By Samuel A. May 8, 2025
Inter Milan produced an extraordinary performance over two legs and 210 minutes of football, including a late, late turnaround to beat Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate in a thrilling, all-time classic encounter in the Champions League semifinal. Just like in the first leg in Spain, Inter raced into a 2-0 lead, only to be pegged by Barcelona. After Lautaro Martinez had put Inter ahead following good work from teammate Denzel Dumfries, Hakan Calhanoglu converted a controversial penalty at the end of the first half to leave Barcelona 5-3 behind on aggregate and in massive trouble.
Hansi Flick’s side dominated the second half. Eric Garcia, who starred in Kounde’s absence, volleyed one back for Barcelona before Dani Olmo’s fine diving header in the 60th minute from Gerard Martin’s cross made it 2-2 on the night and 5-5 on aggregate. Raphinha then grabbed what appeared to be an 87th minute winner as Barca went ahead for the first time in the tie, when he converted a rebound after Sommer had saved his first strike. With just two minutes of added time left, Inter trailed 3-2 on the night and it already looked like they were heading out and Barcelona were going through before veteran centre back Francesco Acerbi placed his shot into the roof of the net to get his first Champions League goal and level the tie.
There were more ecstatic scenes when substitute Davide Frattesi won it for the Italian champions, faking a shot initially before curling a beautiful left footed effort into the bottom corner in the first period of extra time, to guide Inter to a second Champions League final in three seasons.
Barca were only two minutes away from their first final in 10 years, having fought back from 2-0 down in a similar scenario to the first leg, to lead 3-2 on the night. Lamine Yamal almost made it 4-2 to bury the game, but his near post shot was denied by the bar, after which Inter made a fast break to level. He was also close to taking the game to penalties, but was twice denied by superb saves by Yann Sommer as Inter held on to reach the final and spark incredible scenes of celebration.
Inter, who lost 1-0 to Manchester City in the 2023 final, will play Paris St-Germain at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on Saturday, 31 May in the 2025 showpiece.
This tie was the joint highest scoring semifinal tie in the history of the Champions League, matching a similarly ecstatic 13 goal thriller when Liverpool defeated Roma 7-6 on aggregate in 2017/18.
