By 
Inter Milan reached the Champions League semifinals with a 4-3 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich, securing a thrilling 2-2 draw in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie at the San Siro on Wednesday.
The Italians will face Barcelona next, having previously defeated them at this stage in 2010 before going on to claim the treble by winning the final against Bayern.
In a match reported by ESPN FC, under coach Simone Inzaghi, Inter are aiming to replicate that historic achievement this season.
“It’s a beautiful evening, lived in our stadium, in front of our fans, against a very strong team,” Inzaghi said. “We had to play two great games, giving everything we had. The boys were splendid, and it’s a victory to share with the entire Inter world. We are moving forward in this long season full of emotions.”
It was a hard-fought match for Inter, but they did just enough in an exciting contest between two top teams from Serie A and the Bundesliga.
Bayern, having lost the first leg 2-1, were the more aggressive side from the start.
Yann Sommer saved a shot from Thomas Müller early on, and a mistake by Nicolò Barella allowed Müller to set up Michael Olise, but Alessandro Bastoni made a crucial defensive intervention.
Inter nearly broke the deadlock with a Hakan Çalhanoglu curling shot from distance but were forced into some desperate defending after a Konrad Laimer pullback.
Matteo Darmian blocked Müller’s shot, and Sommer saved Leroy Sané’s rebound, with the teams going into halftime level.
Bayern took the lead early in the second half through Harry Kane, who scored his 11th goal of the competition.
Leon Goretzka played in Kane, who calmly fired the ball through Federico Dimarco’s legs and into the far corner.
However, Bayern’s joy was short-lived as Lautaro Martínez equalized just six minutes later. His header from a corner was blocked by Joshua Kimmich, but Martínez made no mistake with the rebound, firing past Bayern’s defense.
“We’ll remember this for a long time,” Martínez said. “Inter don’t give up; we have personality, heart, and head. We suffered, but we showed once again that we can achieve great things. Every year we aim to win everything. Now, we focus on the league, and then we’ll think about the Champions League.”
Inter Milan now look ahead to a challenging semifinal clash with Barcelona.
WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.
Comments