalkeeper Andre Onana to show his talent to save Inter Milan.

Two minutes later, in an attack on Inter Milan's right wing, striker Lautaro Martinez headed the ball into Benfica's net but the referee disallowed the goal due to the Argentine striker's push from behind against Gilberto.

In the 38th minute, Benfica's efforts to find a goal were rewarded when Fredrik Aursnes jumped high to head a cross from Rafa Silva on the right wing into the net of goalkeeper Onana. The score of 1-1 was maintained until the end of the first half.

In the second half, Benfica continued to push up their formation but like the first half, they continued to be doused with cold water when Dimarco coordinated with Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the left wing before crossing for Lautaro Martinez to finish close to the goal to restore the lead in the second leg for the "Nerazzurri".

Lautaro Martinez helped Inter Milan take a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute of the match (Photo: AP).

In the 78th minute, Joaquin Correa skillfully handled the ball in the penalty area when he turned the ball to get past Nicolas Otamendi and then curled the ball with his right foot, hitting the post and flying into the net. The gap after two matches was now 4 goals.

Joaquin Correa helped Inter Milan lead 3-1 after finishing in the penalty area in the 78th minute (Photo: AP).

It seemed like Benfica had completely given up, but the visitors still fought back strongly. In the 85th minute, Alex Grimaldo took a free kick from the right wing and crossed the ball for Antonio Silva to head in, narrowing the score to 2-3 for Benfica in the second leg.

In the 90+5 minute of injury time, receiving a pass from his teammate on the left wing, Petar Musa shot with his left foot, sending the ball bouncing off the ground into the net to seal a 3-3 draw for Benfica in the second leg.

However, Inter Milan booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals after winning 5-3 on aggregate over two legs to advance to the Champions League semi-finals and meet local rivals AC Milan.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/vuot-ai-benfica-inter-milan-doi-dau-ac-milan-o-ban-ket-champions-league-20230420042352696.htm