C1: Inter Milan bring Italy back to the Champions League final

Rafael Leao, who the Rossoneri were counting on to turn things around, struggled to find space against the compact and disciplined Nerazzurri. And Lautaro Martinez hit (74th) to extinguish their last hopes in a closed and chopped match.
Inter Milan will obviously be the outsider in Istanbul, June 10, against the stainless Real Madrid with 14 coronations (the record) or the hungry Manchester City in search of a first crown.

But the Nerazzurri, who did not hope for such a course after inheriting Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona in the group stage, will try to assert their character there, which was enough against the Rossoneri. As against FC Porto (1-0, 0-0) in the eighth then Benfica (2-0, 3-3) in the quarters, Inter Milan knew how to manage the advantage of the first leg to continue to run towards a possible fourth coronation after those of 1964, 1965 and 2010.

If they did not have the weapons to deprive Naples of the scudetto, the Nerazzurri can finish the season with three titles since they will also play the Italian Cup final on May 24, against Fiorentina, after having already won the Italian Supercup in January, already against AC Milan (3-0).

Leao next door

Against Milan, they take a nice revenge after having fallen against the Rossoneri in C1 during their two previous confrontations, in 2003 and 2005. A year after their title of champions of Italy, Olivier Giroud, very discreet, and his partners finish them the season with low morale, already beaten four times by Inter in as many matches in 2023.

« Inter deserved on both matches, but our journey has been fantastic » in C1, preferred to retain the ex-legend of the great Milan, Paolo Maldini, now manager of the club.

The long-awaited return of Rafael Leao will therefore not have been enough to derail a confident Inter, which remains on eight consecutive victories. The Portuguese has long sought his place, starting by losing a ball and going down low, even if he almost unlocked the match on one of his rare accelerations, concluded with a shot from the side (38th).

It was undoubtedly the best opportunity for the Rossoneri with that missed by Brahim Diaz, who hit far too softly on a center back from Sandro Tonali, allowing André Onana to lie down quietly (11th).

Turpin whistled a lot

Inter, in place, was generally wait-and-see, determined to « manage » contrary to what his coach Simone Inzaghi announced the day before.

In this committed match, Clément Turpin was for a long time the most prominent Frenchman on the field, with no less than 22 whistled fouls during a choppy first period where the game never picked up speed. The goalkeeper of the Blues Mike Maignan gave him competition by releasing a new miracle stop on a deviation from the head of Edin Dzeko just before the break (41st), while Inter was finally enterprising.

Same closed match and same impotence of the Milanese attackers in the second half. A helplessness that turned into frustration when Inter Milan folded the match thanks to the tense strike at the near post from Lautaro Martinez that Mike Maignan could only touch (74th).
« We did a great job. If you have a united group, everyone is going in the same direction, everything is easier, » rejoiced the Argentinian « Toro ».

Martinez can dream of lifting the Champions League a few months after conquering the World Cup. Maignan and Milan will have to whip to get fourth place in the league, to hope to find the C1 next season.