Tribal Football

Inter edge Barcelona in seven-goal thriller to reach Champions League final

Max Davis
Inter Milan's Italian midfielder Davide Frattesi (centre) celebrates scoring his team's winner against Barcelona
Inter Milan's Italian midfielder Davide Frattesi (centre) celebrates scoring his team's winner against BarcelonaMarco Bertorello / AFP
Still the last Italian side to lift the trophy after their 2010 triumph, Inter Milan will head to Munich to contest a UEFA Champions League final for the second time in three seasons, after spectacularly beating Barcelona 4-3 after extra time at the San Siro and 7-6 on aggregate - the joint-most goals ever scored in a two-legged Champions League semi-final.

Following on from last week’s 3-3 first-leg thriller, a raucous atmosphere at the start of this second leg crescendoed to Inter’s devastating opener.

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Sharp as a tack, Federico Dimarco stole the ball off Dani Olmo in midfield and slid through Denzel Dumfries, who rolled it across to Lautaro Martinez for a simple stroke into the empty net.

Inter's opening goal scored by Lautaro Martinez
Inter's opening goal scored by Lautaro MartinezMarco Bertorello / AFP / Opta by StatsPerform

Henrikh Mkhitaryan then toed a whisker past Wojciech Szczesny’s post at the other end, but the next plot twist to this thriller came just prior to half-time, when VAR retrospectively judged Pau Cubarsi’s sliding challenge on Martnez to be marginally late.

Hakan Calhanoglu dispatched into the bottom-left corner from the resulting penalty, causing the crowd to erupt, along with Hansi Flick’s temper.

Having won from behind in three of their five prior competitive fixtures, Barcelona once again rallied against the odds and found their way back into the tie when Eric Garcia volleyed Gerard Martin’s cross into the top-left corner of the net within 10 minutes of the restart.

Eric Garcia of FC Barcelona celebrates scoring his team's first goal
Eric Garcia of FC Barcelona celebrates scoring his team's first goalDan Mullan / Getty Images via AFP

With Barcelona now boasting some newfound momentum, Garcia’s subsequent miss mattered not when another curling Martin ball found an unmarked Olmo, who powered in his header to level the tie - now the first Champions League semi-final since 2022 to hit double figures in aggregate goals.

Dani Olmo's equaliser for Barcelona
Dani Olmo's equaliser for BarcelonaDan Mullan / Getty Images via AFP

It was all Barcelona from there, and they went close through Yamal before completing a scintillating second-half comeback with just two minutes of normal time to spare.

Raphinha hit a powerful left-footed shot at Sommer, but the rebound came straight back to the Brazilian, who arrowed into the far corner and put his side in front for the first time in the tie.

Raphinha of Barcelona scores his team's third goal
Raphinha of Barcelona scores his team's third goalCarl Recine / Getty Images via AFP

But just as the visitors had their hearts and minds turning towards the final, Dumfries crossed for Francesco Acerbi to divert the ball into the top corner at the near post and force an extra 30 minutes.

Francesco Acerbi of Inter celebrates scoring his team's third goal
Francesco Acerbi of Inter celebrates scoring his team's third goalDan Mullan / Getty Images via AFP

The hosts looked reinvigorated when play got back underway, and put themselves back in front when Mehdi Taremi cushioned Marcus Thuram’s cross into the path of Davide Frattesi, who slotted into the far corner.

Carl Recine / Getty Images via AFP
Carl Recine / Getty Images via AFPDavide Frattesi of Inter scores his team's fourth goal

Frattesi could have had another, but the Inter defence held firm to close out a remarkable battle that will live long in the memory.

With history repeating itself after their 2010 semi-final win over Barca, Simone Inzaghi will hope that is a sign that they will go on to lift a fourth Champions League when they face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of May.

Barca’s hopes of a treble dissipate in the process, but a domestic double will surely be theirs if they can overcome Real Madrid for a fourth time this season in just five days' time.

Key match stats after full-time
Key match stats after full-timeOpta by StatsPerform

Flashscore Man of the Match: Denzel Dumfries (Inter)

See all the match stats with Flashscore.