- Safiu Kehinde
Italian Serie A giant, Inter Milan, has sealed a spot in the UEFA Champions League final as they edged past Barcelona in a dramatic comeback.
Following a thrilling 3-3 at the Estadi Lluis Companys in Montjuic, Spain, last week, the two sides locked again at the San Siro stadium for the return leg.
In a similar version witnessed during the first leg, Barcelona fell behind Inter Milan as they conceded two early goals.
Argentine forward, Laurato Martinez, put the host into an early lead in 21st minute as he latched home a pass from Inter’s defender, Denzel Dumfries.
Barcelona’s defender, Pau Curbasi, would gift Inter Milan another goal scoring opportunity before the end of first half as he tripped Martinez in the penalty box.
Hakan Calhanoglu stepped to take the penalty which neatly converted to double Inter’s lead before halftime whistle.
Barcelona regained its momentum in second half with Eric Garcia pulling one back for the visitors after smashing Gerard Martin’s 54th minute cross into the back of the net.
Martin would again set up another brilliant cross in the 60th minute which was heading home by Dani Olmo, bringing the game to a leveller.
With three minutes left before regular time, Brazilian forward, Raphina, forced Inter’s goalkeeper, Yannick Sommer, into a save which was pulled out.
Raphina smashed back the rebound beyond Sommer’s reach to bring the game into 3-2 on favour of the Bulgranas.
The scoreboard saw Barcelona leading 6-5 on aggregate with few minutes of added time left to go.
The visitor’s celebration was short-lived as Denzel Dumfries crossed the ball into Barcelona’s box with Francesco Acerbi slotting in the ball to send the home fans frenzy and extend the match for another 30 minutes extra time.
Inter Milan made the comeback nine minutes into the extra time as Davide Fratessi found the back of the net.
With time tickling away, Barcelona made frantic efforts in getting back into the game.
They were unfortunately denied by brilliant saves from Sommer who proved difficult to outsmart.
The game, which ended with both teams scoring 13 goals in aggregate, saw Inter Milan advanced to the final where they will meet winner of the second semi-final match between PSG and Arsenal on Wednesday.