Inter’s route to 2022/23 UEFA Champions League final

For the first time since 2010, Italian giants Inter are gearing up for a UEFA Champions League final this weekend.

Back in 2010 I Nerazzurri were able to beat Bayern Munich in Madrid to win Europe’s elite competition and complete a first treble in Italian footballing history. This time around, they’ll be hoping that a win stops Manchester City from completing a historic treble of their own.

Here’s how Simone Inzaghi’s side book their place in this year’s final:

It’s fair to say Inter were drawn in this year’s token ‘group of death’.

Yet, despite defeats home and away to Bayern in the first and last games of the group stage, Inter would safely find a route into the knockout rounds thanks to the four points they took off Barcelona.

In matchday three and four, Inter secured a home win over Barca before dramatically drawing 3-3 at Camp Nou.

These results, along with wins over Viktoria Plzen, proved to be enough for Inter as they booked a place in the next round.

First leg: Inter 1-0 Porto

Second leg: Porto 0-0 Inter

The fact that this tie was decided by a single goal tells you all you need to know about it.

Inter vs Porto was a fiercely, and evenly contested affair in which Inzaghi’s team defended astutely and relied upon an 86th minute goal at San Siro from Romelu Lukaku to send them through to the quarter finals.

First leg: Benfica 0-2 Inter

Second leg: Inter 3-3 Benfica

Due to Benfica managing to thoroughly dominate a group which contained both Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, and Inter’s up-and-down form leading up to this tie, I Nerazzurri were very much considered the underdogs heading into this quarter final.

Thanks to a particularly stunning showing from Nicolo Barella in the first leg at Estadio de Luz, Inter were able to take a 2-0 lead into the second leg at San Siro.

Inter would then match Benfica blow for blow in the second leg to draw 3-3 and set up a Milan derby semi final.

First leg: AC Milan 0-2 Inter

Second leg: Inter 1-0 AC Milan

A Milan derby in a UEFA Champions League semi final? It doesn’t really get much better than that, does it?

Especially if you’re an Inter fan as the Nerazzurri faithful bore witness to two historic wins over their inner city rivals in mid-May.

The first of which came in Inter’s token ‘away leg’ in which goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan inside the opening 10 minutes secured the victory. The second was won by a single Lautaro Martinez goal – a goal which sent the ‘home fans’ for the evening into raptures.