Lauturo scored the only goal of the game to help Inter Milan produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Champions League. Three times successful In their first championship game since defeating Bayern Munich in 2010, Inter will now take on either Real Madrid or Manchester City in Istanbul on June 10. In the 74th minute at a boisterous San Siro, striker Martinez clinched their progress, defeating AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan with an angled finish. Inter was the designated home side at the stadium they share with their rivals after winning 2-0 as the away team in the previous week’s first leg.
Simone Inzaghi’s team won with ease after AC Milan displayed some promising moments in the first half, with Brahim Diaz and the returning Rafael Leao missing their best opportunities. However, AC Milan was unable to manage a single shot on goal in the lopsided second half. Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored both of Inter’s goals in the first 11 minutes of the first leg against AC Milan last week, but Stefano Pioli’s team this time around were more dangerous early on.
After a superb run and cutback by midfielder Sandro Tonali, Theo Hernandez gave Inter a scare when he blasted inches over the crossbar from long range. Diaz then squandered a great opportunity when he went too near to goalkeeper Andre Onana. Leao, who missed the first leg due to a muscle ailment, also came close, racing past Matteo Darmian and sending a low attempt just past Onana’s left-hand post. However, Inter handled the game effectively in the first half and also had opportunities of their own at the opposite end.
The nearest was Dzeko, whose glanced header from a free-kick by Hakan Calhanoglu required a quick reaction stop from Maignan. The Inter player was again denied by Maignan, but he was offside. To have any hope of making their 12th final in their illustrious history, AC Milan needed to do something extraordinary in the second half, but they came out of the break looking like a defeated team. With AC Milan rarely acting as an attacking force, Inter easily kept them at arm’s length, and when Martinez had the opportunity to end the match, he seized it.
The Argentinean player swapped passes with Romelu Lukaku, a replacement, inside the area before shifting the ball to his left foot and finishing powerfully to beat Maignan at his near post. In stoppage time, Lukaku came close to joining the celebration when he struck Maignan with another well-hit shot. However, by that point, the Inter supporters inside the San Siro had already started to celebrate, and the Champions League final was only around the corner.
Although AC Milan put up feeble opposition, Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola are aware of the difficulties the final would present. The defensive strength of Inter has been on display throughout the competition, and it was clear over both legs of this semifinal. Surprisingly, in their first 12 games in the Champions League, they have preserved 10 clean sheets. Hakan Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella, as well as playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, wingers Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco, and the back three of their team, are highly trained and enjoy plenty of protection.
Inter are packed with offensive skills, however, their major strengths are at the defense and in their adept game management. In addition to Romelu Lukaku, who assisted Lautaro Martinez in setting up the game-winning goal, Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez make up a powerful front two with good chemistry. Undoubtedly, Simone Inzaghi’s team will enter the final as underdogs, but this performance—despite coming against a weak AC Milan team—was merely the most recent evidence that their success is no coincidence. To underestimate them is foolish.
Inter has advanced to its sixth Champions League/European Cup final, but they have only done so twice in the previous 50 years, the other being in 2009–10 when they won the championship. Milan advanced from nine of their first ten European Cup/Champions League semi-final matches, but in two of their past three semi-final appearances (also in 2005/06), they were unable to advance to the final. For the first time ever, Milan has lost to rival Inter four times in a single season (also 1973–74), and this is just the second time in club history that they have done so without scoring.
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