“It gave us everything. From start to finish last week to this week, everything about this semi-final has been pure entertainment,” said Alan Shearer.
For the second time in six days Inter Milan and Barcelona served up a European classic as the champions of Italy won 4-3 on the night – 7-6 on aggregate – to reach the Champions League final.
In a thriller that will be remembered for years to come, Barca had trailed 2-0 and 3-2 in the first leg in Catalonia before salvaging a 3-3 draw.
On Tuesday,May 6 in Milan, they were then 2-0 behind at half-time – 5-3 on aggregate – before scoring three times without reply.
Raphinha’s 87th-minute strike was the first time Barca had taken the lead on aggregate but Francesco Acerbi’s first European goal at the age of 37 took an utterly absorbing tie into extra time, with substitute Davide Frattesi scoring the winner to send more than 70,000 Inter fans inside the San Siro into raptures.
It was the joint highest-scoring Champions League semi-final ever, with the 13 goals equalling the 2018 semi-final when Liverpool also defeated Roma 7-6 on aggregate.
“We didn’t expect this, did we?” added former England captain Shearer, who was inside the San Siro for Amazon Prime.
“We expected a good game, but this? Thank you Inter Milan, thank you Barcelona for providing us with incredible entertainment and two great football matches.
“What we have witnessed has been something very special. It’s been a pleasure to be here.”
Inter will face either Paris St-Germain or Arsenal – who meet in the other semi-final in France on Wednesday, May 7- after one of the great modern classics.
PSG lead 1-0 from the first leg.
‘ My head was spinning’ – Inter Ditch Clean Sheets For Goals Galore
No neutrals wanted this tie full of twists and turns to end but, when Polish referee Szymon Marciniak sounded the final whistle at 23:38 local time, Inter Milan’s players sank to their knees exhausted but triumphant.
They remained on the pitch for a good 15 to 20 minutes after full-time to show their appreciation to their delirious fans, who can start booking flights and hotels for the final in Munich on May 31.
“Inter were heading out, they were done,” added Shearer. “They somehow found a way to get themselves into the final. They deserve to be there.”
Inter’s success in this season’s competition has been built on dogged resilience and clean sheets.
Not against Barcelona.
They conceded more goals against the La Liga leaders over 210 minutes than they had in their opening 12 matches in this season’s Champions League put together.
The three-time winners had kept eight clean sheets in all, with Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer recording seven of those.
On Tuesday alone, Barcelona peppered Inter’s goal with 22 attempts – 10 on target – and scored three times in the space of 33 minutes.
But Inter dug deep to go through with substitute Davide Frattesi scoring his side’s extra-time winner.
“What happened? I don’t know!” he said afterwards. “I celebrated so loudly that my head was spinning.”
Both Coaches’ Post-Match Reactions:
Flick (Barcelona): ‘ Every 50:50 decision went for Inter’
Hansi Flick took aim at the match officials after seeing his team beaten by Inter in the Champions League but made it clear he was proud of his players for all their efforts in the competition.
The game featured a number of controversial incidents, and Flick felt all the marginal decisions went in Inter’s favour.
“I’m disappointed, but not with the players or their performance. They tried everything, and it is what it is. We’re out, but next year we’ll try again and try to make the whole club and the fans happy,” he told the media.
“Inter also plays and is a great team. They defend very well and have good forwards. They keep possession, they have good automatic mechanisms.
“I don’t want to talk too much about the referee, but I think every 50-50 decision he made was for them. That’s football, you have to accept it.
“I think about it, about the refereeing decisions, but I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not fair to my team, who did an amazing job. I don’t like talking about the referee. I’ve told him what I think, but I’m not going to say it here.”
The Barcelona boss also insisted his team will learn from the defeat and is already thinking about Sunday’s Clasico.
“We’ll learn. It’s a progression. We want to keep learning. We don’t have much time to train. We’ll be back next season,” he added.
“It’s normal that we’re disappointed, but on Thursday we’ll be back training and preparing for the match against Real Madrid.”
Barca will now fly home and then look forward to hosting Los Blancos in a crucial game at the top of the table.
Simone Inzaghi (Inter): Inter Played With Our Strengths, But A Barcelona Player Is Sensational
Simone Inzaghi noted that Inter faced Barcelona ‘’to play it with our strengths’’ and deserve to be in the Champions League Final, but insisted Lamine Yamal wasn’t the opponent who impressed him the most.
The coach has taken the Nerazzurri into their second Champions League Final in just three seasons, an extraordinary achievement especially considering their budget was lower than any of the teams who even qualified for the quarter-finals.
“We must compliment Barcelona too, because they are truly a strong opponent,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
“It required a super Inter, so I praise my lads for putting in two incredible performances over the two legs. It was the only way to reach the Final, I am so proud to be their coach, as they gave it everything and those who came off the bench had the right attitude too.
“They should enjoy every moment in front of these fans, we are truly happy. They were exemplary. I told the players to believe, that we could try to limit Barcelona, even though it wasn’t easy to do. We had Lautaro, Dumfries and Frattesi who were not 100 per cent fit, so we had to use our hearts to push through every obstacle.”
The pre-match talk was all about Lamine Yamal, who was a nightmare for the Inter defence in the first leg, but Inzaghi had someone else in mind.
“A lot was said about Yamal, I saw another extraordinary player over these two legs who was out injured the last time we played them.
“Frenkie de Jong impressed me every bit as much as Yamal, he cleans the ball, times the passes well, he’s wonderful. I would not change my players for anyone in the world, but over the two legs I found De Jong to be really sensational.”
