• Inter progressed into Champions League final after edging record-equalling 13-goal semi-final
  • Lautaro Martinez left his mark on the tie despite fitness concern
  • This was perhaps the greatest semi-final produced in this competition

Davide Frattesi struck the all-important 13th goal in an all-time great Champions League semi-final to send Inter to Munich at Barcelona's expense.

The two teams had plenty to live up to after what they produced in Catalonia, but the second leg most certainly didn't disappoint. A contest boasting violent switches in momentum could've gone either way, and Barca were ever so close to qualifying themselves, but Inter's stoppage-time equaliser set the stage for Frattesi's winner.

Simone Inzaghi has thus led the Nerazzurri to their second Champions League final in three years, where Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain await.

How the game unfolded

The fixture which comes around infrequently but almost never disappoints served up a belter last week, with Inter undoubtedly the more content of the two teams entering the return leg after earning a 3-3 draw in Catalonia.

San Siro was never going to disappoint for such a grand occasion, and the Interisti were intent on roaring their team to Munich from the get-go. There was no lightning-fast start from the hosts as there was in Montjuic, but Inter's opening was impressively controlled. Barcelona, without both of their starting full-backs, leant on the remarkable gifts of Lamine Yamal to disrupt Inter's stubbornness, and the Spaniard's curling effort from the edge of the box was their only effort of note in the opening stages.

The Nerazzurri refused to succumb to a Barca barrage, and their own work with possession proved troublesome. The hosts' positional fluidity in the build-up and manipulation of their opponents' man-to-man pressure offered them more than a foothold, but it was their effort without the ball which led to the opening goal.

Federico Dimarco pinched possession off an unsuspecting Dani Olmo from his blindside, cleverly slipped Denzel Dumfries behind and watched on as the Dutchman squared to captain Lautaro Martinez to open the scoring.

There was a response from Hansi Flick's side, but Dani Olmo couldn't make the most of a couple of opportunities before Yamal stabbed a right-footed effort wide after a quick break. Still, Inter were firmly in control, and their masterful opening 45 minutes were rewarded further after Pau Cubarsi was penalised for his challenge on Lautaro in the Barca box following VAR intervention. As he almost always does, Hakan Calhanoglu scored from the spot to double Inter's lead.

Despite the home team's comfort, this Barcelona team have a knack, and they worked a way back into the contest ten minutes into the second half via the most unlikely of sources. Their two deputising full-backs combined to halve the deficit, with Eric Garcia finishing superbly from Gerard Martin's cross.

Then, moments later, the full-backs were at it again on the counter, but Yann Sommer pulled out one of the saves of the season to prevent Garcia from scoring his second. However, there was little the Swiss international could do to deny Olmo's header from restoring parity on the night and in the tie. Martin, yet again, was the provider.

Suddenly, Barcelona were playing the game on their terms, and Inter, so cool in the first half, started to shrink. They couldn't get out in the face of unrelenting Catalan pressure, but they just about held firm to take the contest deep. Inzaghi, who paraded down the touchline like a possessed foosball player desperate to control all levels of his team, must've thought the Nerazzurri were down and out when Raphinha completed the turnaround with just a couple of minutes remaining, but Inter, from nothing, came again.

On the brink of elimination, Inter turned to chaos, and Dumfries was the supplier again. His driven cross for not Lautaro, Marcus Thuram, or even a surging Davide Frattesi, but Francesco Acerbi was expertly converted by the Italian centre-back. Before that, Yamal had hit the post with a fierce strike, and the teenager then had a great chance to win the tie again for Barca, but his toe-poke was straight at Sommer.

To extra-time we went and Inter were the team on the up. Seizing the momentum, they scored the semi-final's record-equalling 13th goal through Frattesi following some excellent work from Thuram and Mehdi Taremi.

Barca pushed in the second half of the extended period, but Sommer was on hand to deny Yamal on several occasions to preserve's Inter's lead. His saves proved crucial, as Inter held on to prevail from a breathless semi-final.