Soccer-Inter reach Champions League semis after 2-2 draw with Bayern


Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Inter Milan v Bayern Munich - San Siro, Milan, Italy - April 16, 2025 Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates after the match REUTERS/Claudia Greco

MILAN (Reuters) -Inter Milan reached the Champions League semi-finals with a 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich after an enthralling 2-2 draw in the second leg of their quarter-final tie at the San Siro on Wednesday.

The Italians will face Barcelona next, who they defeated at the semi-final stage in 2010 before going on to beat Bayern in the final to complete the treble, and Simone Inzaghi's side are still on course to repeat that feat this season.

It was a far from comfortable evening for Inter, but they did just enough in a pulsating clash between the top teams from Serie A and the Bundesliga.

Bayern, who lost the first leg 2-1, were the more aggressive side from the off, with Yann Sommer saving a shot on the turn from Thomas Mueller early on.

A mistake by Nicolo Barella allowed Mueller to steal possession and play a pass into Michael Olise but Alessandro Bastoni nicked the ball off his toe before he could get a shot away.

Inter came close with a Hakan Calhanoglu curled shot from distance but then needed some desperate defending after Konrad Laimer's pullback from the byline.

Matteo Darmian blocked down Mueller's shot and Sommer saved Leroy Sane's rebound effort, and the side's went in goalless at the break.

Bayern's first attack of the second half led to Harry Kane netting his 11th goal of this season's competition.

Leon Goretzka played the ball into Kane who took his time before teeing up a shot from a wide angle which he sent through the legs of Dimarco and into the far corner.

Bayern's joy lasted all of six minutes, as Lautaro Martinez scored from a corner kick. His first headed effort came back off Joshua Kimmich and the Inter striker made no mistake with his shot from the rebound.

Inter went in search of a goal to kill off Bayern and found it within three minutes. Darmian had a shot cleared off the line by Eric Dier and from the resulting corner Benjamin Pavard powered a header past Jonas Urbig.

Bayern, however, refused to give in, and after a short corner, Serge Gnabry floated a ball into the box and Dier's attempt at a headed cross from the byline ended up finding the net.

With 14 minutes still remaining, a nervy ending was guaranteed. Sommer made a diving save from Mueller deep into added time and the hosts held on and for the first time the Germans failed to win away to Inter, and exited the competition.

(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In Football

Soccer-FA won't take action against Man Utd owner Ratcliffe over immigration remarks
Soccer-Arteta dismisses ‘bottlers’ talk amid title wobble
Soccer-Neymar says he may retire by end of 2026
Kuching brace for intense battle with Selangor in race for second spot
Soccer-Crystal Palace fined over provocative fan banner
Soccer-New boss Tudor '100%' certain Tottenham will avoid relegation from Premier League
Soccer-Carrick sidesteps Ratcliffe immigration row, reinforces Man Utd's values
Soccer-City's Guardiola shrugs off tightening title race, saying 12 games is an eternity
Soccer-Bayern boss Kompany blasts Mourinho over Vinicius racism row response
Soccer-MLS in the spotlight in World Cup year as Messi's Miami begin title defence

Others Also Read