Davide Frattesi netted in extra time to take Inter to the Champions League final, after a 4-3 second-leg win over Barcelona at San Siro, and a 7-6 semi-final victory on aggregate.
Just as they did in the first leg last week, Inter took the lead. Dani Olmo was dispossessed in midfield, and after being slipped in down the right, Denzel Dumfries squared it to the returning Lautaro Martinez, who coolly turned it into the net first-time in the 21st minute.
An out-of-sorts Barca struggled to offer a threat in the first half, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu both sent brilliant first-time efforts wide of the posts.
Inter got their second on the stroke of half-time after Pau Cubarsi slid in on Martinez inside the box. What initially looked like a well-timed tackle was reviewed by VAR, and seeing the Inter captain got to the ball first, the referee pointed to the spot. Calhanoglu confidently fired into the bottom-left corner, sending Wojciech Szczesny the wrong way.
Inter looked even more comfortable when, seven minutes after the break, Francesco Acerbi stooped to head Calhanoglu’s free-kick past Szczesny, but the goal was chalked off for offside.
Just two minutes later, Barcelona pulled one back. Gerard Martin’s first cross from the left was blocked, but after recycling it, he picked out Eric Garcia, who put his laces through a first-time shot, rifling it across goal into the top-left corner.
Garcia was denied a second by Sommer’s pouncing save just moments after Szczesny kept out Nicolo Barella’s tight-angled effort at the other end before Barcelona pulled level on the hour.
Martin was again given space on the left, and he bent a deep cross into the far post, where Olmo was unmarked to thump a powerful header past Sommer.
Sommer kept out Lamine Yamal’s curler at the top corner with a stunning save, and then parried a Raphinha strike, only for the Brazilian to fire the rebound into the bottom-right corner with three minutes remaining to give Barca the lead for the first time in the tie.
Yamal then struck the foot of Sommer’s left post, a miss that Inter punished just moments later. The hosts countered quickly, and Dumfries’ low cross was fired into the roof of the net by Acerbi in the 93rd minute to ensure they would play another 30 minutes.
After looking down and out for most of the second half, Inter were reinvigorated in extra time. Frattesi found a pocket of space in the 99th minute, bending a low shot past Szczesny, who remained rooted to the spot.
Barcelona pushed for another equaliser, with Yamal, the star of the semi-final tie, almost catching Sommer out twice more, but the goalkeeper first made a fingertip save before parrying his powerful strike away in the closing stages.
Data Debrief: Inter dig deep
This match is now the joint-highest scoring semi-final in Champions League history, along with Liverpool 7-6 Roma in 2017-18, and it is one that Inter fans will not soon forget.
Martinez has now scored eight goals across his last seven appearances in the competition. He also scored as many goals in the first half as he completed passes (both one).
Calhanoglu, meanwhile, continued his perfect record from the spot. He has scored all six of his Champions League penalties, the joint-best 100% success rate in the competition’s history (with Timo Werner also having netted all six of his spot-kicks).
With what he thought was surely the winner, Raphinha equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2013-14 record of 21 goal involvements in a single Champions League campaign (13 goals, eight assists).
Only Barcelona themselves (45 in 1999-00) have scored more goals in a Champions League season than Barcelona this season (43), but Hansi Flick’s side have also conceded 24 goals, their most in a single campaign, which ultimately proved their downfall.
Inter are through to their second Champions League final in three seasons. Since Simone Inzaghi’s arrival in 2021, they are one of only two teams, along with Real Madrid, to reach the showpiece more than once.
