After 210 gripping minutes and 13 goals, Inter Milan have reached their second UEFA Champions League final in three years.
They survived three astonishing Barcelona comebacks to eliminate the LaLiga side 7-6 on aggregate with one of their own when it most mattered.
Davide Frattesi scored the winning goal in extra time to seal a 4-3 win, with San Siro erupting as the rain began to pour, but that doesn’t come close to telling the full story of one of the most remarkable European semifinals ever.
Barça, who came from 2-0 and 3-2 down in the first leg to draw 3-3 last week, had earlier produced yet another stirring turnaround to move to the brink of their first Champions League final since 2015.
When Raphinha struck in the 87th minute, they led for the first time in the tie after second-half goals from Eric GarcÃa and Dani Olmo had canceled out a first-half strike from Lautaro MartÃnez and a Hakan Çalhanoglu penalty.
But their advantage lasted only six minutes.
They were unable to get over the line, with veteran defender Francesco Acerbi turning home from close range in the 93rd minute.
There was still time for the brilliant Yann Sommer to deny Lamine Yamal, who had also hit the post before Acerbi’s late goal, but the teams could not be separated after 180 minutes.
Frattesi pulled Inter clear again in the 99th minute, and then it was over to Sommer to seal his team’s passage to the final in Munich against either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal on May 31.
The Swiss goalkeeper saved superbly on two occasions from Yamal as Barça threw everything at the Serie A side, but they held on to win and the three-time winners will now have the chance to banish memories of defeat to Manchester City in the final in 2023.
ESPN
