David Frattesi struck the decisive goal in the 99th minute of extra time to seal Inter Milan’s dramatic 4-3 win over Barcelona in a Champions League semi-final thriller at San Siro on Tuesday, sending the Italians through 7-6 on aggregate.
Francesco Acerbi had earlier rescued Inter with a stoppage-time equaliser, cancelling out Raphinha’s late strike that looked set to fire Barcelona into the final.
Inter players celebrating
Raphinha had completed a stunning second-half comeback with goals from Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo drawing the tie level after Barca trailed 2-0 at half-time.
Inter will now face either PSG or Arsenal in the final on May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
Defender Denzel Dumfries captured the chaos of the night when speaking to Amazon Prime: “A crazy match again! Seven goals today. It was incredible. We fought until the end; very proud of the way we fought today. Overall, I’m very happy that we’re going to the final.”
Goalkeeper Yann Sommer, named Player of the Match, was equally emotional in his post-match reflections. Speaking to Sky Italia, he said: “I’m very happy, we played an incredible match. Which save will I remember? The last one on Lamine Yamal; he is a great player and fortunately it didn’t go in. Many teams would have given up after going down 3-2 but we didn’t, and managed to come back.”
The rollercoaster nature of the game left even seasoned commentators breathless. Clarence Seedorf, the former Milan and Netherlands midfielder, summed it up: “I think we’ve had enough emotions today! In the first half Inter were supreme, but Barcelona came back, and Inter looked low on energy. But the thing that amazed me is they never give up, and who would have thought they’d be able to score such a late equaliser against Barcelona.”
Former England striker Wayne Rooney echoed the sentiment, highlighting Inter’s second wind in the dying stages: “Once Inter got the equaliser it looked like they were the team that were going to push. Barcelona ran out of ideas at the end. I’m not really quick to praise goalkeepers, but some of those saves Yann Sommer made were excellent.”
Among the heroes of the night was Davide Frattesi, who once again played the role of match-winner. Reflecting on the wild scenes, he exclaimed: “What happened? I don’t know! I celebrated so loudly that my head was spinning.”
He later added, drawing parallels to his earlier heroics in Munich: “After the game in Munich, I thought I would never experience anything like this again in terms of emotions. But that’s the beauty of football. It’s part of my career; I’ve always been the first to believe and the last to give up. This is a reward for my dedication and commitment. After it went 3-3, I told Marcus [Thuram] that we would go through.”