Trailing 2-0 at home, Inter were inspired by Calhanoglu, who struck twice as Inter eventually won 3-2 on Tuesday night to reach the final by the same aggregate scoreline.
Cesc said afterwards: "I've won a lot and lost more. So I understand what a journey is; even if we had won, I would have said the same thing.
"We have to stay calm and build a team piece by piece. There aren't many players like Calhanoglu, I'm in love with him. When we play against Inter, the first thing I worry about is whether he plays or not.
These champions always find solutions. He's a player I really like because there aren't many in football, people like him, Pirlo, Modric, Kroos.
"Seeing him at this level is incredible, he builds everything around himself and makes the team play."