Thirteen years after the last time, Inter Milan reached the Champions League final on Tuesday night after beating AC Milan 13-0 in the semi-finals and 1-0 in both matches, and will await the winner of the second semi-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid tonight (Wednesday, 3 p.m., Sports 22)
Apart from the great joy of reaching the final for the sixth time in its history, Inter did so with absolute superiority in both games over its city rivals, registering a fourth victory over the Rossoneri yesterday in 2023 after further victories in the Italian Super Cup and Serie A. It is also the fourth time in a row that Inter have managed to keep a clean sheet against AC Milan, another impressive statistic on the way to European football's biggest event on June 10.
The man of the match is the world champion with Argentina and the one who scored the only goal yesterday – Lautaro Martinez, who said afterwards: "Our strength is the teamwork, I experienced something similar at the World Cup in Qatar. I gave the other players an example of this, if everything goes in our favor it will get easier. We need experience on evenings like these. Every time I step onto the field I give everything for this team, to help my teammates. We knew it was a great opportunity to reach the final, and here we are. We'll try to do our best there and go as far as we can."
Black and Blue, the best colours for Milano ⚫️🔵#ForzaInter #InterMilan #UCL pic.twitter.com/ioYdPaQ8k9
— Inter (@Inter) May 16, 2023
The striker added: "This evening will stay with me for the rest of my life. I learned a lot from Messi about moments like this. I've matured a lot this season – on and off the court. I think more, spend more time with family and close friends. I suffered a lot in the past when he didn't walk, certainly physically, but I didn't stop for a moment. We are going to Istanbul to hoist the trophy. This club deserves to play in finals."
Javier Zanetti, a former Inter player and current vice-president, also paid tribute to his compatriot, saying after the game: "I'm very happy for him, he's done an outstanding journey for us. We enjoy every moment of him with us, he's happy to be here and I hope he stays here as long as possible."
L'MVP HA PARLATO 🗣️ #ForzaInter #InterMilan #UCL pic.twitter.com/piP1aNI7b7
— Inter (@Inter) May 16, 2023
Inter Milan coach Simona Inzaghi analysed his side: "Only in the next few days will we understand what we did here. For us it was a dream, but we always believed it could be realized. It was an outstanding way and winning a derby in the semi-finals brings with it extraordinary satisfaction. I'm proud to be here. This year we've come far and it's not taken for granted, we deserved it. Now we dream big about the final. Real and City are some of the best teams in Europe. I'm happy for us. Tomorrow I will watch the game with great interest, but without any preference."
POV: esco un attimo a fare due passi a Milano 🖤💙#ForzaInter #InterMilan #Football pic.twitter.com/7gaddq88cJ
— Inter (@Inter) May 16, 2023
On the losing side, there was great disappointment but also acceptance. "The players gave everything in both meetings," Rossoneri coach Stefano Pioli said. "Inter deserved to win, and we congratulate them. It's a big disappointment, we had a great journey, we wanted to get to the final and we had some good chances in the first half. Maybe if we had conquered, it would have been a different story. Now we will have to finish the league properly. We couldn't be dangerous enough."
Paolo Maldini, Milan's sporting director, was more emphatic: "We made a great achievement that was not expected. Of course, losing to Inter hurts a lot more than it would have if we had been eliminated to another opponent, but you have to remember that our whole journey in the Champions League was very unexpected. They were significantly better. You can qualify for the Champions League through the league but we have to invest. The gap from Inter is there, if we had played better it would have looked different but they have won all the last 4. They are more experienced. If we get to the Champions League it will be a good season. Milan are not built to keep up with two frames, and the owners know that."
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