Inter Milan 2 – 2 Bayern Munich
In the fight to reach the Champions League final, the Italian club will face Barcelona.
After a goalless first half, three goals were scored within nine minutes, followed by another one, which brought excitement back into the game. However, the result from the first leg made all the difference. Inter Milan eliminated Bayern Munich to advance to the Champions League semifinals.
In the return leg of the quarter-finals at Milan’s San Siro on Wednesday night, the match ended in a 2-2 draw, giving Inter Milan a 4-3 aggregate lead and a ticket to the semifinals. They had won the first leg 2-1.
In the second half, Harry Kane leveled the score to 2-2 on aggregate within the first seven minutes. Shortly after, Lautaro Martínez and Benjamin Pavard scored in a three-minute span, giving Inter a 4-2 aggregate lead. Eric Dier sparked a brief hope for Bayern, but ultimately, the six-time European champions couldn’t make a comeback.
Inter Milan will now face Barcelona in the fight to reach the final.
The match was filled with constant attacks and counterattacks from the start. In the first three minutes, both teams had an attempt blocked by the defense. In the sixth minute, Bayern had their first real chance, with Thomas Müller’s low shot being saved by Inter’s goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.
In the ninth minute, Inter’s first shot on target came from Federico Dimarco, but Bayern’s goalkeeper, Jonas Urbig, managed to stop it.
Bayern dominated the attack for the rest of the first half but couldn’t create any clear chances, despite several ‘half chances.’
In the seventh minute of the second half, Bayern’s Harry Kane scored to level the aggregate score 2-2. After Inter failed to clear the ball from a header, Leon Goretzka passed to Kane, who then avoided a defender and placed the ball in the far corner with a low shot that left the goalkeeper with no chance.
Kane’s goal was his 11th in this season’s Champions League.
However, Bayern’s relief was short-lived. In the span of three minutes (58 to 61), Inter scored two goals to take a 4-2 aggregate lead.
Lautaro Martínez scored the first goal, heading in a corner that was blocked by a Bayern defender before he smashed it into the net. Martínez set a record as the first Inter player to score in five consecutive Champions League matches.
In the same corner, after Matteo Darmian’s shot was cleared off the line, Pavard scored with a header.
In the 76th minute, Bayern regained some hope by equalizing 2-2 in the match with a header from Dier off a corner.
Bayern applied pressure on Inter after that, pushing forward in the final moments, with much of the play taking place in Inter’s half. In the fifth minute of added time, Bayern had a great chance, but Müller’s header lacked power, and Sommer made the save to keep Inter in the game.
In the dying moments, Kingsley Coman’s shot flew over the crossbar, and the referee blew the final whistle, sparking celebrations all over the San Siro.
