Inter sealed the pass to the semifinals of the Champions League after drawing 3-3 with Benfica, asserting the 2-0 achieved in the first leg in Lisbon, and will play the ticket for the final against their great rival, AC Milan.
After the result of the first leg, everything seemed decided when Nicolo Barella he opened the scoring in the 14th minute, taking advantage of the first clear goal chance of the match.
He Benfica He did not give up and carried the weight of the game, even reaching a tie with a header from the Norwegian Fredrik Aursnes before the break (37′), but the Portuguese never seemed to believe in a comeback, even less when Lautaro Martinez he finished off a cross from Federico Dimarco (66′) to ‘kill’ the tie for good.
GREAT GOAL FROM INTER! Nicolo Barella put on the brakes, left it to the left and placed it at an angle to make it 1-0 against Benfica and 3-0 overall in the #ChampionsLeague.
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– SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) April 19, 2023
Another Argentine, Joaquin Correaput the finishing touch to the interista party at the Giuseppe Meazza, with a great goal as soon as he jumped onto the field of play (78 ‘), although Benfica did not lower their arms and saved the honor by forcing the final tie, with the late goals of Antonio Silva (86 ‘) and the Croatian Peter Muse (90+5′).
This pass to the semifinals will give some oxygen to an Inter that is sinking in Serie A, where they have lost five of their last seven games played, with only four points added out of 21 possible, and with 8 days to go until the end of the championship, they are out of the qualifying positions for the next Champions League.
BENEFICIAL DISCOUNT! Aursnes won in the box with their head and hit a bomb to make it 1-1 and again reduce the difference to two goals in the #ChampionsLeague.
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– SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) April 19, 2023
Two precedents in the Champions League
And it can also be the last salvation table for your coach, simone inzaghihighly questioned due to the poor results of the season, at least until they face Milan in three weeks, who advanced to the semifinals on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw in Naples.
Italy ensures in this way to return to a Champions League finalsomething that has not happened since Juventus lost 4-1 against Real Madrid (2017), but it will not be the first time that the two neighbors of the Lombard capital have met in the highest continental club competition.
THE BULL REAPPEARED! Di Marco overflowed on the left and Lautaro entered through the center to push the ball and make it 2-1 against Benfica and seal the 4-1 overall.
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– SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) April 19, 2023
They already met in the semifinals of the 2002-2003 season and Milan won for the highest value of goals in the opposite field (0-0; 1-1), and the ‘Rossonero’ team won the sixth of their seven ‘Orejonas’ ‘ in the final against another Italian team, Juventus, on penalties.
They met again three seasons later (2004-2005), this time in the quarterfinals, although the result was the same: qualification for Milan, who won both games (2-0 and 3-0), although on that occasion the Barcelona got off the milanistas in the final.
WHAT A BARBARITY, TUCU! Joaquín Correa received in the area, hooked and took a precious right foot to nail it against the post and decree the 3-1 against Benfica in the #ChampionsLeague.
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– SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) April 19, 2023
61 years of ‘curse’
Benfica, for its part, confirms that a season that it was perfect until two weeks agowhen he seemed to have the Portuguese league in his pocket, having a 10-point advantage over Porto, and that in Europe he had dazzled in the first phase, being first in a group with Paris SG and Juventus, and overwhelming Bruges in the round of 16 (7-1 on aggregate).
But in barely 15 days they have squandered everything after adding two consecutive defeats in the Portuguese championship, seeing their advantage over Porto reduced to only four points, and now being left out of Europe.
ANOTHER DISCOUNT! António Silva won at the heights and with a header sealed Benfica’s 2-3 win in Milan.
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– SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) April 19, 2023
The team led by roger schmidt Furthermore, he is left without the possibility of avenging the team that lost the 1989-1990 European final against Arrigo Sachi’s Milan 1-0 with a solitary goal from the Dutchman Frank Rijkaard.
That was the last appearance of Benfica among the four best teams on the continent. More than 30 years for the double European champion (1961 and 1962) and another elimination to increase the ‘curse of Béla Guttmann’, that Hungarian coach who, after creating the team that won the two ‘Orejonas’, left the club because he did not feel valued by the Lisbon board, but not before declaring: “I curse them. Benfica will not win the European Cup again in 100 years”.
MUSA ETIED IT IN THE LAST! Benfica got 3-3 in the hour, but it did not reach the Portuguese team in the #ChampionsLeague.
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– SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) April 19, 2023
