Champions League

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Champions League | Semi-Finals | 1st Leg

May 10, 2023 at 8pm UK

San Siro

AC Milan
0 - 2
Inter Milan

(Inter Milan win 3-0 on aggregate)

Krunic (45+1'), Tomori (64')

FT(HT: 0-2)

Dzeko (8'), Mkhitaryan (11')
Mkhitaryan (45+1')

Champions League: Inter Milan's road to the semi-finals

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 09 May 2023

Sports Mole takes a closer look at Inter Milan's route to the Champions League semi-finals ahead of Wednesday's first leg against AC Milan at San Siro.

Taking to the San Siro turf as the 'visiting' team, Inter Milan renew hostilities with Milan derby foes AC Milan for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg.

Simone Inzaghi's current crop will become the ninth separate Nerazzurri team to compete in the final four of Europe's premier cup competition, 13 years on from their most recent success in the tournament.

Inter's last appearance in the semi-finals ended with Jose Mourinho steering the Milan powerhouses all the way to continental glory in 2010, and the Nerazzurri have had to survive a few scares to make it this far.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Inter's route to the semi-finals ahead of Wednesday's blockbuster encounter.

GROUP C - SECOND PLACE

Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar celebrates their third goal on October 12, 2022 © Reuters

Forming part of the group of death with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and whipping boys Viktoria Plzen, Inter may have been unfancied for a top-two finish by some, especially after suffering a 2-0 reverse to Bayern on the opening matchday.

Inzaghi's side responded as expected during a trip to Viktoria Plzen, running out 2-0 winners before upsetting the Catalonian apple cart with a 1-0 San Siro success over Barcelona thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu's winner.

As Bayern began to ride off into the sunset, Inter had gleaned a three-point lead over Barcelona at the halfway mark and maintained that advantage courtesy of an enthralling 3-3 stalemate at Camp Nou, only being denied victory by a stoppage-time Robert Lewandowski strike.

Thanks to a 4-0 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen on the penultimate matchday, where Barcelona also went down 3-0 to Bayern, Inter's spot in the knockout stages was confirmed with one game to spare, and a final 2-0 loss to the runaway Bavarian leaders counted for little in the grand scheme of things.

LAST 16 - INTER 1-0 PORTO

Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on February 22, 2023 © Reuters

A last-16 battle between two of Europe's tightest defensive units was always expected to be a low-scoring affair, as Porto made their way to San Siro aiming to channel their rearguard excellence against Inzaghi's similarly stingy troops.

A closely-fought first leg remained goalless until the 86th minute, when Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku pounced on a rebound after striking the woodwork, eight minutes after Porto had Otavio sent off for a second bookable offence.

Inter number one Andre Onana had to be at his brilliant best to keep Porto at bay in the first leg, and it was a similar story at the Estadio do Dragao, where the Italian giants survived the most frenetic of finales.

During a lengthy added time period, Mehdi Taremi hit the post and crossbar, Brazilian attacker Pepe was given his marching orders, and Onana sprung into action on numerous occasions to send Inter through courtesy of a hard-earned goalless draw.

QUARTER-FINALS - INTER 5-3 BENFICA

Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella celebrates scoring their first goal with Denzel Dumfries and Edin Dzeko on April 19, 2023 © Reuters

Arguably travelling to Estadio da Luz as the underdogs, Inter met runaway Primeira Liga leaders Benfica on the back of declining domestic form, but Inzaghi's side proved to be a different European beast on the Portuguese turf.

A clinical first-leg showing saw Nicolo Barella's header and a Lukaku spot kick give Inter a 2-0 first-leg advantage before returning to their San Siro base, where they simply needed to avoid a calamitous capitulation to punch their ticket to the semis.

The return of Nicolas Otamendi from suspension would ostensibly lead to a greater sense of defensive resilience from the Eagles, but two permeable rearguards were breached at will during a frantic six-goal spectacular.

Efforts from Barella, Lautaro Martinez and Joaquin Correa were cancelled out by Fredrik Aursnes, Antonio Silva and Petar Musa, as Inter threw away a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 in the dying embers, but Benfica's late fightback was in vain as Inter set up a tantalising derby with local rivals AC Milan.