Inter Milan advanced to the 2025 UEFA Champions League final, eliminating Barcelona with a 7-6 aggregate victory in one of the wildest ties in recent history.
Entering the second leg tied 3-3, Inter Milan scored twice in the first half to push their aggregate advantage to 5-3 by halftime. Barcelona responded quickly after the break, scoring two goals in seven minutes to even the tie again. In the 87th minute, Barcelona’s Raphinha scored the go-ahead goal and it looked like the Spanish giants would go through with a 6-5 aggregate win – but Francesco Acerbi tied it up in stoppage time to force an extra 30 minutes.
Davide Frattesi’s goal less than 10 minutes into extra time restored Milan’s lead and Inter managed to hold on at the San Siro for the 7-6 aggregate victory.
“They gave me everything they had,” Inter manager Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport. “It is only right that they enjoy the success in this stadium.”
Inter Milan is in the Champions League final for the second time in three years after losing to Manchester City in 2023. The Italian club will face Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain in the final in Munich on May 31.
Here’s how the match unfolded:
The 2025 Champions League final is scheduled for Saturday, May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Nine minutes into extra time, Inter Milan’s Davide Frattesi scored past Szczęsny, giving his team 7-6 aggregate lead. It’s been a stunning turn of events at the San Siro.
Just when it looked like Barcelona had secured their place in the final with a go-ahead goal in 87th minute, defender Francesco Acerbi found the back of the net in the 93rd minute to make it 6-6 on aggregate and force the semifinal to extra time.
In the 87th minute, Barcelona’s Raphina got his own rebound and fired a rocket to beat Yann Sommer at his far post, completing the comeback by giving the Spanish giants a 6-5 aggregate lead.
Inter Milan led 2-0 in the first leg (3-3 draw) and 2-0 on Tuesday. coughing up three Barcelona goals in the second half to cough up the advantage they needed to just hold for 45 minutes.
Barcelona and Inter Milan are tied 5-5 on aggregate in the 80th minute, and if things stay all square after 90 minutes, the match goes into 30 minutes of extra-time with two 15-minute halves.
If the match is still tied after 120 minutes, a penalty shootout will decide which team advances to the Champions League final.
This thrilling Champions League semifinal is all tied up again, with Barcelona’s Dani Olmo scoring a header in the 60th minute, erasing Inter Milan’s two-goal lead in just seven minutes. Olmo got on the end of an absolutely perfect cross from Gerard Martín, who had assisted on Barcelona’s first goal.
Barcelona defender Eric Garcia was an unlikely goalscorer in the 54th minute, smashing home a volley to cut Inter Milan’s two-goal advantage in half. Minutes later, Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer made a stunning save on a Barcelona counterattack, denying Garcia a second goal with on an opportunity the right back should have converted.
After VAR awarded a penalty to Inter Milan right before halftime, Hakan Çalhanoglu stepped up and sent Barcelona goalkeeper the wrong way Wojciech Szczęsny with a perfect spot kick – giving the Italians a two-goal advantage to hold for the last 45 minutes.
-With a nice assist from Denzel Dumfries, Inter’s Lautaro Martínez scored the game’s opening goal in the 21st minute.
Entering the second leg tied 3-3 on aggregate, Barcelona and Inter Milan have gotten started at the San Siro, with 90 minutes (plus extra time) separating one of the teams from the 2025 Champions League final.
Barcelona: Szczęsny; Martin, Iñigo, Cubarsí, Eric; Pedri, De Jong, Olmo; Raphinha, Ferran, Lamine.
Inter Milan: Summer; Bisseck, immature, sticks; Dumfries, Barella, çalhanoğlu, Mkhitryan, Dimarco; L. Martínez, Thuram
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti promised his team will put up a good fight against LaLiga leaders Barcelona at the “El Clasico” next Sunday, as the defending champions look to reduce a four-point gap with their arch-rivals.
Defending champions Real secured a 3-2 win over Celta Vigo on Sunday to keep their title dream alive going into the last four matches in the campaign. Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 15 league games, and beat Real 3-2 after extra time to win the Copa del Rey last weekend.
“We’re going to prepare well, we’re going to put up a good fight,” Ancelotti said in a post-match press conference. “It’s not going to be decisive but it’s almost there.”
– Reuters
Lamine Yamal causes headaches for Inter Milan
Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni called on his team to pull out all the stops in their bid to contain Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal. The prodigious 17-year-old Yamal wowed the crowd at Montjuic with a sublime goal and a bold performance, helping Barcelona twice fight back to secure a gripping 3-3 draw in the first leg.
Bastoni, the 25-year-old centre back, who faced Yamal during last year’s European Championship where Spain beat Italy 1-0, expressed admiration for the teenager’s rapid progression.
“I had already faced him with Spain and he was not yet at this level,” Bastoni told a press conference on Monday. “I was impressed by the level he reached, for his age and ability to create incredible things on the pitch, I think he is among the best in the world right now. We’ll have to double, maybe triple (mark) him like we did at times in the first leg, but without exaggerating, otherwise we would create too many spaces. Barcelona is not just Yamal.”
– Reuters
Robert Lewandowski injury update: Barca on bench vs. Inter Milan
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has been declared fit to return from a hamstring injury but is set to start on the bench in their Champions League semi-final second leg at Inter Milan on Tuesday, manager Hansi Flick confirmed.
The 36-year-old Polish striker, who has netted 40 goals for Barcelona in all competitions this season, had been sidelined for his club’s last four games.
After sustaining the injury during Barca’s 4-3 victory against Celta Vigo on April 19, he missed their Copa del Rey final victory over rivals Real Madrid and the first leg of the Champions League semi against Inter.
– Reuters
Champions League schedule
Semifinals
First leg:
- PSG 1, Arsenal 0
- Barcelona 3, Inter Milan 3
Second leg:
- Inter Milan vs. Barcelona, 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 6
- PSG vs. Arsenal, 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7
When is the Champions League final?
- May 31 in Munich, Germany
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