Inter reach the Champions League final after 13 years
The last time Inter reached the Champions League final was the historic 2009-2010 season under coach Jose Mourinho. At that time, they beat Bayern in the Champions League final, won both Serie A and the Italian Cup, thereby becoming the first Italian club to win the treble in one season.
The return of the main striker Rafael Leao was not enough to help Milan prosper, to create a miraculous comeback at San Siro and accept to stop in the number one arena on the continent. In the rest, Stefano Pioli's teachers and students will focus on the goal of entering the top 4 of Serie A, where they are fifth with 61 points, four points behind Lazio.
Yesterday, there was Leao, but Milan were absent Ismael Bennacer, Rade Krunic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to injuries, and Malick Thiaw and Junior Messias were placed in the starting lineup for Simon Kjaer and Alexis Saelemaekers. On the opposite side, Inter was only absent from Milan Skriniar and kept the main squad compared to the 2-0 win in the first leg last week.
The Milan derby in the second leg is not as attractive as expected. Milan pushed up the squad to find a goal early, but only created a few highlights in the first half. Minute 5, Theo Hernandez fired a cannon from a distance of more than 30 meters and sent the ball over the bar. Six minutes later, Sandro Tonali sped up on the left and released it just within range for Brahim Diaz to kick a one-touch cross, but goalkeeper Andre Onana caught.
The most dangerous opportunity came in the 38th minute, when Leao took the advantage in an aerial dispute with Matteo Darmian, quickly eliminated Francesco Acerbi and then sank his left foot into the column. The Inter players thought that Leao had shoved Darmian illegally, but the referee did not cut the whistle.
With the advantage of two goals, Inter played stalking and hit the finishing blow in the 74th minute. Receiving the ball from Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez controlled a beat and then shot his left foot to the corner near the goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Martinez became the third Argentine player to reach ten goals in the European Cup/Champions League for Inter, after Julio Cruz (13) and Hernan Crespo (11).
Immediately after receiving the goal, coach Stefano Pioli played with all his hands, launching Alexis Saelemaekers and Divock Origi on the field. But that did not help Milan flourish.
Beating the club in the same city with a total score of 3-0, Inter will meet the winner of the remaining semi-final pair between Man City - Real Madrid, in the final at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on June 10. Inzaghi became the second Italy coach in history to lead Inter to the Champions League/Champions League final, after Giovanni Invernizzi in 1972. Onana goalkeeper also increased the record with the eighth game to keep a clean sheet in the Champions League this season. .
In the Champions League final, Inter have the opportunity to win the treble this season. They won Milan 3-0 in the Italian Super Cup final, reached the Champions League final and also the Italian Cup final against Fiorentina on May 24 in Rome.
Inter will also play three finals this season, including the final of the Italian Super Cup, the Italian Cup and the Champions League. The last time they did this was in the four finals of the 2010-2011 season, including three wins in the Italian Super Cup, the Italian Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
This is also the fourth time in a row that Inter beat 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. in history Inter beat their city club four times in one season, following the 1973-1974 season with two wins in Serie A and two in the Italian Cup.
