Inter beat Barcelona to reach second Champions League final in three seasons

Inter Milan defeated Barcelona 4-3 on Tuesday to reach a second Champions League final in three years. 

The two sides played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg of the semi-final, but the Italian giants prevailed at the San Siro after an extra-time winner from substitute Davide Frattesi. 

Inter lost the European Cup final to Manchester City in 2023, but they now have another opportunity to lift the coveted trophy as they face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain on May 31. 

Simone Inzaghi’s men got the first breakthrough when Lautaro Martinez fired home from close range after 21 minutes. 

The Argentine striker then earned a penalty, which was converted by Hakan Calhanoglu, putting the hosts in control at half-time. 

However, similar to what happened in the first leg, Barcelona launched a stunning comeback to level the tie 5-5. Eric Garcia combined with Gerard Martín to halve the deficit after half-time before Dani Olmo nodded home the equaliser six minutes later. 

Raphinha looked to have won the contest for the visitors when he put them ahead in the 87th minute, converting the rebound after Yann Sommer had saved his first effort. 

However, Francesco Acerbi superbly brought his team back in the tie, smashing a cross into the roof of the net to add another 30 minutes onto the thrilling encounter. 

Then in the first period of extra-time, substitute Davide Frattesi won it for Inter, curling a beautiful shot into the bottom corner. 

Barcelona pushed hard for an equaliser and created some excellent chances. But Robert Lewandowski headed over and Lamine Yamal was denied by a superb one-handed save by Sommer. 

Inter have won three Champions League titles, with their latest European trophy coming in 2010 when they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 under Jose Mourinho.