Martinez meets
13 years after the Champions League triumph over FC Bayern, Inter Milan is again reaching for the European football crown. Thanks to a semi-final win in Milan’s “Euroderby” over city rivals AC Milan, the ripped-off Nerazzurri stormed into the final in Istanbul. Coach Simone Inzaghi’s team won the second leg of the semi-finals on Tuesday thanks to Lautaro Martínez 1-0 (0-0) – the world champion had married at the weekend and, after the 2-0 win in the first duel, let his team score through his goal in the 74th minute .minute cheer again. The AC sold expensively for a long time, but could not crack a sovereign inter-defensive.
For the sixth time in the club’s history, Inter is in the final of the Champions League or the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. Against Manchester City or Real Madrid, who will contest the second semi-final on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN), the fourth “premier class” success is to come on June 10 in the final on the Bosporus. The Milan team last managed to do that in the 2010 final in Madrid against Bayern (2-0).
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In front of 75,567 spectators in the sold-out soccer temple in San Siro, nothing less than the fate of the two arch-rivals was at stake – at least that was what the “Gazzetta dello Sport” announced in a powerfully fatalistic way. In contrast to the first duel, when Inter was in the lead with two goals after just over ten minutes and showed off the opponent, this time a duel developed on an equal footing. Milan took the initiative, determined to turn the duel around after all. A look at history shows that the task was huge: so far only one team had managed to catch up two or more goals after a semi-final first leg (Liverpool made up for a 0-3 draw in Barcelona in 2019 with a 4-0 win at home ). Coach Stefano Pioli was optimistic.
Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana (11th) thwarted the first big chance of the nominal guests by Brahim Diaz – but because the action was preceded by a foul by Milan defender Theo Hernandez on European champion Nicolò Barella, a possible goal would probably have been withdrawn by VAR. At the other end, just Barella forced AC keeper Mike Maignan to make a brilliant move, but French referee Clement Turpin called it offside.
The fans and plenty of football celebrities in the stands, such as UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and a number of former professionals, got to see just before the break why AC Milan was so excited about Rafael Leão’s comeback. In the first leg, the Portuguese missed out due to injury – now, after one of his irresistible sprints, he appeared alone in front of Onana, but fired just wide of the far post from a tight angle (38′). In addition to Leão, the German U21 international Malick Thiaw was also a new starter and had to deal with Argentina’s world champion Martinez and ex-Bundesliga professional Edin Dzeko – the outstanding scorer of the first leg – in central defense. Just Dzeko was about to take the lead again, but Maignan parried his header with a strong reflex (39′).
Milan tried again after the change of sides, but it became more and more harmless offensively. When Martínez took advantage of an indecisive moment in the AC defense to make it 1-0, the duel was decided. The striker put the ball in the short corner, keeper Maignan did not look good.
IN FINALE ANDIAMO NOIIIIIII #ForzaInter #InterMilan #UCL pic.twitter.com/9Q86qlfE7D
— Inter (@Inter) May 16, 2023
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