Inter Milan vs AC Milan LIVE: Result and reaction as Martinez goal sends Inter into Champions League final

Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg): Inter triumphed in the Milan derby to reach the European showpiece

Pioli confirms Leao likely to return for AC Milan in 2nd leg of Champions League semifinals

Inter Milan reached the Champions League final in competent fashion with a controlled and clinical display against city rivals AC Milan.

Carrying a two-goal advantage into the second leg the Nerazzurri didn’t need to overly exert themselves in attack and instead focused on winning the midfield battle to cut out the supply lines to Milan’s returning star Rafael Leao. The first half was a tight affair with both goalkeeper called into action, Andre Onana smothered Brahim Diaz’s early shot and Mike Maignan denied Edin Dzeko.

The half-time break came and went but Milan didn’t look like breaking through Inter’s solid backline. The introduction of Romelu Lukaku then ended Milan’s hopes of a comeback. A selfless centre-forward display ensured he set up Lautaro Martinez for the only goal of the game and as Inter extended their aggregate lead to three the Champions League final dream became reality.

Relive all the action as Inter and Milan clashed in the Champions League semi-final:

Inter vs AC Milan

• Inter Milan have already made it clear how they’ll aim to win Champions League final
• Budget building and back to the future tactics have Inter Milan among the elite once more
• FT - Martinez’s goal is the difference as Inter knockout AC Milan
• 74’ GOAL! - Martinez beats Maignan at the near post (INT 1-0 MIL)
• 39’ SAVE! - Maignan keeps out Dzeko’s close ranged header (INT 0-0 MIL)
• 38’ CHANCE! - Leao drills one across the face of goal (INT 0-0 MIL)
• 11’ SAVE! - Onana smothers Diaz’s first time shot (INT 0-0 MIL)

[16 May 2023 22:33 · Mike Jones]

Budget building and back to the future tactics have Inter Milan among the elite once more

By the time the great escapologist came on, the mission was impossible for AC Milan. Divock Origi had powered one Champions League semi-final comeback from 3-0 down; but not in 14 minutes and not against this Inter Milan. This time he was the afterthought, his introduction overshadowed by Lautaro Martinez’s goal; the goal sent Internazionale to Istanbul, that put the Nerazzurri 90 minutes from the sort of triumph that almost felt outlawed in the Champions League these days.

Inter are European royalty - just the fourth club ever to win its premier club competition, their very name referencing their international identity – but the kind of aristocracy whose brand of faded grandeur can make them appear anachronisms in a world of new money and vaunting ambition.

Signing up for the European Super League felt a desperate attempt to restore past glories. Instead, it may happen in altogether more laudable fashion. The old-timers with the old formula could restore Serie A to the summit of the continental game for the first time since Inter themselves won the Champions League in 2010.

[16 May 2023 22:28 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

Inter’s Lautaro Martínez has been named player of the match by Uefa. The Argentine has scored 25 goals in all competitions this season, his joint-most in a single campaign for Inter.

Only Victor Osimhen (28) has scored more for Serie A clubs in 2022/23.

[16 May 2023 22:25 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

Inter scorer Lautaro Martínez, speaking to Sky Italia: “We did a great job in both matches. The key was the group. I had a similar experience at the World Cup: if you are united, you get to play these very important matches in the best possible way.

“Every time I take the pitch I try to give my best in order to help my team-mates. We knew we had this opportunity to reach the Champions League final and today we completed our job.”

[16 May 2023 22:22 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

AC Milan have failed to score in five of their 12 Champions League games this campaign, no team has failed to do so more often in this season’s tournament.

[16 May 2023 22:16 · Mike Jones]

Inter Milan have already made it clear how they’ll aim to win Champions League final

After clawing their way to Istanbul, Internazionale have made one thing clear beyond the fact they have reached a first Champions League final since 2010, and a sixth in their history.

Whoever they meet in the Ataturk on 10 June is going to have to fight to lift that trophy. That was one of the grand lessons of this historic 3-0 aggregate win over their great rivals in AC Milan. Such a scoreline may have made it look easy but it came from a combativeness and willingness to rise to the occasion. That’s maybe essential, since Inter are in some way a team drastically rising above where they are as a club right now.

A defiance runs through the side: against their league position; against their financial situation; against their profile; against age - even against reputation. It was symbolic that it was Lauturo Martinez who got the clinching goal to make it 1-0 here, given how criticised he’d been for performances in the 2022 World Cup.

[16 May 2023 22:13 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

Internazionale are the first side to reach the Champions League final despite finishing as runners up in their group that season since both Liverpool and Tottenham in 2018/19, and the first Italian club to do so since Juventus in 2014/15.

[16 May 2023 22:10 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

Against no other opponent has Lautaro Martínez scored more goals for Inter than he has against Milan (8); indeed, he’s the top scorer against Milan across all competitions since joining his current club in 2018.

[16 May 2023 22:07 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

Lautaro Martínez becomes the second Argentinian player to score for Inter in the Champions League semi-finals after Diego Milito, who scored in their 3-1 win against Barcelona in the first leg of the 2009/10 tie.

[16 May 2023 22:04 · Mike Jones]

Inter vs AC Milan player ratings: Lautaro Martinez and Francesco Acerbi star for Nerazzurri

Inter Milan are the first club set for the 2023 Champions League final, after knocking out city rivals AC Milan with a 1-0 victory in the second leg.

The goalkeepers were the stars of the show in the first half, both making fine stops, but the breakthrough finally came with just 15 minutes to play as Lautaro Martinez hammered in at the near post to seal a 3-0 aggregate win.

Here are the player ratings from the second leg in the San Siro:

[16 May 2023 22:00 · Mike Jones]

FT Inter 1-0 Milan (3-0 agg)

Inter reach their sixth Champions League final, putting them joint eighth on the list behind:

Real Madrid 17 (14 wins)

AC Milan 11 (7 wins)

Bayern Munich 11 (6 wins)

Liverpool 10 (6 wins)

Juventus 9 (2 wins)

Barcelona 8 (4 wins)

Benfica 7 (2 wins)

Ajax 6 (4 wins)

Inter 6 (3 wins so far...)