Simone Inzaghi has praised the effort of Inter Milan’s players following their epic 4-3 extra time win over Barcelona in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday night, Afrosport reports.
The tie was action-packed, with the first leg ending 3-3 in Barcelona. The Nerazzurri raced to a 2-0 first lead at the San Siro but Blaugrana came back with three goals to lead 6-5 on aggregate.
Francesco Acerbi however levelled for Inter in added time before substitute Davide Frattesi scored the winner in extra time for a 7-6 aggregate victory.
Inter will now play either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain in the final on May 31 in Munich.
“The players were extraordinary. It has been an extremely difficult match against a world-class side. Same as it has been against Bayern Munich,” Inzaghi said.
“We played four excellent matches, and it was the only way we could have reached the final. Not many counted on us going this far, and now we are very proud for our fans, for our people.
“The final applause from the stands, the walk around the stadium at the end. Our fans deserve this, they never left an empty seat at San Siro, so we wanted to share this beautiful night with them. But also congratulations to Barcelona, they played two great matches too.”
The Italian tactician added: “We need to keep on going, the final will be against a great team anyway, whether it will be against Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain.
“I understand why you asked me about that, anyone of those two teams will be very tough to face, but probably Bayern Munich and Barcelona are the two best teams in Europe right now.”
2 – Since Simone Inzaghi’s joined the Nerazzurri (from 2021/22), Inter are one of the two clubs to have reached the most finals in Champions League, level with Real Madrid: both twice in four seasons. Infinity.#UCL #InterBarça #InterBarcellona pic.twitter.com/IjsATFbBOc
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) May 6, 2025
Inter Milan are in the Champions League final for the second time in two seasons having reached the 2022-23 final in Istanbul but lost to Manchester City.
