Champions League Final: Inter Milan Head To Istanbul

• Await Man City Or Real Madrid

Italian powerhouse, Inter (Internazionale) Milan have booked their spot in the 2023 Champions League final with a dominant 3-0 aggregate win over city rivals, AC Milan.

On a night that Argentine striker, Lautaro Martinez gained Milan derby legend status, Simone Inzaghi’s team sealed their place in Istanbul with a 1-0 win at the San Siro Stadium.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Enacting another heroic performance, Martinez stole away the spotlight from AC Milan and sealed Inter’s spot in the Champions League final just as the game headed towards what could’ve been a cagey final 15 minutes.

For the World Cup hero, it’s now eight in 13 appearances against Milan, with his latest effort arriving with just 16 minutes remaining, thus completely killing a tie that never really looked like being revived by the ‘visitors’.

Truth be told, it wasn’t the greatest bit of goalkeeping from the normally brilliant Mike Maignan, who was beaten at his near post because of a rather weak attempt to keep out Lautaro’s low drive with his right hand.

At the end of Tuesday’s proceedings, the scene inside San Siro was quite interesting. While Nicola Barella burst into tears, Romelu Lukaku raised his hands to the heavens and Simone Inzaghi just bore the look of a man who could barely believe that he had been finally vindicated.

Make no mistake about it, not many people believed this Inter side capable of making it to the tournament’s knockout stage after being drawn in the same group as Bayern Munich and Barcelona – and even fewer thought they could reach the final when they were in the middle of a rotten run of form in Serie A just a couple of months ago.

And yet not only are Inzaghi’s men on their way to Istanbul, but they will also arrive brimming with self-belief after beating city rivals AC Milan in the biggest Derby della Madonnina in decades.

While the Rossoneri wilted under the pressure, the Nerazzurri excelled, winning 1-0 in Tuesday night’s second leg at San Siro to seal a 3-0 victory on aggregate.

Thousands of Inter fans who produced an electric atmosphere inside the San Siro can now look forward to watching their side in the final of Europe’s premier competition for the first time since 2010 when Jose Mourinho’s side completed the continental treble.